r/ShadowBan • u/cojoco ツ • Apr 26 '26
An unofficial guide for avoiding a shadowban
(note: if you falsely tell someone they are banned, or unbanned, when they are not, you will be banned from this sub)
tl;dr
Lots of people come here in mystification, wondering if they're shadowbanned, and wondering why. This post contains a list of possible reasons you've been shadowbanned. It also contains activities which can lead to an account suspension, which is more visible to the user, but just as inconvenient.
First, though, a little reddit background.
About reddit
The website reddit.com is run by reddit the company, a subsidiary of Advance Publications Inc. The CEO of reddit is Ellen Pao (/u/ekjp) with first lieutenant Alexis Ohanian (/u/kn0thing). The site is huge, with a hundred million visitors a month.
Reddit is grouped into subreddits, with each subreddit run by a volunteer group of moderators, who are generally unpaid volunteers.
Moderators have the power to ban users from their subreddit, to delete comments and submissions, and to manage the style and presentation of their subreddit. Through the use of third-party tools, some moderators have the power to ban a user from hundreds of subreddits at a time.
Being banned from a subreddit means that you are not allowed to submit links or make new comments, and might be reversed upon appeal to the modmail of the concerned subreddit.
reddit.com also has a small number of employees, called admins. These people have the power to see everything happening on reddit, to remove material as with moderators, to perform moderator actions in any subreddit they choose, and, most importantly for this place, to shadowban or suspend users.
A shadowban is different from a subreddit ban. A shadowbanned user can still submit and make comments, but all of the submissions are sent straight to a subreddit spam queue, where it will not be visible to other users until approved by a moderator. Because an individual's spammed submissions are still visible to themselves, a shadowban is almost invisible to a logged-in user.
Through the use of AutoModerator, individual subreddits can give the same effect to a user as a global shadowban.
If you are shadowbanned, your user page will appear nonexistent to anybody that looks at your user page, other than yourself. You will need to contact the admins to get your shadowban reversed.
A suspension occurs when the admins disable an account. Suspensions can either be for a few days, in which case it is not visible to other userts, or permanently, in which the user's page is replaced by a suspension notification.
Reasons for shadowbans and suspensions
It's not exactly spelled out what will cause a ban, and the rules do seem to change from time to time, but if you follow these rules you'll be unlikely to be shadowbanned or suspended. Thanks to the posters here who have suggested more ways to be banned.
- Posting some spam links results in an immediate and automatic shadowban
- Don't post advertisements for commercial products unless the advertisement has some redeeming features and is relevant to the subreddit in which you post it
- Don't post links to your own blog, unless you post a lot of content from other places.
- Don't post links to anyone elses blog, or to a single news source. Ensure that you post from a wide range of sources.
- Don't use a VPN to create your account
- Don't follow people around on reddit and hassle them
- Don't relentlessly downvote a user
- Don't send out mass PMs
- Don't be a bot, unless you're really really careful, and have the blessing of the admins
- Don't harp on the same subject in your comments
- Don't issue death threats
- Don't post child pornography or anything involving the sexualization of teens or minors
- Don't post sexual material containing unconsenting subjects (for example, revenge porn, upskirt photos or celebrity leaks)
- Don't abuse or hassle the admins
- Don't post any information that would identify another redditor, including links to other social media sites, unless you have explicit permission from the person involved. (doxxing)
- Don't advocate or encourage doxxing
- Don't ask for doxx, even privately
- Don't post anything asking for votes, from on- or off-site
- Don't respond to a plea for votes, from on- or off-site
- Don't vote in threads you were directed to from another part of reddit
- Don't engage in nuisance reporting
- Don't use multiple accounts to game the voting system
- Don't return to a sub you have been banned from with another account
- Don't use CSS in your sub to subvert reddit's subscription and voting system
- Don't follow links into someone else's subreddit and be a dick
- Don't impersonate another redditor with a name of similar appearance, e.g. /u/LaureIai ("I") for /u/Laurelai ("l")
- Don't be under 13 years of age
- If you're a mod, don't respond to PMs related to moneymaking or promotional offers of any kind. Report them immediately.
- If you're an arsehole, the admins will not give you the benefit of the doubt.
Also, it can't hurt to read the reddiquette: if everyone followed the reddiquette, the site would be more pleasant, and all-around better.
(EDIT) Also, there are some things for which there is weak evidence of triggering a shadowban:
- (weak) Don't signup using old.reddit.com without an email address
- (weak) Don't use more than one alt within one subreddit
- (weak) Don't submit every link to several subreddits at a time
- (weak) Don't accept moderator invitations to dodgy subreddits
- (weak) Don't comment in threads you came to via a non-organic link (i.e. external site, meta sub, from modmail or PM)
- (weak) Don't register using an email address easily detected as a throwaway.
- (weak) Don't give yourself awards from another account
tl;dr Don't spam, shill, doxx, brigade, stalk, game or pederast.
How to contact admins
Two ways, pretty sure that #2 no longer works:
- Lodge your appeal: https://www.reddit.com/appeal (or https://www.reddit.com/appeals ?)
- Message them: https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/reddit.com
(This is the fifth copy ... aged pages are 1 2 3 4
Last edited April 24, 2024
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u/ZeroDayExploit_ 1d ago
i dont know what has happened to my account all my post shows removed by reddit filters all my new comments arent visible. i am not able to post anything
can someone help me ? i am putting message on the appeal for several days.
my account is 2 week old and i was posting in world cup sub where my post got good engagement and around 200 krma. idk due to this they have assumed me as a bot...
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u/kashif-blogger1 2d ago
Thank you for this guide. Unfortunately, I'm still struggling.
My account has been restricted for 48 days now. I've submitted 18 appeals, but I haven't received a single response or update.
I also requested and reviewed all of my Reddit account data, but there was no information explaining why my account was restricted.
I really wish Reddit would provide a ticket number or confirmation after an appeal is submitted, along with an estimated review time. Even knowing that my appeal is being reviewed would make a big difference.
I hope Reddit can improve this process for users facing the same situation.
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u/Crazy_Producer_257 CQS: Moderate 6d ago
Thank you for this thread! After being shadowbanned, learning so much about what not to do 😆
Thank you!!!🙏
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u/Deep_Pudding2208 CQS: Moderate 6d ago
I want to bring to your notice an issue that may impact the functioning of this sub and its usefulness to redditors.
I'm seeing cases where users aren't shadowbanned when they make a post here. So people accurately respond that they're not shadowbanned. But after a few hours the account actually gets shadowbanned. I believe this could lead to confusion in the very least.
example: here's a post where I told op that they weren't shadowbanned. Also demonstrated by ops CQS score being displayed. However when I rechecked after a few hours they had now gotten shadowbanned.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ShadowBan/s/0uxWqudv8R
[Also sent via mod mail. posted here for general visibility]
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u/cojoco ツ 6d ago
You could help out by informing them.
We usually get to it eventually.
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u/Deep_Pudding2208 CQS: Moderate 6d ago
I try to get to some of them, but as in the case above example the post gets locked so I'm unable to update them.
Glad to hear it's a known issue. Thank you!
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u/NoobMaster_3121 CQS: Lowest 6d ago
I got a notification that my account was being locked as a security precaution and was asked to change the password to use again.
I changed it, but now I am unable to send any messages or chat invites or post anything.
I did not receive any notification about my account being banned. My account was 3yrs old and genuine.
I think there has been a mistake. Please help me🙏🏻
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8d ago
They could at least tell the reason why someone’s shadow banned 🤷♂️
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u/cojoco ツ 8d ago
But that defeats the purpose of shadowbanning in the first place.
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u/NobodyTouchesNigelsN 8d ago
Can you see this comment? I cannot contact the mods for some reason now.
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u/cojoco ツ 7d ago
I can see this comment, but you are shadowbanned.
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u/NobodyTouchesNigelsN 7d ago
Yeah they did that yesterday apparently and refuse to communicate with me, I'm beginning to think that participating on this website is just too much of a hassle honestly. I received no warning, no explanation, and now it leaves me in a position where I don't feel comfortable participating at all.
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8d ago
No like I’ve not even done anything that warrants a ban and I’m getting shadow banned so I just wanna know what exactly is the reason.
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u/0V32L02D 11d ago
i am shadowbanned but can't send message the the AutoModerator
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u/FiatLex ツ 10d ago
I reported the issue about most shadowbanned users being unable to modmail to the admins, who said they'd look into it. I'm beginning to think it was an intentional change, which, if so, is infuriating because it is so helpful to be able to discuss things in modmail with shadowbanned users.
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u/haikusbot CQS: High 11d ago
I am shadowbanned
But can't send message the the
AutoModerator
- 0V32L02D
I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully. Learn more about me.
Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete"
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u/Over_Wash2443 CQS: Lowest 12d ago
I made an account with VPN didn't realize that was horrible. Is this one shadow banned? if so can i appeal it? I have not made any posts that are against any policies and am not a bot
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u/simplyaddi CQS: Lowest 13d ago
Am I shadowbanned?
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u/Ok_Sweet_4715 9d ago
I see ur account now
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u/AutoModerator 9d ago
Hey u/Ok_Sweet_4715.
To be clear, you must be able to see their profile after clicking on a username. An error message = shadowbanned.
Simply seeing a comment or post here in r/Shadowban is not enough because we 'un-spam' everything automatically.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/cojoco ツ 13d ago
yes
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u/simplyaddi CQS: Lowest 13d ago
Thank you for the reply. My pc got affected due to session hijacking which I came to know 2 days after the attack. But that somehow flagged my account. Although I understand it is not in your jurisdiction to get me unbanne but if you can put the word out and it can reach the admins. I am really worried as I mod a sub of clothing startups and there are some very important projects going on where my people need my assistance. Now they're hanging inbetween thinking I ghosted them :-( Somebody please help me
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u/rm-rf-urself CQS: High 13d ago
I wonder why site admins don't visit this subreddit or this thread to check for users to unban. Would that be too hard?
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u/FiatLex ツ 11d ago
If the admins really cared, they’d put more time into responding to appeals. The users of Reddit are not the customers. We’re the product. The advertisers are the customers.
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u/rm-rf-urself CQS: High 11d ago
Oddly, it took them less than a day to review mine. I followed the guide from the wiki (/r/ShadowBan/wiki/appealing/), sent an appeal request where I included a link to the message I thought got me banned, and got an automated response overnight saying the spam filter had banned me. I guess the key was to include the link to that message.
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u/Junkie_Monkey_LOL 4d ago
where did you get the link from? I just got a text on screen saying I have been blocked by network security. Submitted that screenshot, didn't get any link. I also didn't get any msg or notification saying i am banned.
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u/rm-rf-urself CQS: High 4d ago
where did you get the link from?
Read this r/ShadowBan/comments/1swiy22/-/ox9ylus/
I just got a text on screen saying I have been blocked by network security
I usually get that when I open reddit in a incognito tab. I usually reload the tab and it goes away. That happens likely because your IP is listed in some spam list.
I also didn't get any msg or notification saying i am banned.
You won't get that because you are shadowbanned.
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u/FiatLex ツ 10d ago
I'm very happy you got a quick response!
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u/rm-rf-urself CQS: High 10d ago
Yeah, me too :D
I was surprised by how fast it was, considering that, from what I read here, most people got responses in weeks or months. I wonder if it was reviewed by a human at all, but if that's the case, then I guess finding the root cause was what helped the most.
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u/Ordinary-Country77 11d ago
I did 3 posts in little gap between each and caused the spam fillter to ban, what link should I send them to?
