Update: 03/10/16

Its been over a day since the bug has been fixed. All the affected accounts have been reinstated. 

Yes! You read the title right. Sharing the photo of a cat in a suit (via a private message) is all it takes to get locked out of your Facebook account. I did not buy it, but a few screenshots later I realized it was totally true and set out to find what triggers the Facebook algorithm to flag accounts that share the image.

The Image In Question

 The Image In Question

I tried some basic changes like changing the file name, removing exif data. The end result always remained the same. It was confirmed on 7 other accounts and none of the accounts have been re enabled yet.

screenshot-71

Contacting Support

Facebook’s support makes me cringe. There is no way to contact a real person with ease, the best you can do it search the help section and reach a form. The only form that was related to this situation has to be this:

uppp

Filling it up with relevant details for 3 accounts led to the same reply from Facebook:

reply

Fine. Okay, maybe Facebook had a hidden form which needed to be filled. No. Facebook replied with a link that is broken!

733fdaa2f98a4555aebbf733fc67c4c3

It happened with every account that we tried on,  while this shouldn’t be happening in the first place the support makes it even more worse. There are people who rely on the site for a number of things (luckily, I am not one among them) and in all honesty, reaching support shouldn’t be this difficult.

Ironically, the best place to contact a human rep from Facebook would be to reach out to them on Twitter !

We wanted to hear a response from Facebook over this, but sadly there is no email that is available via which we can reach out to them. Until then, If someone asks you to share a photo of a innocent looking cat wearing a suit, just don’t do it.

Update:

Few blogs have picked it up but have a misunderstanding that another blogger was the first to experience & report this issue. It is totally false & the sole purpose of this post being made was because no other site had covered it at the time writing. The bug has been around for over 2 weeks now.

Pro Tip: Learn to mention your sources! 

43 Responses

  1. Manish

    yaa. most of my friend’s account are disabled now.
    a pic of the cat in a suit, what did it do to most of my friend’s facebook accounts.
    fucking cat. facebook should immediately take an action to recover all the data of my friends.

    Reply
  2. Devdatt

    Something’s written on the left side of the shirt and on the top left of the photo . Can anyone decipher it ?

    Reply
    • Abhishekg

      “Sudheesh kk vallithoode” in Malayalam Language. I think he photoshopped the image.

      Reply
  3. Tarun

    This is a nightmare. All my memories, moments and posts all probably lost forever. Is there any response yet ? Will facebook solve this ?

    Reply
    • Jay

      All your content is safe. Facebook would sort it out soon. Once the account is enabled, you will get back all your content.

      Reply
      • aheed mp

        could you please give me that link . am also do the same .

      • Jay

        Its already hyperlinked in the text. Look for “form” and click it.

  4. aheed mp

    friend , when my account reback . i already did the same setup yesterday night . but i didnt get my fb account yet ..

    Reply
  5. Anirudh

    It’s been 2 days since my Facebook account got disabled due to the cat picture, and my account is still disabled. How long till fb stops to disable my account?

    Reply
    • Jay

      Facebook’s support is NOT something that one could count on, your best best would be to fill the form linked in the post and wait for them to respond.

      Reply
  6. Anoop

    My account also got disabled. Can i recover it again…?? How long it will take?

    Reply
    • Jay

      Fill the form as shown in the post and they must be replying in a day or two.

      Reply
  7. Adarsh Kumar

    I already filled the form received a mail from Facebook it saying that you are submitted wrong from please fill out this one when I click on that link it is saying expired.

    Reply
    • Jay

      Yeah, we explained that in the post. You really have no much choice here. I would suggest you to contact them via twitter. (Their handle is @facebook) Do tag us so that we can keep a track. We can be reached on @techzei

      Reply
  8. dhinesh

    hey sir.. i am facing the same problem from yesterday i dint get any reply from facebook. Is there any other way to contact facebook? please help. thanks

    Reply
    • Jay

      Your best bet would be to wait for them to reply. Else, try contacting them on twitter. You can check @Techzei for the tweet.

      Reply
    • Jay

      The bug was corrected earlier in the day. However the effected accounts have not been restored.

      Reply

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