Meta: What is Shadow banning? It is a controversial practice social media platforms use to restrict content. Find out if you are shadow banned and what you can do about it.
Many on social media are concerned about shadow banning, but what is shadow banning? Shadow banning is an indirect censorship method that uses proprietary algorithms to restrict controversial content while keeping the person banned unaware of the ban.
Social media companies insist it is not used or only used on abusive accounts. Others insist it gets employed often to suppress political viewpoints. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
Shadow banning does exist, is used, and has been misused, but usually not intentionally.
Here is what shadow banning is and is not, and how it might affect you.
The practice is shadow banning for the following reasons:
It depends on who you ask. Hard evidence is difficult to come by. Social media company execs say “no.” Conservatives have experienced shadow banning more than most other groups, although that might be because of what conservatives post.
The short answer is yes.
You sign an agreement that lets the social media platform control (and usually own) all content you post or permit it to access. The trade-off for you is that the agreement gets you free access to the platform.
If the platform wants, it can legally shadow ban or fully ban you. Your options are to follow their policies or leave the platform. The strictness of those options is partly why some conservatives have tried to start their own social media platforms, to varying success.
Altering an algorithm can prevent specific terms and topics from appearing in certain search results. How each social media platform handles shadow banning is slightly different. In most cases, only potential followers will be affected. In some cases, the shadow banning is more direct and draconian.
No matter how it is applied, the effect is generally the same: Your content gets restricted, and who can see it, if anyone can, is reduced or even eliminated.
Meanwhile, you have no idea beyond a fall-off on engagement that anything is amiss.
Those alleging they are shadow banned often state that the ban affects their social media effectiveness because it limits engagement with:
When this happens, the scope of a user’s impact is limited, which can affect their influence or income-making potential in some cases. For example, if a political commentator is shadow banned, their scope of influence is affected, potentially depriving them of new users, advertisers, and association with other major media outlets.
It depends on the social media platform (and the mechanism for shadow banning.) The logic behind restricting content to potential users is that most users do not want to see content the platform deems spam or offensive.
If potential users cannot see what a user posts, it limits that user’s ability to grow followers, friends, etc. As mentioned, that can affect the sphere of influence of a user, which can directly affect how advertisers view them and, in the cases of political entities, how major media outlets like FoxNews regard them.
Here is a summary of how different social media platforms allegedly handle shadow banning.
TikTok allegedly restricts how videos show up on the For You Page (FYP) and in hashtag results.
It depends on the social media company. Some say certain companies do not shadow ban, while others do. Most admit social media companies will shadow ban in extreme cases (such as promoting fake COVID cures.)
This also depends on the company. Facebook (Meta) is the only company that admits it outright shadow bans spam, although it is murkier whether it goes further than that. All insist they do not restrict, ban or prohibit content based on political viewpoint. Some disagree with that.
Here is a rundown of how you can get your content and scope restricted per platform.
Instagram will restrict based on content that violates its policies. It will restrict content prospects see.
Reddit will restrict content access when it finds content violates its policies.
Facebook will restrict, ban and delete content it deems violates its policies.
The following is the policy for major platforms for the length of any type of restriction or shadow ban on content.
Instagram restricts content, so there is no limit as it does not target specific accounts.
Twitter does not shadow ban but will rank your content, which can restrict what users see it.
Reddit’s restrictions are largely subjective, so there is no limit on how long you can be restricted.
TikTok restricts based on content, which lasts about a week or two. You can uninstall and reinstall the app to get past a shadow ban.
There is no time limit. Most people find taking a break from posting for about a week can result in you being allowed to post with no restrictions.
The easiest way to avoid getting shadow banned is to follow the policies you agree to follow when you join a site or use the platform.
The best way is your engagement is way off from normal. After that, each platform has different ways to tell if you have been shadow banned.
Search on “From USERNAME” on Twitter’s search bar. Your name goes under “USERNAME.” If you are shadow banned, your Tweets will not show up.
The best way is to monitor your engagement stats. Those will fall off dramatically if a post is restricted.
The only way you can usually get “un shadow banned” is to follow the process the sites have as their internal policies regarding restricting content. In most cases, taking a break and avoiding the topic that got you shadow banned is the best approach. You will be cleared to post unless the site bans you outright.
With some platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn,) you can appeal to a moderator or help desk with varying degrees of success.
Shadow banning is a practice most social media platforms use, although how and why is somewhat arbitrary. The best way to avoid getting shadow banned is to ensure your content does not violate the platform’s rules. Whether these platforms target specific groups is also subjective, but likely, any restrictions have to do with content rather than affiliation.
Leave your inquiry in the comment section if you have any questions regarding shadow banning.
