How a Book Giveaway Got Me Banned From Facebook

Photo courtesy of Wix

People assume I did something wrong. Why else would Facebook disable my account? Was I too Christian? Too political? Accidentally offensive?

Nope. Not even close. In fact, the issue wasn’t with Facebook at all. Here’s what happened.

I was in the Philippines, teaching Bible college students how to run a summer VBS program. Amanda Schaefer, host of the podcast A Cup of Gratitude, reached out to me. She was doing a giveaway of my book, Letters to Cassie, and asked if I could tag some friends on Instagram to spread the word.

Simple enough. I started tagging people I knew—real friends who might be interested in listening to the podcast or joining the giveaway. About halfway through my tagging, Instagram shut me down: “We are suspending your account due to suspicious activity.”

Fair enough. I was in the Philippines, doing something I’d never done before. I figured it was just a temporary hiccup. Instagram gave me a few steps to take to get reinstated, but I was teaching full days and mentoring students. So I let Amanda know what happened and put it on hold until I had time.

Fast-forward to a long layover in San Francisco. I finally had time, followed the steps, and Instagram kindly welcomed me back.

I also had some time now to post something on Facebook about our trip. So, I logged into Facebook. Or... tried to. Apparently, Facebook had also suspended me—because of "violations of Instagram’s community standards." Their instructions? “Log in to Instagram and resolve the issue there.” But I already had. Instagram was up and running just fine. Facebook, however, wouldn’t budge.

For weeks I tried everything—logging in, filing appeals, refreshing settings. Nothing worked. Finally, I gave up and tried to create a new account. Losing decades of old photos, friends and posts was not something that settled well with me, but I saw no option. That’s when I got the final verdict: I was banned from Facebook. Not just locked out temporarily—banned. Supposedly for violating Instagram’s standards. Again, I hadn’t. In fact, I had an email from Instagram confirming my account was back in good standing.

So now what?

What began as a brief social media hiccup turned into a full-blown breakup—and not the friendly kind. The most frustrating part of the whole experience is this: Facebook has no face. No person to talk to. No human review. No appeal that leads anywhere. I was locked out. Permanently.

But here’s the truth I keep holding onto: “Some trust in Facebook, and some in Instagram, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7, my paraphrase)

Yes, Facebook was supposed to be a key tool for sharing my book, my blog, and ministry updates. That’s what my publisher expected. It’s what I expected, too. But God is not limited by social media strategy. If Letters to Cassie is meant to bless others, God will get it where it needs to go, with or without Facebook.

It's not up to algorithms.

It's not up to platforms.

It's up to God.

And I’m okay with that.