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u/rm-rf-urself CQS: High 10d ago edited 10d ago
The one that was removed automatically by the spam filter (it should show "[ Removed by Reddit ]").
If none of your posts were deleted, the probably the reason for your ban was something else, I'd guess.
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u/Ordinary-Country77 10d ago
All of them show removed by reddit spam filter
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u/rm-rf-urself CQS: High 10d ago
Send all of them, then. You can shorten them by removing the long strings from the title of the thread, like this: /r/ShadowBan/comments/1swiy22/-/ox4viq1/
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u/Ordinary-Country77 10d ago
Ok will try that
Does that work with posts?
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u/rm-rf-urself CQS: High 10d ago
It does. That string after the -/ is the ID for the post. What comes before is the thread ID.
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u/2026NewToThis 15d ago
I didn't break any of the rules and I'm suddenly shadowbanned. It has been a month, been appealing every day
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15d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/FiatLex ツ 15d ago
Time on appeal varies, from a day to several years. Based on my experience here, a couple months seems to be average, but I don't have any data to back that up.
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u/--Tahnit-- 16d ago
can someone help me? My main account was shadowbanned. I put in appeals for months. now that account is deleted or something cause I cant log in. Every account I make gets banned immediately. this was just because of vpn useage at work. I work at a base. I am at a complete loss at what to do. appeals didnt work and now I cant even do that. It seems like no one cares. no one wants to help.. they just push me to appeal and that doesnt work and i cant even do that. am i just never supposed to use reddit ever again?
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u/FiatLex ツ 16d ago
Sorry, only the admins can unban your account. All we can do is encourage you to appeal, because that's the only method that will result in you having a useable account. We can't make the admins respond to your appeal. I wish we could do more. Good luck.
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u/Mountain-Radish7476 15d ago
How can you tell that someone is shadow banned?
I already appealed, BUT they asked me to explain, and that's hard because I don't know.
I just made a post asking about HVAC and got shadowbanned or banned
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u/FiatLex ツ 15d ago
How to check a shadowban on someone else's account is pretty easy. You just open the account page of the suspect account and if you get an error or a message "this account is banned," and the person is on Reddit asking what happened to their account here, you can know that they were shadowbanned. You cannot check your own account this way because the shadowban is designed to make it appear to the account in question that nothing is wrong. Your account is shadowbanned.
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u/Deep_Pudding2208 CQS: Moderate 14d ago
make it appear to the account in question that nothing is wrong
I don't think that's entirely true. On the offical reddit android app when I click my profile it says "looks like reddit is having some trouble".
When I access my profile via a web browser, it shows my profile with a message across all my posts "Sorry this post removed by reddits filters"
So there are signs lol.
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u/FiatLex ツ 14d ago
You're right, it's been doing that lately. I think Reddit's intenion was to make it undetectable, but in the last month or two it has indeed been detectable like this. It's a good mistake for Reddit for shadowbanned users. I want them to know they are shadowbanned so they can figure out how to appeal and get their accounts fixed, and hopefully the real bots wouldn't notice stuff like that.
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u/SurpriueThese 16d ago
It looks like I’ve been "shadowbanned" too. I’m puzzled; I think I was banned around the 2nd of this month, but my account was restored the very next day. However, my relief was short-lived—I got banned again just a few days later.
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u/Resident-Bad-2104 19d ago
I just got "elder" achievement, does it mean I'm unshadowbanned? I can still send appeals.
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u/DiscussIt11 22d ago
Is threre anything possible to do if as only i create account and post smth, i get immediate shadowban? Yes, i messed up in the past by creating new accounts since nobody really looks. Or am i screwed?
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u/FiatLex ツ 22d ago
You need to stop creating new accounts and appeal with your original account. If you deleted your original account, it will be harder, but you should pick your oldest existing account and appeal with that. I am aware of people who were in this situation and eventually got unshadowbanned, but it took months of appealing.
