Instagram is one of the most popular and widely used social networks. The platform has of course set guidelines that users must adhere to if they want to be trustworthy and permanent members of the community. So if because of these guidelines you get a message that your action has been blocked, it is usually not even your fault. You will receive such a block if you have liked too many posts.
What does "action blocked" mean?
There are people who try to grow their number of followers very quickly by following a lot of users and commenting and liking excessively on different posts in a short period of time. These actions abuse the Instagram system. In other words, to protect the app and its community, Instagram finds and blocks accounts that are involved in "spammy" behavior. Instagram will block such users for a period of time and show them an "Action Blocked" error message.
If you see a message like this, it means that you have violated the system and that you have been banned from doing basic tasks like liking / commenting on other people's posts. It is important to know that violations are automatically detected by Instagram's system. So it can happen that it locks your account for an accidental or minor mistake.
Types of action blocking
Temporary ban on action
A temporary ban is just what it sounds like: temporary. This type of lock on Instagram is typically the most common. It can arise from the excessive use of certain Instagram functions. A temporary suspension of action is like a warning because you have violated the terms of use..
Action
lock with expiration date Similar to a temporary action lock, but Instagram gives you a predefined time at which this lock will be removed. Usually, these action blocks on Instagram start at 24 hours. The more you break the rules, the longer the time will be - sometimes even up to 30 days.
Permanent Block to Action
A permanent block is pretty self-explanatory. Instagram either locks you out of your account or prevents you from performing certain actions indefinitely. This usually happens after an account breaks a lot of rules or receives multiple temporary action bans..
What can trigger the lock?
The limit set by the platform may vary based on the age of your account, previous violations of Instagram rules, abuse of third-party automation tools or bots, activity, and a few other things:
You exceed Instagram's daily / hourly action
limits Instagram has daily limits on actions that can be performed by any user per hour or day. In June 2019 Instagram reduced the limits by around half, so that users who carry out all actions manually run the risk of being banned if they exceed the limits.
The action limits concern likes, comments, follow / unfollow actions and even the loading of user data. The exact limits are not yet known and may be different for each account, depending on age and activity level.
Your account is too young
The age of your account has a direct impact on the number of actions you can perform from this account. The younger your account, the more limits it has. If your account is 1-3 months old, consider gradually increasing the number of actions you take. Otherwise, even if you do everything manually, the Instagram activity surge will be detected as suspicious.
You have already violated Instagram rules.
Previous violations, such as bans or reports from other users, can lead to action bans. The number of daily actions allowed will decrease as soon as you violate Instagram guidelines.
If you post prohibited content on Instagram, such as sexual content, hate speech, fake news and the like, or violate Instagram's copyright guidelines, you will be flagged. In addition, if you have violated the guidelines from one account, it could affect your other profiles that operate with the same IP address.
You are not active enough on Instagram
Instagram is tracking your activity on the platform. So if you only stop by a few times a day to like multiple posts, your limit on daily promotions will be reduced. In this case, take your actions slowly, increasing this week by week.
You're Too Active on Instagram
If you don't post anything on Instagram, that's one extreme. But if you post way too much, that's the other thing.
The thing is, if you upload new posts several times a day every day of the week, it will be perceived as spam by Instagram and your followers. To keep a balance, post 3-7 times a week when your followers are active.
You're Abusing Automation
If you aggressively automate your Instagram actions then Instagram can easily spot your actions, resulting in an action freeze. Instagram is aware of bot activity, which is easier to spot these days after many Instagram updates introduced into the app algorithm.
All in all, you should always customize your bots' actions, keeping an eye on the age of your account, overall activity rate, number of followers and posts, and the types of actions you are taking. Don't automate all of your actions and try to like, comment, and follow within those daily or hourly limits.
Your actions are too difficult
Have you ever thought about why the action limits are different? This is because all Instagram action types have different "weights". For example, if you only use comments, your overall action limits will increase. Likes are the easiest actions in terms of limits.
How to unlock the action
Reinstall your Instagram app.
The most obvious way is to delete and reinstall your Instagram app. After that, the cookies and other data collected by Instagram should be removed, which is helpful in getting rid of the action block - especially the temporary one.
Report a problem.
When the "Action Blocked" error occurs, there are usually two options: Report or Ignore. To request a manual review by Instagram, tap the Report a Problem button.
However, some types of error popups have no option other than "OK". If so, do one of the following: Press Settings, then Help, and then click Report a problem. In the text box, write that you were blocked for some reason even though you did not do anything wrong.
Switch to mobile data.
The reason why your actions are blocked could be your IP address. Sometimes Instagram even blocks accounts at the creation stage if it doesn't like the IP. So if you see errors, switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data.
Link your Instagram account to Facebook.
Instagram allows you to create business and personal accounts without connecting them to Facebook. If your account is not connected to Facebook and has been threatened with action blocking, connect it to your Facebook account.
This is how you prove you are not a bot. To make it even better, you can link your Instagram page to other social networks.
Log in with a different device
Change the device you use to log in to Instagram. Try another smartphone, tablet, or even PC.
Wait for 24-48 hours.
All of the above options may or may not help. If none of the above methods doesn't help you get rid of Instagram Action Lock, wait and see and the lock should go away shortly. It is even better if you stop any of the Instagram actions for 24 or 48 hours. Do not use Instagram or any third-party tool during this period.
