About suspended accounts

In order to maintain a safe environment for users on Twitter, we may suspend accounts that violate the Twitter Rules. Common reasons for suspension may include:

Spam: Most of the accounts we suspend are suspended because they are spammy, or just plain fake, and they introduce security risks for Twitter and all of our users. These types of accounts are against our Twitter Rules. Unfortunately, sometimes a real person's account gets suspended by mistake, and in those cases we'll work with the person to make sure the account is unsuspended.

Account security at risk: If we suspect an account has been hacked or compromised, we may suspend it until it can be secured and restored to the account owner in order to reduce potentially malicious activity caused by the compromise.

Abusive Tweets or behavior: We may suspend an account if it has been reported to us as violating our Rules surrounding abuse. When an account engages in abusive behavior, like sending threats to others or impersonating other accounts, we may suspend it temporarily or, in some cases, permanently.

Can I unsuspend my account?

You may be able to unsuspend your own account. If you log in and see prompts that ask you to provide your phone number or confirm your email address, follow the instructions to get your account unsuspended.

Are you seeing a message that your account is locked? Your account may also be temporarily disabled in response to reports of spammy or abusive behavior. For example, you may be prevented from Tweeting from your account for a specific period of time or you may be asked to verify certain information about yourself before proceeding. Take a look at this article for help unlocking your account.

File an appeal and we may be able to unsuspend your account. If you are unable to unsuspend your own account using the instructions above and you think that we made a mistake suspending or locking your account, you can appeal. First, log in to the account that is suspended. Then, open a new browser tab and click here to file an appeal. 

More about the Twitter Rules

In the Twitter Rules, we describe the circumstances that could lead to account suspension or other policy enforcement actions. You can find more specifics about our abusive behavior policy here.

For some tips on best practices for using Twitter (information about how many users you can follow, how to participate in Trends, how many replies to a single account are too many, etc.), read this article.

Elyssa D. D. Durant 

Research &  Policy Analyst

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