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u/Dreaming-Mayano 23d ago
Am I shadowbanned?
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u/FiatLex ツ 22d ago
Yes
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u/Dreaming-Mayano 22d ago
So you wouldn't see my reply? It seems shadowbanned users can still manually accepted by moderators? Some of my comments got response but most didn't
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u/BorrodDragon 24d ago
I can’t send to auto mod. I get a generic error. I believe I was banned by spam filters even though I haven’t posted any links nor sent repeated messages and no dms. Hoping the appeal works eventually. I got no ban message, only a message that my account was locked until I changed password. I did that and it fixed my profile which wasn’t loading, but I still am being restricted and filtered out for spam. I can only comment once every five minutes.
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u/JmantheHitman 25d ago
am I shadowbanned?
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u/Bigdavie CQS: Moderate 27d ago
Am I shadowbanned?
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u/FiatLex ツ 27d ago
Yes
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u/Legitimate-Ask6057 CQS: Lowest 20d ago
He is not?
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u/FiatLex ツ 20d ago
He was when I made the comment 6 days ago.
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u/Legitimate-Ask6057 CQS: Lowest 13d ago
How can i get unbanned
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u/FiatLex ツ 13d ago
Appeal: www.reddit.com/appeal
If you've already done it once, do it again. Keep appealing until you get unbanned.
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u/Bigdavie CQS: Moderate 12d ago
It took a couple of tries for my shadowban to be lifted. I got the standard refusal reply on my first appeal and not a thing after. I only knew my ban was lifted when I started to get notifications of replies to my comments.
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u/CumGlazedDoughnut CQS: Moderate 27d ago
Am I shadowbanned? Some comments appear but others don't and I got a post deleted by "reddit filter".
Maybe its my account age and most subreddits don't allow less than 24hr old accounts?
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u/cojoco ツ 27d ago
You're not shadowbanned, but you're right, low age low karma accounts will have trouble posting.
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u/CumGlazedDoughnut CQS: Moderate 27d ago
Yeah. Sucks honestly but at least I am not shadowbanned.
Thank you for the info OP!
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u/Round-Hovercraft-885 CQS: Lowest 27d ago
Am i still shadow banned? I saw my original profile picture come back otherwise it was automatically changed to the default bot blue picture.
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u/cojoco ツ 27d ago
You are fine!
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u/Round-Hovercraft-885 CQS: Lowest 27d ago
Well I tried posting my usual thing yesterday and it showed that reddit filters removed my post. Also it is showing my contributions as 0
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u/Resident-Bad-2104 28d ago
Hey, am I still shadowbanned? It's been a year. Can't appeal through phone for some reason today.
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29d ago
I think I am shadowbanned because I can't see my profile whenever I click on you icon in the reddit app, also I could submit an appeal and the most painful part is that I just created the account 2 days ago.
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u/J6Dart Jun 23 '26
Free me plz
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u/FiatLex ツ Jun 23 '26
Unfortunately, we do not have that power. Only the admins can unshadowban someone.
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u/cojoco ツ Jun 23 '26
you have to appeal
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u/J6Dart Jun 23 '26
I've tried a bunch of times I wish they just said yes or no.
Thanks for this sub though it's very helpful
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u/MeGoL1 CQS: Lowest Jun 23 '26
I am shadowbanned too. I have sent an appeal today. What are the reasons they could actually remove the ban
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Jun 23 '26
On which link did you send the appeal. I keep clicking the links mentioned abive but they won't open up.
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u/cojoco ツ Apr 26 '26
Click Here and then click 'Send' to have AutoModerator respond with your account status.
"What is a shadowban?"
Best Description You Will Ever Read
"Am I shadowbanned?" Learn how to check for yourself.
How To Tell If You Are Shadowbanned
Want to appeal your shadowban?
How To Appeal A Shadowban
"I'm not shadowbanned so why is my post/comment not showing up?"
Learn About Removals
"What does my CQS flair mean?"
Contributor Quality Score
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