Facebook has been the king of social media for quite some time now and its constant evolution shows that it has no plans of stepping down from its throne anytime soon! One problem that has been a mainstay on the social networking platform is an abundance of fake profiles.
While Facebook has taken important steps to get rid of this problem, the number of fake profiles or bots hasn’t gone down significantly. But now, it looks like the social media service has finally cracked the code of how to get this issue under control!
Recently, renowned social media consultant Matt Navarra tweeted about Facebook adopting a new way to verify if an account was created by a real person. Yes, that’s right, people will now have to take a video selfie of themselves to convince Facebook that it’s them behind a particular account. Navarra got wind of the news from a Twitter user (W.S).
Navarra’s tweet also included a couple of screenshots (featured below) through which we can get a better idea of Facebook’s latest initiative to battle fake accounts. Basically, you will be required to create a video selfie of yourself in which you will turn your head in different directions.
Facebook has clearly stated that the purpose of this video is only to confirm the identity of the account creator. Moreover, the video will neither appear on the concerned user’s profile nor be saved by Facebook itself. It will be deleted after the completion of the verification process.
While this move by Facebook has the potential to control (if not end) the fake profiles from increasing on the platform, users have their doubts surrounding it. Some are not buying that Facebook will delete the videos, considering its history of handling user data. Some have also praised this step, while others are confident that bots will get smarter to topple this obstacle as well.
It remains to be seen how effective this approach turns out to be both in the short and long run. Have you or someone you know been asked to submit a video selfie to confirm their identity on Facebook yet? Let us know in the comments!
Read next: Facebook Messenger for Kids to introduce new ‘befriending’ protocols
While Facebook has taken important steps to get rid of this problem, the number of fake profiles or bots hasn’t gone down significantly. But now, it looks like the social media service has finally cracked the code of how to get this issue under control!
Recently, renowned social media consultant Matt Navarra tweeted about Facebook adopting a new way to verify if an account was created by a real person. Yes, that’s right, people will now have to take a video selfie of themselves to convince Facebook that it’s them behind a particular account. Navarra got wind of the news from a Twitter user (W.S).
Navarra’s tweet also included a couple of screenshots (featured below) through which we can get a better idea of Facebook’s latest initiative to battle fake accounts. Basically, you will be required to create a video selfie of yourself in which you will turn your head in different directions.
Facebook has clearly stated that the purpose of this video is only to confirm the identity of the account creator. Moreover, the video will neither appear on the concerned user’s profile nor be saved by Facebook itself. It will be deleted after the completion of the verification process.
While this move by Facebook has the potential to control (if not end) the fake profiles from increasing on the platform, users have their doubts surrounding it. Some are not buying that Facebook will delete the videos, considering its history of handling user data. Some have also praised this step, while others are confident that bots will get smarter to topple this obstacle as well.
It remains to be seen how effective this approach turns out to be both in the short and long run. Have you or someone you know been asked to submit a video selfie to confirm their identity on Facebook yet? Let us know in the comments!
Read next: Facebook Messenger for Kids to introduce new ‘befriending’ protocols
Just got suspended from FB and asked to upload a video selfie. Not uploading anything unless they tell me specifically why I was suspended!
ReplyDeleteHi - the same thing just happened to me. I’m reading up on it before I react.
DeleteI was just kicked off of FB today (05/04) and told I have 180 days to upload a facial video to get back on. That isn't going to happen. They didn't tell me why I was suspended. I don't trust FB and in many respects, they did me a favor. Never going back.
DeleteSo it seems rampant for quite some time now... I thought I was the only one getting this issue lately. I agree, Meta doesn't lay out a very accurate explanation as to why they are sanctioning people aside from a very vague community standards violation that they can't even outline properly. Then whenever you create a new account they'll deny you of the platform like you're some criminal.
DeleteI want to use facebook marketplace to sell items. I was asked to upload a selfie video which I am extremely uncomfortable with. I am disabled and have a disfigured face. I resell items to make a living. I find it offensive and disgusting that a social media company is requesting my ID or video of me. Are peoples with physical deformities/ disabilities not allowed to use facebook? I don't even take pictures for family holidays or have any of myself. There is no way I am going to upload a picture.
ReplyDeleteJust had the same thing with the same thoughts of I only trust them to try to make money off me.
ReplyDeleteSame here. Have to take a video to get my account back. At first I thought it was a scam, but after reading this here, it looks legit
ReplyDeleteI am a senior with Stage 3 uterine cancer and a shaved head. Facebook has no reason to cut me out. Disgusted.
ReplyDeleteThey locked me out too. I use a PC without a camera. Why and the heck can't you just upload a drivers license?
ReplyDeleteAfter many years of steadfastly refusing to join Facebook, I recently relented in order to see what my grandkids were up to. I had and have no intention of establishing a presence or conducting business on FB. When I was told I had to post a video selfie in order to proceed, I quit. I assume the presumption is that I use a smart phone to access the internet, but I use a laptop without a functioning camera. I guess Zuck doesn't want dinosaurs on his platform.
