Those of you who use Instagram regularly will agree that the platform is not big on restrictions. While they do adhere to their privacy policies and terms of use strictly, these policies are not something you’d call “restricting.”
As long as you use this platform authentically and stay away from any kind of conflicting or violating content, your browsing experience here will be smooth and glitch-free. However, if you’ve been receiving too many warnings from Instagram lately, perhaps it’s a sign that you’re doing something wrong.
Like all other social media platforms, Instagram also encourages its users to engage actively on the platform and will never warn you about the increased activity. However, we can all agree that there’s a level beyond which it is impossible for any user to abuse the features of the platform.
And it is when this limit is crossed that Instagram takes the action of sending you a warning. When ignored continually, these warnings might lead to an investigation on your account and could also result in a permanent ban.
The warning that we’re here to talk about today is: “We restrict certain activity to protect our community.”
Below, we’ll discuss what this message means, why you could’ve received it, how you can fix it, and how you can avoid it in the future.
What Does “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” Mean on Instagram?
Did you know that only 2 out of 10 Instagram users have seen the “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” error message in their lives? Yes, you read that right. This error message is not sent to users as frequently as you’d think.
But what does this error message mean?
Before we get to the bottom of it, let’s learn more about what these kinds of error messages mean on Instagram.
All these messages are included in the “Try again later” errors that are displayed on the platform when the Instagram Team notices some unusual activity on your account.
Here’s what “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” means:
This message will be displayed to you when the Instagram Team suspects that you’ve recently been using some features on the platform at an unusual rate. By “unusual” here, we mean a rate that’s atypical when compared to your normal activity on the platform.
When such activity comes into their radar, they’re obliged to send you a formal warning before they investigate your account and take action about it. If you’re wondering about some instances that might lead to you receiving this message, we’ll get to that in the next section. But for now, we’ll discuss the duration and effects of this message on Instagram.
What’s the immediate effect of this error?
What literal meaning can you derive from this statement: “We restrict certain activity to protect our community”?
If we had to take a wild guess, we’d say this message would be followed by a freeze on some activities that you might’ve been overusing on the platform. For instance, if you’ve been unfollowing too many accounts in the last couple of hours, you wouldn’t be able to do so anymore. The same could happen for liking too many posts, adding too many comments, and so on.
This is exactly what the immediate effect of the “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” message on Instagram is.
How Long Does “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” Last?
All Instagram users who receive this message are looking for the answer to this question. However, as much as we’d like to help you with it, we’re afraid there’s no accurate answer to it.
Before you go into a state of panic, let’s reassure you that this message is in no way a permanent restriction. There’s a reason why it’s called a “warning”; warnings are distributed to give you a chance to rectify what you’ve been doing wrong, not to punish you for it. The same is true for the “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” message on Instagram.
With all that being said, there’s no fixed time duration for which this restriction is known to last. Although it generally lasts for about 24-48 hours on average, some users have claimed that they were not able to use their Instagram for nearly a week due to it.
So, it’s safe to assume that this restriction doesn’t act in the same way for all users. We’re guessing that the duration of the restriction is determined individually for the users.
In other words, the more suspicious Instagram is of your activities, the longer it will keep your account restricted. Now that we’ve gotten a gist of how the “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” message works, let’s move on to discuss when you’re most likely to see it.
How to Fix “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” on Instagram
In the last section, we explored six major possibilities that could result in receiving the “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” message on Instagram. And if you’ve been paying attention, you must’ve gotten a good idea of how to prevent it as well.
But just in case you’re still confused, we’re here to help you out. Following are some methods you could adopt to fix the “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” message on Instagram:
1. Sit It Out
Generally, when Instagram sends you a “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” message, it also restricts you from performing certain suspicious activities for a while. The time period could vary depending on your actions, but the best way for you to fix this situation is to sit it out.
Now, you might be thinking that it’s a stupid solution, but trust us when we say that we have only your best interests at heart. The truth is, if you’ve received this warning, it means that you’re already on the radar of Instagram AI. Any wrong move you make at this point will only make the situation worse for you. So, waiting patiently for the restrictions to be lifted is the best choice you can make right now.
Additionally, we’d also suggest you keep your actions on the platform restricted for a while. We’re not talking about all actions here, just the ones that you believed have gotten you into this situation in the first place.
2. Using a Third-Party Tool? It’s Time to Stop
If you’ve been using a third-party tool for a while and received this message, it’s a clear sign that the Instagram AI knows what you’re up to and doesn’t approve of it. In other words, if you don’t want them to take more serious action against your account, you should re-think your strategy and remove third-party apps and tools. Perhaps resorting to organic growth might be a good idea for you right now.
Here’s how you can:
- Open the Instagram app and log in to your account.
- Head over to your profile by clicking on the small profile picture at the bottom-right corner of the app.
- Click on the hamburger menu icon at the top to reveal menu options.
- Select Settings and it will take you to the profile settings page.
- After that, find and click on Security from the list of options.
- Scroll down and tap on the Apps and Websites inside the Data and History section.
- Here you’ll find Active, Expired and Removed options, select Active.
- It will shows you apps that currently have authorized access to your Instagram account alongside other details like the user id and date of authorization.
- If you think an app that responsible for the error, tap the Remove button to revoke its access.
- A dialog box prompts you to confirm your action. Tap Remove to confirm your action.
That’s it, the connected app or website access will be removed from your account and it will take some time for Instagram to fix the error for you.
3. Logging in from a Different Device Might Work
If you feel like you’ve done nothing wrong but have still received a warning, it could possibly be a glitch or a bug causing this error. In such a case, the first thing you should do is refresh your profile multiple times.
If it still persists, log out of your account and then log back in to check if it has been fixed. Lastly, you could also try logging into your account using a different device altogether.
4. Write to the Instagram Support Team
So far, we’ve covered pretty much everything you need to know about receiving the “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” message on Instagram. Do you still feel like you’ve received this warning wrongly?
Well, if you’re certain about it, you can also reach out to the Instagram Support Team about it. You can either call them or write them a mail and although you might not get a human response from them right away, rest assured that they will get back to you at the earliest. Following are the contact details of the Instagram Support Team:
Contact number: (650) 543-4800
Email address: support@instagram.com
How to Prevent “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” Error in Future
Now that we’ve discussed everything about the “We restrict certain activity to protect our community” message on Instagram and what you can do about it, what more is left?
Well, before we take your leave, we’d also like to give you a few pointers to keep in mind if you never want to receive this warning on the platform. Here you go:
- You should avoid employing the help of third-party tools on Instagram. The platform discourages such inorganic practices strongly and can take strict action against them.
- Keep your activity on the platform balanced so as not to overwhelm the Instagram AI as far as possible.
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