Twitter is entering a new era after its acquisition by Elon Musk, but despite the promises of banning nobody and adhering to free speech, various restrictions continue to be placed on Elon Musk’s platform as we speak.
Now that Twitter verification has become pay to play, it is only a matter of time until Twitter takes further steps to root out spam as well as those who are using their real-time communication platform to broadcast instead of share, especially when the broadcast is threatening to Twitter’s existence itself.
Some people log in to Twitter only to find that they have been locked out or their account deactivated. Even if that isn’t you, if you haven’t searched for yourself or your company on Twitter recently, you may want to confirm that your tweets are still being shown in the search results and that you haven’t been caught up in content moderation conversations and had your account banned or limited.
While Elon Musk has announced that he will make it transparent as to if you are being “shadow banned” and why, this has yet to materialize as of the writing of this post, leaving many an email inbox empty and companies frustrated.
If your tweets aren’t appearing in search results or you have a feeling that something is not right in Twitterville, here are some reasons why your Twitter account may be temporarily “restricted” without your knowing it.
Note that this list does not include the obvious rule-breakers such as creating fake accounts impersonating celebrities, abusive behavior, hateful conduct, illegal activity, harassment of users, abusive content, etc.
1) Repeatedly posting duplicate or near-duplicate content (links or tweets)
As a micro-blogging platform, why would you ever need to repeat yourself in your tweets? You’d be surprised: you may want to introduce everyone to your company or product or blog and want to do so more than once. For instance, I often retweeted a new blog post the day after I originally tweeted about it because not everyone may have caught it the first time. Guy Kawasaki posted a famous blog post about this entitled “How to Drive Traffic with Repeat Tweets.” In this fantastic analytical article, Guy shows how repeating a tweet can get significant additional traffic. The analysis is simple: not everyone is looking at Twitter all of the time, so by repeating your tweet you are increasing your chances of getting noticed. Twitter thinks otherwise: Post repeat tweets or repeat links and your tweets will no longer show up in search results. You won’t even notice that this has happened until you try searching for your own tweets.
Further Reading: The 3 Best Ways How to Schedule Tweets for Twitter
2) Abusing trending topics or hashtags (topic words with a # sign)
HabitatUK comes to mind as the famous story of a company abusing the trending topics hashtags which ended up leading to their formal apology. You don’t want your Twitter fails to go viral either. Every time you place a hashtag at the end of your tweet, be forewarned that Twitter is watching to ensure that you are properly classifying your tweet. Don’t try to cheat the system to be found…otherwise you won’t be found anymore! If you share from FOX news or another news site, let it be occasional rather than habitual.
Further Reading: Twitter Hashtag Search: The Definitive Guide
3) Sending automated tweets or replies
If you are using a 3rd party software application or service to send automated tweets or replies, beware, you are being watched! If social media is about being authentic and transparent, it leaves no room for automation, no matter how bad you want to get the message out. And if you are thinking of doing some guerilla marketing by sending out automated replies, your days are numbered…
Further Reading: Is Your Account Shadowbanned? How to Test for a Twitter Shadowban
4) Using bots or applications to post similar messages based on keywords
There are sophisticated services that allow you to post messages based on keywords that show up in the Twitter timeline. As sophisticated and attractive as these services might be to some Internet marketers, Twitter is even more sophisticated at finding you!
5) Posting similar messages over multiple accounts
If you have multiple accounts and are trying to market or broadcast the same message from multiple angles, please stop. If you don’t stop, you will be forced to stop!
If you don’t know what this looks like, check this out:
Further Reading: Twitter Etiquette: What are the Rules? Here’s 21 to Consider
6) Aggressively following and un-following people
I am assuming that this is the reason why most people have their Twitter account restricted. I don’t think an explanation is needed here, but Twitter has its limitations on how many people you can follow in a day. In addition, if you “aggressively” unfollow people in order to follow more people, Twitter will restrict your account. “Aggressively” is an abstract term, so as long as you are doing periodic follows and unfollows I assume you will not have any issues here.
