Ban a user or Page: This feature allows the moderator to ban a user or another Facebook Page. The banned user will still be able to view and share content from the media’s Facebook Page but will be unable to engage – e.g., like or comment – with any of your posts. The moderator can choose to unban the user at any time.
Click here to learn how to ban or block a user or Page.
Remove a user from the Page: This feature allows the moderator to remove a user who likes and follows your Page. However, Facebook considers Pages as public spaces and therefore the user who has been removed can choose to follow or like your Page again.
Click here to learn how to report a post or comment on your page.
When would audience moderators normally ban or remove a user?
Moderators ban users who persistently post abusive or hateful comments, even after being warned. In such cases, the moderator informs the user of the ban and provides an email address or link to a form for contacting the audience moderation team to regain access to the Page. If contacted, moderators decide on a case-by-case basis whether to unban users based on an assessment of whether the abusive behaviour will continue or not.
It is important to keep a record of banned users and the content or comment that led to the decision in case the user decides to issue an official complaint against the media outlet. Social media experts also recommend to be as transparent as possible with the user regarding the decision to ban them and to provide links to the media outlet’s community standards.
Removing a user can be used as a warning to deter future abusive comments.