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How do I appeal Facebook's content decision to the Oversight Board?

There are two types of content decisions you can appeal to the Oversight Board: a decision about your content or a decision about content by others that you’ve reported.


If you disagree that your content should've been taken down and you want to appeal to the Oversight Board, you must first go through the request a review process.


If you reported content from others that wasn't taken down and you want to appeal to the Oversight Board to have the content removed, you must first go through the request another review process.

Before you can appeal Facebook’s content decision to the Oversight Board, you must first go through the request a review process on your content or on the content you reported.

If we’ve reviewed your content or the content you reported twice and you still disagree with our decision, you may be eligible to appeal that decision to the Oversight Board. Keep in mind that not all content and content decisions will be eligible for appeal but we’re adding more options.

Appeal a decision Facbeook made about your content:
How do I check if I'm eligible to appeal Facebook's content decision to the Oversight Board?

To check if you are currently eligible to appeal a Facebook content decision to the Oversight Board:

    1. Scroll to the bottom of Facebook and tap Help.
    2. Tap Support Inbox.
    3. Tap Your Violations.
    4. If your content is eligible for appeal, you’ll see a message containing an Oversight Board Reference Number. This reference number begins with "FB", followed by 8 numbers and letters. If you do not see this message then you are not currently eligible to appeal a decision to the Oversight Board.

    If you do have an Oversight Board reference number in your Support Inbox, you can use it to appeal a Facebook content decision to the Oversight Board.

    How do I appeal a Facebook content decision to the Oversight Board using my Oversight Board Reference number?

    To appeal a Facebook content decision to the Oversight Board using your Reference number:

    1. Scroll to the bottom of Facebook and tap Help.
    2. Tap Support Inbox.
  1. Open the update we sent you about our decision. If your content is eligible for appeal, you’ll be able to access an Oversight Board Reference Number. This reference number begins with "FB", followed by 8 numbers and letters.
  2. Follow the on-screen instructions which will take you to the Oversight Board website to complete your appeal.
  3. On the Oversight Board website, you’ll see options to log in with a Facebook or Instagram account. Log in with the account your reference number was issued to.
  4. Once logged in to the Oversight Board website, you’ll be asked to provide responses to a few questions before completing the appeal. Your responses provide information about your post and help the board understand why you think Facebook made the wrong decision.
Appeal a decision Facbeook made about content you reported:
How do I check if I'm eligible to appeal Facebook's content decision to the Oversight Board?

To check if you are currently eligible to appeal a Facebook content decision to the Oversight Board:

    1. Scroll to the bottom of Facebook and tap Help.
    2. Tap Support Inbox.
    3. Tap Reports about others.
    4. If the content you reported is eligible for appeal, you’ll see a message containing an Oversight Board Reference Number. This reference number begins with "FB", followed by 8 numbers and letters. If you do not see this message then you are not currently eligible to appeal the decision to the Oversight Board.

    If you do have an Oversight Board reference number in your Support Inbox, you can use it to appeal a Facebook content decision to the Oversight Board.

    How do I appeal a Facebook content decision to the Oversight Board using my Oversight Board Reference Number?

    To appeal a Facebook content decision to the Oversight Board using your reference number:

    1. Scroll to the bottom of Facebook and tap Help.
    2. Tap Support Inbox.
    3. Tap Reports about others.
  1. Open the update we sent you about our decision. If the content you reported is eligible for appeal, you’ll be able to access an Oversight Board Reference Number. This reference number begins with "FB", followed by 8 numbers and letters.
  2. Follow the on-screen instructions which will take you to the Oversight Board website to complete your appeal.
  3. On the Oversight Board website, you’ll see options to log in with a Facebook or Instagram account. Log in with the account your reference number was issued to.
  4. Once logged in to the Oversight Board website, you’ll be asked to provide responses to a few questions before completing the appeal. Your responses provide information about your post and help the board understand why you think Facebook made the wrong decision.

Once you submit the appeal, the Oversight Board will decide whether or not to review it. The board only selects a certain number of eligible appeals to review, so they may not choose yours.

At any point following the submission of your appeal, you’ll be able to check the appeal status by logging on to the Oversight Board’s website using your reference number. Keep in mind that you have 15 days from when the decision was made to appeal to the Oversight Board. After 15 days, the window to appeal a decision will expire and you'll no longer be able to submit it.

Read more about the board’s bylaws and structure or learn about them in the Newsroom.

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