The above 6 reasons why your account may be restricted aren’t issues that I made up: they actually come straight from the Twitter support article on Best Practices. Twitter is definitely getting serious about the “quality” of Tweets, and if you aren’t equally serious, you will be removed from search results and lose the benefits of being able to use the real-time service.
The common point for all of the above is just to be “natural.” If you use Twitter in a real and authentic way without over-relying on 3rd party applications or tools you should be O.K. Should you use any programs to completely automate your activities, use with caution!
Further Reading: 12 Ways How to Get More Followers on Twitter
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What to Do if Your Twitter Account is Restricted?
Twitter Support describes 3 different scenarios where your account might be restricted and what to do in each scenario:
Limited Accounts
Suspicious behavior can lead to having your Twitter account changed to a limited account. Essentially, rather than a permanent suspension, a limited account means that you have violated the terms of service, and will have your account capabilities limited to only reaching your followers. Similar to a locked Twitter account, a limited account is restricted, but it is not locked out altogether, and Twitter followers can still see and engage with your content. Unusual activity and violations of Twitter’s abusive behavior policy are common reasons for account limitations.
Limited Due to Suspicious Activity
Suspicious activity can vary. Common suspicious activities include posting fake news, supporting, promoting, or engaging with fake accounts, or behavior that otherwise leads to Twitter suspension. If an account is limited as a result of suspicious activity, Twitter will either limit the account or verify the account using a mobile phone. This is done to ensure that accounts are being used by real people. If unusual activity is detected, and a verification with a mobile phone is completed, access to user accounts may either be restored, or continue to be limited until a period of time has passed, and the account is no longer behaving in an aggressive or inappropriate way.
Limited Due to Violating Twitter Rules
Limiting an account as a result of violating Twitter rules will carry the most significant consequences, not unlike a temporary suspension. When this occurs, only current followers can be reached via DMs, and users will not be able to Tweet, Re-Tweet, link to other social networks, or truly engage in Twitter. From re-tweeting the words of a white supremacist, to posting hateful content or responses, there are numerous reasons to be limited on the social network. Sharing information from major news sites like ABC News, CBS News, and more are not typically used to justify violating the hateful conduct policy, but it is possible to do so if you post any content that can be considered inflammatory.
Twitter recently announced a new appeal system where you can submit a request to loosen all restrictions if you don’t want to deal with the limitations listed above. You can access that site together with instructions here.
Have any of you faced these restrictions before? Did your tweets come up when you searched for your name? Please comment below.
Further Reading: The 24 Best Twitter Tools for Marketing in 2025
Hero photo by Jørgen Håland on Unsplash
pls my account got Temporarily Restricted, i don’t know what to do….. how can i restore my account, thank
I am just a blogger and have no magical powers or relationships. You must contact Twitter support to get your account restored. Unfortunately there is no other way. Sincerely wishing you the best of luck!
When will I have my my account back?
I feel that few people see my tweets, and my exposure has been limited, capped, restricted. Struggle to get 1,000+ impressions, regardless of any topics, issues, opinions, humor, etc. Account has 1,300 Following
with 638 Followers and easily 46, 000 + posts over many years, joining in 2009. Somethings up, fishy, odd, weird. My guess, it has something to do with my Israel posts on depleted uranium, bombs, munitions, war – dead bodies – for $ profit from Natural Gas platforms in the Mediterranean. Geopolitics hits toooo close to the truth
Lots of reasons why this happens but I would say that number of users and amount of engagement has dropped quite a bit over the last few months, so it might just simply be that…
Please what does this message mean? “we’ve added a temporary label to your account which may affect it’s reach” but
I can still see tweets amd join spaces and I can still post tweets and I receive mentions on those tweets?
