The social network Instagram values its reputation and carefully moderates the content that appears in the news feed, recommendations, or on the pages of bloggers and celebrities. In addition to unacceptable photos, the social network is capable of issuing warnings of the following format: “It seems that there is a prohibited link in your Instagram profile.” In some situations, such a problem signals the need to dig into the settings and change or delete the URL. Sometimes, along with the blocking of links, other difficulties arise – blocking access to likes and comments, new publications, and even communication in Direct.
What links are blocked in the profile header?
The Instagram administration considers the following to be unacceptable URL links posted in the profile’s additional information section:
- Websites with inappropriate content that violate the social network’s rules. Additionally, phishing resources registered on a domain similar to Instagram’s to steal confidential information and URLs with multiple redirects are also blocked.
- Links to Snapchat and Telegram accounts are automatically blocked. The developers are not afraid of competition but are forced to add this restriction due to the inability to predict the content of advertised profiles on social networks and messengers. Instagram is concerned about its reputation.
- A separate category of links that the administration will try to ban immediately are URLs leading to unindexed internet resources with a questionable or negative reputation.
In addition to the listed situations, there are other scenarios focused primarily on complaints from subscribers and random visitors to the profile. If there are too many messages of this nature, the administration may go ahead and remove the link from the profile description and issue a warning to the page owner.
Inconsistency of some pages with the rest of the site’s content (for example, pages with links to the sale of prohibited goods) can also be a basis for a ban.
Instagram secrets – what links are allowed to be posted
In addition to scenarios where adding a link to a profile is not allowed, the administration of the social network in the FAQ section also considers URL addresses where no problems should arise:
- A personal website designed in the format of a portfolio, an online store with allowed products, or a business card describing the offered services and demonstrating the price list. It is important to remember to choose a domain name that is not provocative or prohibited.
- Internet resources where it is easy to conduct giveaways, sales, or contests GiveAway: third-party sources, including YouTube and Twitch, are allowed. In some situations, blocking is still possible if the page owner receives numerous complaints from subscribers or random guests.
- Blogs, technical forums, pages on third-party services such as Yandex.Dzen – the list is almost unlimited, but sometimes it is important to care not only about where the link leads, but also about the chosen topic and other features.
Is it possible to remove the block on links in Instagram?
There are several ways to solve the problem with invalid URLs. First, even before the blocking occurs, it is worth using services that shorten URLs and allow you to hide the domain name from outsiders, including the Instagram administration (it is important to remember that if prohibited materials are hidden on the site, the secret will still become obvious). An alternative option is to activate the subdomain function on the hosting, which allows you to replace part of the data.
If the blocking has already occurred, you will have to act as follows. First, go to “Settings,” to the section related to the profile description. It is important to immediately get rid of the invalid URL and save the changes. After 24 hours, the restriction will most likely disappear, and the main functionality of the social network will be available again. If you cannot access your profile, then perhaps there is an IP block, and you should use a VPN (the technology is available on mobile platforms iOS and Android, and in the browser using plugins like Browsec) and repeat the procedure for removing information.
The last option is to write an appeal to technical support, tell them everything, and ask for help.
The warning “It looks like there is a prohibited link in your Instagram profile” is not a sentence. There are many ways to bypass the restriction, and with enough experimentation, there will be a chance to avoid blocking and even keep the URL in the profile description. If frequent attempts have led to the blocking of individual social features on Instagram, it is worth seeking help from the administration and describing the situation in detail.