My Facebook account just got disabled instantly for sending this cat photo

What was turning out to be a peaceful Saturday night dinner for me turned into a digital nightmare when Facebook suddenly disabled my account after I sent a photo of a cat on messenger to a friend after receiving it on WhatsApp. That sounds really ridiculous right? Cat photos are really 90% of the internet and why on earth was my Facebook account disabled for sending this over Messenger , not even posting it on my timeline.  I was actually chatting with some friends over Facebook Messenger and after I sent this image , I automatically started getting logged out of messenger. I opened the Facebook app and that said Session time out and asked me to login again. I felt something was wrong with my phone or internet, I decided to get online on my computer. Only then It began to strike me that Facebook has actually disabled my complete Facebook account – Messenger , Facebook, Ads and what else I don’t know – in a matter of seconds and I was being logged out of the service on all my devices.  I just realized that my Facebook profile with over 3000 friends and numerous photos and messages is no longer accessible.

Friends tell me my profile is no longer visible.

Also all my past messages i exchanged with my friends are now gone in just a matter of few minutes.

You must be wondering why all this happened right ? I did not post any objectionable content or share any such content on messenger. In fact most of my 3000+ friends are people I would know and mostly our readers here on FoneArena or folks from the industry I have known over the years. All it took for my account to get disabled was sharing this photo of the cat you see below in a private conversation on Messenger. I had received this photo over WhatsApp.  I have edited the photo to prevent others from facing the same situation.

If you don’t want to get your Facebook account disabled, be sure not to share any image from any unknown source and especially this cat in a suit and tie !

I’m not sure how this is even possible and as a regular Facebook user, I’m still coming to terms to the fact that I cannot access or post on my FB timeline. Did I commit any mistake ? Are cats in suits and ties not welcome on Facebook ? Did this image trigger some crazy user screening algorithm which decided that this cat in a suit is so lethal that they decided to disable the account which was in a excellent standing with over 3000 friends and 1000+ followers without any warning ?

I’m upset but more than that I’m puzzled. How the hell did this happen and what I have done to deserve this. All for a cat photo ?

UPDATE : Facebook Security Comms team responded and told me that it was a mistake and they had restored my account.

Thanks for the email! Our team found this was a mistake & have restored your account. We’re sorry for the trouble this caused you.


Varun Krish: Varun Krish is a Mobile Technology Enthusiast and has been blogging about mobile phones since 2005. His current phones include the Apple iPhone 13 Pro and Google Pixel 6. You can follow him on Twitter @varunkrish and on Google+ You can also mail Varun Krish
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