This is the first time I have seen that – it looks like, for whatever reason, your account is restricted. It does sound like it is only temporary so I would just stay off X for a few days…
My account got restricted and I was doing absolutely nothing wrong IMO. I was trying to engage discussion around a particular product that a supplier had just bought supplies of and that an influencer found great. To be fair, I see a lot of shortcomings of the product in the software and was trying to open discussion on this. This may have been seen as “baiting” however, I don’t see anything unfair about trying to discuss anything about the merits of product or not. Twitter said something about SPAMMING or trying to influence something, weird terms, don’t remember the exact text. Co-incidentally I hope, not so long before I had just unfollowed Elon Musk. But he was the only person I unfollowed. My initial suspicions were that the influencer or the company that had just bought new stock of this product had clicked on an abuse button or something. I’ll never get to know.
Anyway, I could see myself really getting wound up if I’m accused of being a bad person so easily by such a platform when I’m behaving normally and completely reasonably, so I immediately deleted my account. Can do without that grief. It’s a shame, because my initial feelings about the platform were positive and I thought I’d found a fun and good thing. But if there’s one thing I cannot abide it’s injustice. So bang, delete!!
Man that sucks – there are other platforms that will welcome you with open arms – you could try to contact Twitter Customer Service and ask them why as Twitter these days is all about “free speech,” so this does seem to be contradictory to their current practice!
Hello, my acount got temporary restricted. It didn’t sent me any message about why and when it was restricted. But I found out by using my second account. I mailed Twitter but they keep telling me to change my password. It’s been 2 months and several password changing attempts but 0 result.
How can I get back my account, pls help T^T
I am really sorry to hear about that but the only way to get help is through Twitter support, and sometimes becoming a paid member will help you get quicker support. Good luck!
My acc got restricted however, I have not recieved any email or message from them telling me what the reason is. I contact them but I fear it will take forever. You said we will get a notification but i have not got any
Sorry to hear that. As you can see by the title of this post, you don’t always get notified. And the only way to fix is to contact Twitter Customer Service. Becoming a subscriber to Twitter Blue for one month might help…
I think I am in a similar situation. I had noticed that views of my tweets had fallen off significantly in the past few months, and then someone whose account I frequently interact with said that my tweets are being hidden behind “more replies.” I have not received any notice. I am not engaging in any of the six practices you mentioned above. Can other accounts make this happen by maliciously reporting you?
Sorry to hear about your experience. I suppose it is possible that multiple malicious reports might trigger Twitter to begin the restriction, but I also believe that they probably use algorithms and potential human intervention when they issue these restrictions. It is hard to tell, but when you are restricted, it truly sucks..
About 2 weeks account was restricted for what Twitter alleged was suspicious behavior. I’d just prefer that close it altogether.
I tried closing it myself after the Great Elon took over. My problem is that I created it through my account with Apple. I didn’t realize that it would create a radon password that I don’t know is or can find. So I’m stuck with it.
I even tried playing dumb with the serious of images to get access back and kept choosing those that didn’t match in the hopes I would get suspended.
Do have any knowledge on how to close an account created using an Apple account or is there away to contact Twitter directly to request they close my account?
Thanks for the help.
Sorry to hear about that – I see a lot of accounts that have that warning these days. Not sure what their guidelines are for these situations in all honesty.
This is not the answer you want to hear, but all roads lead to Twitter Customer Service, and if you don’t get a response, subscribe to Twitter Blue for a month just to be able to contact Twitter support.
Hope this helps … good luck!
I appreciate the response. Honestly I can’t say I am completely surprised that this is going on.
Dear Neal,
It appears that I have been shadow banned.. My tweets, replies, likes, etc are not being seen. I normally receive over 100 likes per day, now NONE. They also removed my DM icon from my profile. What preceded this was an UNWANTED contact From Mr. Musk himself about CIA matters….What can I do, I am pissed….
Man I am really sorry to hear about that. If it regards to CIA matters or accusations, you might want to consult your lawyer. You also probably want to spend more time on other social networks!
I cant post a tweet or retweet or like any post for some hours now..
Also showing my account is temporarily restricted
Hi Neal,
My account was recently “Limited” based on your description above. This happened about a week ago.
Do you know roughly how long this lasts?
