Are you wondering why your LinkedIn account was restricted? LinkedIn is a good platform for networking; it brings opportunities that can enhance professional growth, boost business, and create global recognition. All the benefits I mentioned may not be achieved when access to your account is limited. One morning you wake up and find that an account you once built has been suspended and LinkedIn requires you to prove your identity

Today I will be giving you reasons why your LinkedIn account was restricted

Some people innocently fall victim to account restriction because they do not know LinkedIn’s professional community guidelines. Others simply know but tend to ignore or deem the guidelines not serious. Today I will be catering for the innocent people who do not know the guidelines, shared or mentioned something inappropriate on the platform, and got suspended. I know how it feels to be locked out. I have been suspended on social media before, but not Linkedin; I was not hurt though but I felt like leaving the platform because suspensions were starting to become my normal routine

Why was I always suspended from commenting or having my posts at the front? It is because I didn’t know community guidelines and would just post every form of comment that I had in mind. I have a friend called Kelvin who once appreciated Kenya in a post. I teasingly commented you are dead if you don’t come to East Africa. The words in that post were violent but the comment was not intended to be violent. Sometimes we end up victims because we don’t know guidelines

Your LinkedIn account was restricted because you shared a post that harassed someone

If there is a platform that does not entertain bullying, it is LinkedIn. On platforms such as Reddit and X, you may not get noticed but LinkedIn may not spare you. every LinkedIn user must avoid abusive language, body shaming, or any acts of intimidation that may make another user uncomfortable on the platform. Even if you are not the one who started trolling but later joined others in commenting horribly, your LinkedIn account can still be suspended

You incited or promoted violence

Let’s assume someone posted on Linkedin a post about a politician they are not in support of and instead asked for people’s negative opinions, you may end up waking up to finding a restricted account. The same happens to online protests launched or any activity that may lead the platform users to violence

Your LinkedIn account was restricted because you shared content that depicted the sexual exploitation of children

Child safety is very fundamental on every platform and that’s why LinkedIn has designed guidelines for protecting children. Not at any point must you share content exposing the nudity of a child, or videos involving content that is sexualised and is having children. Understandably, the current world allows child content to roam about every website but it is always good to ensure that no child sexual content is exposed on the internet

Children are very vulnerable to sextortion. Anyone can take advantage of them because of pictures moving about online. Let me tell you a story. I am a good photographer who used to photograph just anything. Before I got interested in digital safety, I focused a lot on capturing every interesting thing I saw. One time I found these children showering; they were excited to see a camera as they were posing, I shared the pictures on my YouTube channel, and the channel was suspended.

Yes, the children were excited but it was wrong to post a video about them online. This is protection. Sometimes we want to share because it is interesting how innocently the children pause before the camera but safety matters more than the interest

Your LinkedIn account was suspended because you tried selling an illegal good or service

LinkedIn will not entertain any advert, post, article, or flier that promotes the sale of what is illegal such as prostitution, drugs, or even escort services. The platform also doesn’t promote the selling of educational content that is feck or inaccurate. At no point must you share content that promotes duplication of documents or certifications. Therefore businesses involving forgery are not allowed

You promoted a dangerous organization/individual

Some organizations carry out illegal activities such as terrorism or violence. In case you are working with such an organization, your profile may be suspended. You may not even be working with them but could have shared a post about that organization. At times, it may even involve a dangerous individual

The information on your profile is feck

Imagine they request you to verify your profile but you are using your brother’s ID. Or you have different names on Linkedin other than your actual profile. Some people are Tanzanians but say they are from Uganda

You shared misleading content

It is not good to spread misinformation online. You know that World Bank was not hacked but you have shared a post saying it was hacked. To gain followers, you have decided to share a feck job alert

You sent a spam message

Sending messages that are uncalled for because you want to promote your service can be so annoying. There are people who will promote their services by sending a message that you don’t feel like seeing.

You made sexual advances to a member on Linkedin

Your LinkedIn account was restricted because you made sexual advances at someone, suggested a romantic relationship, or even asked for a romantic date. LinkedIn was designed as a professional platform and not a dating site. Although some people have confessed to having found love on the platform, it should also be noted that most people on Linkedin create profiles to acquire jobs and not to find love

You shared shocking or harmful material

Your LinkedIn account was restricted because you shared shocking content. It doesn’t look good to find content that causes anxiety or shock. You must have shared something that could cause someone to be terrified such as a picture of an injured person, a video of people being trained to shoot with a gun, or anything terrifying

Before you share anything, think about the impact it may have on another person. Platforms have guidelines to ensure that no harm is inflicted on anybody and that everyone achieves what they desire on the platform. Most of these suspensions happen to us when are not even aware that we broke any rules. In order not to be a victim of platform suspensions share good content and not mislead one

Protecting your LinkedIn account is vital to prevent attacks from hacking your LinkedIn account and posting content that violates LinkedIn rules

Also, be aware of phishing links spread through the platform in the name of jobs being given