Since early March, many Facebook users have been receiving an email titled “O accounts you require advanced security from the facebook protect” (or Turn on Facebook Protect) stating that they must enable Facebook Protect (you can do so by clicking a link in the email) by a certain date or they will be banned from their account.
The program, according to Facebook, is a “security program for groups of people who are likely to be targeted by hacker, such as human rights defenders, journalists and government officials". It is intended to ensure that these accounts are monitored for hacking threats and protected by two-factor authentication (2FA).
Unfortunately, the email that Facebook sends from security@facebookmail.com looks like a fairly common form of spam, so it is possible that many people ignored it.
It's not really spam. It is true and the first deadline was Thursday 17 March. It seems that many are the ones who have been blocked from their Facebook accounts - and are having problems with the process that Facebook has to bring them back.
Those who did not activate Facebook Protect before their deadline will receive a message explaining why they cannot log in to their accounts and offering to help activate them. However, it does not always work:
I got locked out of Facebook indefinitely today because I didn't respond to emails from FB (that looked like a scam) about its new Facebook Protect system, which I was required to enable by today. So far, the text and security key options don't work, many report. pic.twitter.com/0aXbiqzLv7
- Liv. (@Olivia_Thiessen) March 18, 2022
There have also been several complaints on Twitter and other social networking sites that many have been blocked from their accounts even if they have the appropriate safeguards. Some people report that text-only 2FA does not work:
Dear @FacebookApp: Your new Facebook Protect, which I didn't ask for, keeps texting me an identical two-factor verification code, which continues to not work. I'm now effectively locked out of my account. This is heightened security? Guess I'll spend more time on Twitter… @Goal
— Michael Morrell (@Genuine_Michael) March 18, 2022
Others complain that they can not go through the activation process even before the deadline and thus are effectively excluded from their accounts.
https://twitter.com/itzzdaniela/status/1504215679167172608