Thanks,
Keegan
Sorry to hear that Keegan. With Twitter’s new management, all bets are off! If it is still limited, I would definitely sign up for Twitter Blue as a way to at least get some support!
How can I convert an automated Twitter account into a managing/human-run account. I’ve only one account and it’s marked as automation. I googled everywhere, tried to contact Twitter many times and no one helps. I’m not a robot, never violated any rules, or sent automated messages. I don’t see where I can change that. Please help! Thank you
Automated Twitter accounts is a setting that you find by going to your account settings. Select “Your account”. Select “Automation”. I do not have it turned on, but since all of your previous tweets were set as “automated”, something tells me you can’t switch to a “normal” account. You might have to start over. As always contacting Twitter Customer Support is best, and if you don’t get a response from them it might be worth it to purchase Blue for a month to get access to support. Hope this helps!
Thanks for the help and reply. Yeah, under Account/Automation/ there’s no option for me to opt out or change anything. The only thing I find there is information to label my automated account.
Yeah the current responses from the support seem pretty much automated and aren’t helpful.
Thanks, I’ll consider doing that.
Becoming a paying customer for any social network just for the support is the final option. If that doesn’t work you will unfortunately have to start over… Good luck!
How do I even know that I have been suspended? I have zero notification. I can read/like/and RT, but I can no longer tweet or reply, and I don’t believe twitter/X even staffs humans to reply to other humans these days, so it’s all blind foolish guesswork.
Twitter’s recent few months have definitely made it more difficult to resolve issues like these. Becoming a Twitter Blue member for a month may help you at least get a response from Twitter Customer Service as a paying customer…
Me i cant find my own tweets when i try to search them
Hello, can you help me? I think I’ve been reported by some people on my Twitter account, and now Twitter has shadowbanned me with a profile caution for sensitive content, and all my posts and tweets are flagged. How can I get it fixed and appeal for that, and will that remain permanent?
I am really sorry to hear about your experience but let me be very clear. I am a blogger. I have no relationship with Twitter. The only way to fix Twitter-related issues is to get through to Twitter Customer Support. I do wish you the best of luck and hopefully your situation will be resolved soon…
Twitter support does not read and help with my issue. All I got was an automated response. I did not have an email nor phone number under my profile account. When I tried to update, it asked for my password which I forgotten. So I logged out thinking that they are able to send me a link to reset. But this becomes a nightmare. They do not help and asked me to create a new account. I did not want to do that since I have accumulated few hundred new followers. Can anyone please help me? Thank you
Unfortunately, since Elon Musk’s takeover, I sense that there are simply fewer customer support individuals and they are trying to automate things. My suggestion would be to try to become a paying customer by signing up to Twitter Blue to see if you can get access to customer support. Good luck!
Can I just wait until my account is unrestricted. Can I just wait and do nothing? Will it work too?
I’m losing my health playing Twitter games. For weeks I’ve noticed that my tweets no longer receive the same views and I don’t understand why my account has been subjected to these restrictions. I tried to read something in their help center but nothing, in the “Contact” section if I try to click on “submit a ticket” the same page always reloads; there is no (despite mentioning it!) a specific form for my problem, I fill in specific forms for other problems and they reply saying that it is not their responsibility and that I have to look for a specific form in their help center (we always come back to the same point). I don’t know what to do anymore, I don’t know if other people have had the same problem, if it is solved … when it will be solved … Twitter is confirmed to be a very unprofessional company.
Does anyone have an idea how to solve this problem or can give me some pointers?
I would say, in general, Twitter users, followers, and engagement are all down compared to pre-Elon Musk times, so one really can’t expect the same results. I have been changing the way that I tweet recognizing external links no longer perform and the tweets that rule today are Threads and informational content with selfies. If you haven’t changed your tweeting strategy recently this could be the issue. Hope this advice helps…
Sir, since last 4 days the reach of my post has reduced by 70% and mainly all my comments are going to the spam section or offensive content section, due to which my 5M There is a problem in completing the impression. I have also got the blue tick. Now tell me how to deal with this problem.
