SOLVED: ‘Account Locked Unusual/Suspicious Activity’ Twitter

If you got an Twitter in-app notification that says:

“Your account has been locked. Your account appears to have exhibited unusual behaviour that violates the Twitter Rules. To unlock your account, please click the button below and confirm that you are the vaild account owner.” or “Your account has been locked. Your account appears to have exhibited automated behaviour that violates the Twitter Rules. To unlock your account, please click the button below and confirm that you are the vaild account owner.” and their variations, you are not alone.

After recent updates to the Twitter algorithm, tens of thousands of Twitter profiles started seeing this automated message, whether they indeed participated in suspicious activities or not.

Why am I seeing “Account locked” Message on Twitter?

Twitter, over years, has been cracking down on spam and fake follower networks happening on their platform.

Twitter has been taking down fake follower networks since at least 2014 but only recently has been publicly stating about identifying and removing spam and fake follower networks.

The main reason? Money.

Twitter is under pressure from investors - registering low growth and poor revenue in every quarter.

On top of it, they want to protect their ad revenue - forcing those who want to grow followers on Twitter to pay for Twitter ads, instead spending money elsewhere (bots and other automated solutions).

This comes as no suprise given in last few years Twitter has been investing heavily their resources into building advertising platform on Twitter.

However, many users are not happy with this course of action as this forces them to pay even more for advertising to stay on top of the organic reach that keeps going down with every year.

What is considered as “suspicious activity”?

Twitter mentions on their website that any form of automation and spam is strictly prohibited. But what exactly “suspicious activity” is?

• likes that were purchased to make the post appear more popular
• followers that were purchased in bulk to make the account appear more popular
• like and follow actions that were posted via a bot
• comments that were automatically made and posted via a bot

You are spamming on Twitter

This is usually a case if you’ve been tweeting the same tweet over and over (too often) or your each tweet content is same or include spammy links.

Also, your actions will be considered as spam if you send large number of direct messages in short period of time or with the same content to many Twitter accounts.

Someone reported you as a spam user

If someone finds your account offensive or suspicious, they can report it to Twitter using a “Report spam” button. If enough people do that in a short timeframe, Twitter will temporary lock or restrict your account.

What activity is NOT considered as “suspicious” on Twitter?

• like and follow actions done manually and selectively (by you or someone in charge of your account: social media manager, agency etc.)
• non automated, manually written & sent Twitter direct messages
• non automated, manually viewed Twitter stories

What is considered as “unusual activity” on Twitter?

• constantly changing locations you are logging from (whether it’s done physically or via VPN)
• constantly switching devices and/or browsers you accessing Twitter app/website from

What activity is NOT considered as “unusual” on Twitter?

• logging in and accessing Twitter website or Twitter app from mostly same or similar location
• accessing Twitter website or Twitter app from mostly same browser and/or device

Do I risk my account getting banned?

NO, you don’t risk your account getting banned if you:

• do all the activity manually and just overdosed with the follow or like actions
• use organic Twitter growth service or social media manager to grow your account manually

Twitter might still temporarly limit some of the functions on your Twitter account like follow or like actions if you overdose them. These blocks usually don’t last long and your account will resume to normal state after that.

YES, there is a moderate to high risk of getting your account banned if:

• you purchased bulk followers
• you use bots and software solutions that promise follower growth
• you use mobile games and apps that promise follower growth

Will I really loose my followers I’ve earned?

If you did not purchase these followers, you won’t loose any. Twitter is only after FAKE followers, not real ones.

<%= partial(“layouts/newsletter”, locals: { headline: “Tired of constant Twitter issues?”, sub: “Join 2550+ other people who grow on Twitter effortlessly.”, cta: “#{t(:ctaemail)}”, focus: “twitter” }) %>

How to solve it?

The most important is: if you participate in purchasing followers or using bots, immediatelly stop those activities.

Here are known ways to unblock “Action Blocked” message:

• stop running bot/software solutions (if you do)
• give yourself a break from follow and like activities for at least 72 hours
• switch to mobile data
• link your Twitter account with your mobile phone number

Let’s go into more details for each method:

1. Stop bots

If you been running any bot/software to automate your Twitter - stop it.

Twitter is aware of the bot activity which, after many Twitter updates, is easy to detect these days. Either invest time to grow your account manually or delegate it to a dedicated growth service that does not rely on software solutions.

2. Take a break

Since overdosing activity on your Twitter will be the most common reason why your account got locked, it will be a good idea to take a break from following, liking, tweeting/re-tweeting and sending DMs on Twitter in order to to get rid of the issue.

We recommend to stop all activities at least for 72 hours although in some cases, the block might last longer, up to 5-7 days.

3. Switch to mobile data

No matter whether or not you are accessing your Twitter profile via an Twitter app on your phone or Twitter website on your computer, if you connect to Internet via a WiFi at home or your work, switch to your mobile network. So:

• If you are on mobile, switch to your 4G/5G.
• If you are on computer, enable hotspot on your phone and connect your computer to this hotspot network.

Likely, Twitter flagged or banned your home or work IP, so switching to a mobile data might help.

4. Link Twitter with your mobile phone number

If you haven’t done so yet, try to connect your Twitter account with your or phone number.

This way, you are showing Twitter more credibility that indeed you are a real person using an account and not a bot.

Often, Twitter accounts that were machine-made or are machine-maintained are not associated with any phone numbers, and Twitter might see it as a trust issue.

Pro tip: You will need a real phone number. Burner phone numbers won’t work as Twitter is well aware spammers were abusing them heavily in the past.

5. Revoke access of suspicious apps

It might be a good idea to go over a list of all the apps you’ve connected and revoke the access to those apps you don’t use or you are not sure about the actions they do on your behalf.

How to Avoid Getting “Account Locked Due To Unusual/Suspicious Activity” message

As Twitter’s alghoritm constantly changes, with each update, both the causes why you are getting blocked and the ways to avoid might change.

As of today, these are confirmed ways to prevent getting blocked:

1. Use only organic growth services

If you have been using 3rd party service, make sure you don’t use bots and software solutions and instead, use only organic Twitter service or social media agency where the actions are completed manually, not automatically.

This way, it will look just like you would do it yourself.

2. Don’t try to follow or like too fast

If you are on a follow spree, slow down.

Although it might be tempting to follow many users at once and then forget about it, this way you are more likely to get your actions blocked on Twitter.

Final Thoughts on Locked Account on Twitter

We know how frustrating it can be to run into issues with your social media profile you poured so much time and energy.

With a bit of planning and a careful selection of activities and apps you use, you can enjoy steady and safe growth of your Twitter account.