Banned for “violating community guidelines,” but never told which one?

How “community guidelines” work on the big platforms

• The rules are long, broad and always changing. They run to thousands of words, use terms like “harmful,” “misleading” or “inappropriate” that can stretch to fit almost anything, and get rewritten all the time.
• Most enforcement is done by software. The big platforms say themselves that most of what they remove is caught automatically, before any person has looked at it.
• The notice often doesn't say what you did. People routinely report being told they “violated community standards” without being shown which rule, or even which post. Meta's own Oversight Board has repeatedly urged the company to tell users exactly which rule they broke.
• Appeals are slow and often automated. Many people never reach a human at all.
• You can lose everything at once. Years of photos, friends, groups you built, and the only way you had to reach some people.

A rule nobody can see clearly is a rule that can mean whatever the person enforcing it wants it to mean that day. That's how “community guidelines” end up being used to quiet views that are unpopular, inconvenient or out of fashion, not just ones that are actually harmful. And when you're never told what you did, you can't defend yourself, and you can't even avoid doing it again.

Frendivo works the other way around

• There are no vague guidelines.We don't have speech rules. Our whole policy is a short list of illegal content plus spam, written in plain words, and you can read all of it in two minutes.
• Opinions are never removed.Religious, political and personal views stay up, however unpopular. That includes criticism of Frendivo.
• You're told exactly what and why.If we ever remove something, the person who posted it and the group's organizers are told which post and which item on the list applied, unless the law forbids it.
• No software judges your posts.We don't scan what you write for keywords, opinions or “sentiment,” and there are no shadow bans or hidden reach limits.
• Your group's rules are your group's.Organizers can set house rules, and they're shown to you before you join. Don't like them? Start your own group.
• Your history can't be taken hostage.Your group's moderators can download every post and reply at any time.

Read the full free-speech promise, including the complete list of what we remove.

Bring your people with you

1. Start a group for your church, neighborhood, family, club or cause. It's free for up to 20 members.
2. Share the invite link by text or email, or print the QR flyer. Nobody needs a Facebook account to join.
3. Talk freely. Your group is private, invisible to search engines, and moderated by your own organizers, not by us.