ReplyDeleteNo thanks FB. You're not getting my personal info. You already have more than enough
ReplyDeleteI was kicked off of face book in November for an unknown reason and received no answer now they want selfies well my profile page has my photo and that is the only one face book will get.
ReplyDeleteSame here! It is unheard of to willingly submit a video of yourself to any social media and I bet it is also illegal as I never agreed to such activity up on registering! Call it an invasion of privacy!!! If we all boycott this illegal social media request, it will have a tremendous impact. First fb was asking for a security code and now for selfies and even worse, self video. I won't comply and frankly, it is time at least for me to divorce fb. Goodbye fb and actually, thanks for giving me back my free time to enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI agree!! Same happened to me. I am not comfortable with posting a video, plus my PC does not have a camera...so how can I do it???
DeleteFB can use that if you express an opinion which government don't like and share your video with them.
ReplyDeleteSo don't do it
This is ridiculous! I wouldn't do it either!
ReplyDeleteFacebook just suspended my account with no indication of why this was done. They have requested a video selfie and I am willing to comply but my web cam is not working. Since I rarely use this camera I really don't want to purchase a new one. How can I contact Facebook to explain my situation. I did not receive an email from them probably because my email address has changed since I joined more than 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI am in the same boat. I was suspended for no reason and they want the video. I also am on a PC with no camera, so how am I to record a selfie??? I do not access Facebook on my phone. I get very few posts from people I know, but a lot of junk dumped on my feed that I never requested. I agree with the one who said they would now get their life back without the FB distraction!
ReplyDeleteI have had the same happen to me just yesterday. I was suspended for no reason and they want a selfie. My PC has no camera...how am I to provide a selfie? I rarely get posts from friends, most of what I get is unsolicited junk in my feed. Maybe they are doing me a favor and I can spend my time elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteim trying to set up a fb account so i can used fb marketplace. But im very nervous about providing a selfie. I'll probably just stick to craigslist, etc. Shame fb cant come up with something less invasive.
ReplyDeleteYes they want the video to make sure you're real - then deny you from getting an account. Guess I'm not real. They also let hackers take over you account do nothing to help you get it back, you can appeal the ban but their AI denies you immediately. So they punish the victim and reward the hacker until enough of your friends tell them the account was hacked. So the hacker gets a week or so being you and doing harm. Oh and you only get 1 appeal then you are permanently banned for something that was NOT your fault. So lets all praise how great their AI has become as customer service (sarcastic)
ReplyDeleteHAHAHAHA Facebook wants to film myself HAHAHAHA That's crazy man, is crazy that people do this.
ReplyDeleteHow would they know it's Anna Smith vs. Janice Brown? What, they are going to search archives (WHAT ARCHIVES?) to verify it''s you? A basic photo should suffice AT MOST. Zuckerberg is a fake as usual. Never stopped censoring and/or destroying the accounts of conservatives. LIAR.
ReplyDeleteI need to have a Facebook account to do volunteer work. I am not uploading a selfie! So the organization may be losing a volunteer.
ReplyDeleteFacebook suspended my account and they will not say why other that it happened recently. I refuse to comply with an unreasonable demand. They have years of information of me along with DL already. I do not need to submit a a selfie movie of myself lol. This might work on the young and naive but I am sharper than the average bear. The power of NO!
ReplyDeleteI also was trying to set up a new account to start selling on marketplace. FB also wanted a video selfie. I don't post pictures of myself or family on FB.
ReplyDeleteI did the video selfie and my account was disabled. Apparently, even if it's 100% legit, they can still turn you down. Oh well... Facebook is full of bots and they deny legit users. They're really going downhill...
ReplyDeleteLike everyone stated, got kicked off FB, unless I post video. I don't have camera on my desktop PC - I'm unable and unwilling to comply with their requirements.
ReplyDeleteI was getting scam posts and finding some stuff posted annoying or offensive. FB was becoming more of a nuisance. I've decided this was the final straw, And I've given up on FB...
Facebook has blocked my account too with no specific explanation of why. Asking anyone to upload a facial recognition video is just wrong and an invasion of privacy. I've been a faithful user for well over 10 years and now suddenly I'm blocked? It's sad to lose my connection to Facebook but now it seems the only alternative.
ReplyDeleteI received an email from facebook (on 2/19/25) but it doesn't say anything specific about the reason. Here is the text of the email:
ReplyDelete"Your Facebook account has been suspended. This is because your account, or activity on it, doesn't follow our Community Standards on account integrity.
If you think we suspended your account by mistake, you have 180 days to appeal our decision. If you miss this deadline your account will be permanently disabled."
