FB users report getting locked out of their accounts due to problems with Facebook Protect

Are you one of those people who can’t access their Facebook accounts right now? If yes, you were also one of those who received an email from the platform with the title: Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect. People who ignored the email say that this caused the issue. However, others also report experiencing the same problem even after complying with the request.

For those uninitiated, the Facebook Protect feature is a program offered by Facebook to help specific individuals who are often subject to hacking. They could be elected political officials, human rights defenders, journalists, political candidates, and more. They are offered additional protection with two-factor authentication.

“With Facebook Protect, we worked to make enrollment and use of two-factor authentication as frictionless as possible for these groups of people by providing better user experience and support,” Meta explains in a blog post. “We’re also starting to require that they use it. We know that there will always be a small subset of users that won’t immediately enroll, for example those that happen to be less active on our platform at the time of a given mandate. However, we believe this is an important step forward for these highly targeted communities. What we’ve seen so far is encouraging: in early testing, simplifying our enrollments flows, improving customer support, and mandating Facebook Protect brought adoption rates to over 90 percent in one month for these groups.”

The platform started sending the email in March with a message indicating the last date the receivers can apply the Facebook Protect feature alongside the warning that failing to do so will lock them out. However, there was one problem: the email sent using the address [email protected] appeared like spam, which caused a lot of individuals to leave it unopened. Then, March 17 came, the first deadline regarding the Facebook Protect request, where many experienced the situation.

Fortunately, Facebook reaches out to explain the situation through messages. The message also contains the option to unlock the account by activating Facebook Protect. They will be given three options: Authentication App, Text Message, and Security Key. However, some say that the two latter options do not work. It was confirmed by many on Twitter, which became the alternative platform for those who got locked out of their FB accounts. Sadly, the platform still doesn’t have any explanation for what causes this problem.