Will YOU be locked out of your Facebook? If you ignored ONE email, you could be blocked

According to Facebook, the Protect scheme is designed to bolster protections for accounts that are more likely to be targeted by malicious hackers, such as human rights defenders, journalists, and government officials. Facebook Protect is designed to monitor these accounts for hacking threats and enable two-factor authentication by default.

In the original email, Facebook set a deadline for users to enable Facebook Protect. And the first of these dates has now passed, leaving some who ignored the prompt to enable Facebook Protect locked out of their accounts. “Account locked,” those who attempt to login to their Facebook account are told, “we’ve taken this precaution to keep your account secure while you enable additional security features.”

A number of Facebook users who missed the original deadline have rushed to rival social network Twitter to complain about the block. Being locked out of your account is certainly frustrating, but worse still, it seems the methods to enable Facebook Protect are not working for some users. One prominent social media user tweeted: “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.”

Another added: “this Facebook protect thing is so annoying because it’s not letting me turn it on and I need Facebook for work so I’m really hoping Facebook fixes the stupid code.”

Facebook is aware of the problems with its new Protect scheme and is looking into a fix. Head Of Security Policy At Meta – Facebook’s new parent company, Nathaniel Gleicher confirmed in a tweet: “We’re looking into isolated examples where people may need help enrolling in the program.”

In the meantime, if you have an email in your inbox from security@facebookmail.com about Facebook Protect …you need to take action now, or risk being locked out of your account. There’s a chance the deadline set for your account has not passed, so there might still be time to swerve the block.

If you have been locked out, unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do but wait until the team at Facebook has resolved the ongoing issues with its new Protect system. With any luck, you’ll be able to enable the additional security measurements and log back into your account in the coming days.