I only accessed facebook on my personal desktop computer which does not have a camera. Beyond that, I am very distrustful of facebook's real intentions of demanding everyone allow them to record video selfies ("we can't access your camera") and not providing an alternate method of unlocking our own account. It's also suspicious that I got a second email saying I can no longer use my business account which I do not and never had. The main reason I even had a fb account is because my family members use it primarily to communicate what they are up to.
just jumped through this FB hoop to "prove" that I am a live person. Hope that the expression on my face didn't get me any demerits. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteI was using facebook up to early 2020 I think, then was off for a while after they had been flagging all different posts as "misinformation". After some time I tried again but didn't remember my password, and to change it, they wanted my drivers license. Now how would they know that my account and name on account actually matches my locense? When they never had my locenze to start with
ReplyDelete(This may be a second comment from me, I bumped the publish button before I was done, this is not repeating anything since everything together they said ws too long.) Yesterday, 4/28/25, I was suddenly logged off, thought it was my browser glitching. Logged back in, and to my surprise it said my account is suspended, and that I violated policy, and that I have 180 days to appeal. They did not say what I did wrong, but pointed to their policies which included things like making fake accounts. When they would notify me that a post of mine had supposedly misinformation, or false info, or was missing context, or whatever, they always pointed to which post it was. Yet they couldn't even point to anything for the most sever action of for all practical purposes, banning me, and they say if I don't appeal and overturn their decision, I will never be allowed on facebook again. Ironically, they say that they empower free speech, and that they know that suspending accounts is a very serious thing that is not to be done without good reason. I have had my account for over 10 years, and they never had a problem with me, well, atleast not accusing me of being fake. Have tons of messages with a number of friends since I first started. My account clearly does not look like a fake bot account. Also, when they would give you the chance to appeal when they flag a post of yours, they never allowed me to actually type a comment for why the flagging was wrong, or their fact check was false, they would only allow you to select a couple different premade options which were never accurate enough or satisfactory to why their decision was wrong. Well I read through all their policies they pointed me to and I had not violated anything. I tried to appeal. And you know what they demand from me, the very first step? Video selfie. It is extortion. They want to use their ai facial recognition software to profile everyone exactly. Again, I have not had any pictures of me up for years, so how would they prove I am the legitimate holder of that account or that my face belongs to my name on my account? They know it is my account and so they want to identify me to that extent, taking my biometrics. It is beyond invasion of privacy, who do they think they are to demand such a thing, to "prove I'm a real person"? It has nothing to do with violatong any policy. If I broke a rule, and did something so wrong as to deserve immediete banning without any warning whatsoever, and I want to appeal it, why is the first thing not rather telling me what I supposedly did wrong, letting me say if I did or did not do what they accuse me of, and if they have proof I did break a rule and did not heed a warning which I also never received, why would they not show me and say, sorry, but you're banned now because of it? Like how would giving them my facial biometrics somehow make a bad action go away and then it's ok now? I literally have no option to actually appeal, only to surrender forever my facial biometrics so they can tie my real identity to everything I have ever posted, shared, commented, etc. This is a massive privacy violation. And I can't help but assume that this must have been because they didn't like one of my recent comments on a couple friends posts, which both agreed with the posts, had no false or offensive information, and also was within my rights of speech and opinion. One relating to autism, one relating to the right to criticize other countries. Now, I don't actually know why they are banning me, but the timing makes me think it was one of those, and that they are using the other policies as an excuse to ban me because I have no pictures up and they don't have to say that they just don't like the true things I said which were also completely civil.
ReplyDeleteHad this happen a,couple of days ago. No explanation of why they decided I broke the rules. I just use FB to keep up with scattered family members. I have no way to take a selfie. No smartphone, no camera on my desktop. I'm a senior citizen, and this makes no sense.
ReplyDeleteI am leery of providing a video selfie of my face, as that is likely being used to improve the Deep Fake AI generators that are out there ... next they will want us to read a "statement" to capture our voices and facial expressions as we speak ....
ReplyDeleteI have been on FB for over 10 years! Never had a problem, they have my picture on my account! I do not make posts up. Anything I post has been sent to me because I like it. I look at marketplace for what is for sale! I have never posted on marketplace or purchased from there! If I want to sell It will be on e-bay or Amazon! I was on FB looking on my site and on marketplace when I was going to take a break so I logged out! I then remembered something I was going to look for and went to log back in! Surprise when I went to log in and they told me I had to create a video selfie for Identity verification! I have no camera on my desktop! I thought someone had taken over my account! I checked my e-mails and FB had sent me a notice my account had been suspended!! I then tried to contact FB, that was a joke! No phone# that anyone answers! No way to send an e-mail! You can look through a long list of things that might be wrong but nothing to explain this. I thought I had been hacked and they wanted a selfie video! So today I type in Confirm your identity with a video selfie with 3 views of your face! I FIND THIS SITE: I learn I have not been hacked!! My picture has been good for over 10 years! FB is not much of a company if they do not inform the people that use their product of changes they make!! They worry about FB but not the people that use their product! FB does not even tell anyone about changing and making people do video selfie!! They do not even have that on any list when you look for how to correct a problem, with FB!
ReplyDeleteI have been on facebook for at least 15 years, maybe longer and suddenly they want to know I am real? I will not do a selfie video for them, and I certainly would never allow them access to my phone which they want
ReplyDelete