Twitter is actually restricted for many now… twitter has reduced its access to developers and make it highly expensive for every business.
Yes, that is right – this was originally written for users, but it seems that developers are being restricted these days!!!
How to resolve these issues ?
The only way to resolve these issues on any social network is to contact their support team!!!
My twitter account temporarily restricted plz help me
the same happened to me .. please let me know if you solved it .. i am suffering here
Wondering if anyone can help me, my tweets go to my drafts the error message is something along the lines of we couldn’t send this tweet retry or go to drafts, I have tried sending from drafts that doesn’t work. I also cannot like any tweets. I tried to open a support ticket but you have to select what is going on and there is nothing appropriate to select. The account is not suspended! Praying someone can help as this is the second twitter account that has gone wrong for me!!
Sorry to hear about your issues Jess. I recommend two approaches: 1) open a support ticket anyway under a different topic 2) become a Twitter blue subscriber and then contact support where hopefully they will take you more seriously. I also recommend you clear your browser cache and/or try to access under a different browser. Hope this helps!
Did Elon ever fulfill his promise to “show your true account status, so you know clearly if you’ve been shadowbanned, the reason why and how to appeal” ?
Oh dude, if you were to analyze everything that Elon has promised you will find lots of interesting things…but other management people have promised similar things on other social networks. Elon just seems more vocal and upfront when compared to other social media CEOs, no?
I ‘d love to learn what things you found interesting about Elon’s promises.
Have you already written about that?
I don’t have enough data to answer your question.
My cynical response is that I think he enjoys lying more than other social media CEOs.
I have not as this is not a political blog but one that tries to be helpful and provide actionable advice ;-)
It is totally messed up. I’m still trying to figure out what I did? I’ve contacted the help center and have changed my password at least five times.
I’ve seen a lot of this, and most of what I see is from people who have unfollowed me, so therefore I am surmising that they aggressively unfollowed my @mrshanemcdonald account – I have chanced my account and it seems to be OK. It is weird that you would not be notified that you were restricted… like a heads up “stop what you are doing as we are restricting you for a few days” …etc
Anyone know how long an account is temporarily restricted for. It says my account is locked and a code has been sent to the number associated to my account but thing is I don’t have that number anymore
Exile,
I have the same problem as you!! Last night at 11 pm they blocked my account, temporarily restriction, i says…I have a fan account for 5 years and the number that I registered with..I don’t have it anymore.
PLEASE if anyone knows how to help us, reply back and we can exchange via email.
Many thanks.
I have the same situation with yours, if you do know how to open the account please help us, I have lost my phone and so was my number, my twitter account is now asking for verification but I dont have it anymore, what do I do?
I have the same problem right now, and seeing as Twitter Support is barely existent, i may not ever get my account back.
Hi!
My account is temporarily restricted. I didn’t do anything wrong. I have contacted twitter support many times but i did not got any answer or help . Now about two week my account is temporarily restricted. I dont know what can i do ! Someone can hel me ??
My account is temporarily restricted and I didn’t do anything in the list above as well. I don’t think I did anything wrong at all actually. I can’t contact twitter support or send a forum because it says I need to log into my twitter account but I can’t because it says I need a log in verification code which they would send through my SMS number, and yes it is the right number. but I have not received anything and its been three days. If any one can help or knows how to get in contact with a REAL person from twitter. Please help and let me know. Thank you so much.
The same thing happened to me too
Same exact thing
I don’t even talk to people much on it and it got restricted
When i try to get verification it said carrier not supported
I’ve contacted them close to 1 week now and no response
Were you able to resolve the issue with your account? I am having the same issues right now
My account was temporarily restricted too, I wasn’t even doing anything to get restricted! Do you know how long it will be temporarily restricted for?
My account has been temporarily restricted. How can I restore it? Please help.
The only people that can help you are Twitter support. Have you contacted them?
How to get my account back from being restricted? Please help.