Facebook is locking out people who have not turned on Facebook Protect

In early March, a group of Facebook users received a mysterious spam-like email titled "Your account requires advanced security from Facebook Protect", telling them to turn on the Facebook Protect feature (which they could do by pressing a button). link in the email) by a specific date, or their account would be blocked.

The program, according to Facebook, is a "security program for groups of people that are more likely to be targeted by malicious hackers, such as human rights defenders, journalists, and government officials." It's meant to ensure those accounts are monitored for hacking threats and are protected by two-factor authentication (2FA).

Unfortunately, Facebook's email from [email protected] seemed like a relatively common form of spam, so many people likely ignored it.

It wasn't spam; it was real. The first deadline for many people was Thursday, March 17. And now, they can't access their Facebook accounts and are having issues with the process Facebook provided to get them back in.

Those who didn't activate Facebook Protect by the deadline get a message explaining why they can't get into their accounts and offering to help them activate it. However, it doesn't always work:

There have also been various complaints on Twitter and other social media venues that people are being banned from their accounts, even if they have the proper security measures in place. Some say their text-based 2FA doesn't work:

Others complained that they were unable to complete the activation process even before the deadline, and thus their accounts were effectively locked: