Hey fellas, got a dunce I.T question here for you. I’m not au fait with this, so excuse my ignorance. Is it possible to change my I.P address? I got my instagram blocked/removed by them ( for doing nowt but using a few seconds of music on my pet’s video clip, which they have in their own library! Then like 18 months later they decided it had copyright on it- well why should I be banned for that? They should ensure they only have copyright free music in their library ).
I tried to create a new account using a different email address, details, user name etc, plus using my new Chromebook, but once I completed that, a white page came up “this page is broken.” Now, I am hoping instagram is just down, otherwise this means they can block a user from their I.P address?
I dunno if it’s possible to get a new I.P address?
I have a wifi router from my broadband provider.
If it’s possible, does it mess up one’s computers/devices and log ins?
I also have a netbook running on Peppermint 9. I was using that to access my old insta before they banned me, so no point trying to log in with that one. Anyway, it’s got an H.D ( not an SSD as the Chromebook has) and proper slow.
Ok, so, interesting question. IP Addresses first; these are typically issued by your Internet Services Provider at the point where you make a connection to them. Now whereas some ISP’s charge for “static” IP’s (i.e. you always get the same one) most ISP’s will issue you an address from a currently unused pool, so each time you connect you “may” get a different address. As a result, it is unusual (these days) for any service to blacklist a specific IP address for “abuse” simply because it probably won’t stick to the target, AND they will end up blocking “other” users.
So … IF any service is blocking your address, the first stop is to get another address, so visit https://whatismyipaddress.com/ in a browser and it will tell you your current IP. Next, reboot your router, this “might” give you a new address. If not, power down your router (say for 20 mins) then restart, you “should” find this has re-issued your address. (if not, try again) It depends on how aggressively your ISP is caching the address against your location. All that said you “shouldn’t” need to do this as IP blocking is inherently “unsafe” from an ISP’s perspective.
Rear-end covering Note; rebooting your router will disable your Internet/WiFi, for you and anyone who uses your router - until it comes back up (!)
Now aside from “don’t use big social media” (!) you may well find that if you’re trying to register with a different user ID, they are blocking you using browser tokens or cookies. To clear all these out, bring up the developer tools (I’m assuming Chrome here) with Ctrl+Shift+I, goto the site you want to register with, click on “Application”, then look in “Local Storage”, “Session Storage,” “IndexedDB”, “Cookies”, and clear anything that’s set. These are all things “they” can look at to see if you’ve been previously registered. (A shortcut here should be to goto “application → storage → clear site data”, but I’ve not tried it)
Once clear, you should look (and technically will be) a “new” user.
Note # 2; you might want to check the Terms and Conditions of your provider to check whether you are “allowed” to create a new account
Node # 3; if you delete cookies etc without visiting the correct page, you may end up clearing stored information from another site, this may include saved passwords etc
Edit: every now and again services update and on occasion the new service will be incompatible with some of the information that has been stored in your browser - which will prevent you from logging in. If you ever apparently get “banned” for something that seems unreasonable or unrealistic, consider that it could be a bug on their side, so they may have intended to issue a warning or block you for 3 days (or some such) and because it’s something they don’t do that often or test well enough, it malfunctions. In such cases, clearing your browser profile for that specific site is quite a good start point with regards to debugging the issue.
Thanks for all the info on IP addresses. I’ll try the router reboot tonight. I can find my IP address in my Chrome settings- already seen that. Not sure if it is a dynamic or static one though. I take what you are saying regarding websites blocking IP addresses- but somehow I AM being blocked by instagram when trying to create a new account. I did another attempt last night using my tablet with a brand new email address I had never even heard of before, so certainly never used. Again, put in new names and an id- yet the same thing came back- white page “this page is broken.” They must be blocking my IP- how else can they be blocking me if not that?
As for the cookies and cache- very easy to clear those on a Chromebook; one just goes in the settings and ticks the boxes. I of course, have already cleared them. It does not stop the problem.
Lastly, this is no error on their part but deliberate. They are known for the heavy handed way they remove people’s accounts with no chance for that person to resolve the “problem”. People who get their accounts hacked by spammers who then post obscene/offensive stuff using the hacked person’s account even get their accounts permanently removed. There’s no appeal, no chance to give evidence that they were hacked and innocent of any “wrong doing.”
They must have very powerful algorithms to block IP addresses. There’s no other explanation.
I absolutely wouldn’t be bothering to get back on there but there are people who I was quite close to on there who share my interests, who are not on any other media platforms who I miss very much. I live alone, am alone, day in day out and it’s made me feel even lonelier.
As an aside, they cannot be blocking me through the Chrome browser because my account was removed in the spring when I was using the Linux netbook on Chrome. The cookies etc have been cleared many times since then. I can’t use any of my devices, nor different email addresses. The only way they can be blocking/removing me is through the IP address.
Ok, so just to clarify, “cookies” are just one of the components they might be using and to be honest, with modern software one of the most least likely components. “Just” clearing cookies probably won’t cut it, you do need to clear at least local storage and IndexedDB (although application → storage → clear site data is probably the best approach)
As for the IP, I don’t know of any ISP’s who don’t charge for static IP’s, so if you’re not explicitly paying for it, it’s likely a dynamic IP. That said, there is not way for a service provider to know whether you have a static or dynamic, so if they block an IP, they will only be blocking the current user of said IP. When that IP is then re-issued to someone else, they will then be blocking someone else for no reason. (hence why they don’t tend to do it)
You could try a browser you’ve not used with the service before (Firefox?) to ensure a clean profile. There is of course the possibility that their end if borked re; creating new accounts and you’re hitting a service bug. You could probably clarify a lot of these questions by registering via your mobile phone with WiFi turned off (so it using 4G/mobile), this would then be using an IP issued by your mobile operator …
EDIT- IT HIT SENT BEFORE I FINISHED TYPING–SIT TIGHT FOR FULL REPLY–
Ok, so just to clarify, "cookies" are just one of the components they might be using and to be honest, with modern software one of the most least likely components. "Just" clearing cookies probably won't cut it, you do need to clear at least local storage and IndexedDB (although application -> storage -> clear site data is probably the best approach)
On a Chromebook there are not applications as such, like on a Linux computer/laptop. One goes into the settings and selects options. I am unsure if the option “Site Settings” is the equivalent of what one would find on a Linux computer or not. I am also wary of selecting it because of what it might do to my overall settings and remove things I need. Anyway, these are particular to my Chromebook and as I have stated Instagram has blocked me on ALL my devices: my Linux netbook, my Android tablet and my Android smartphone. This goes beyond site data.
As for the IP, I don't know of any ISP's who don't charge for static IP's, so if you're not explicitly paying for it, it's likely a dynamic IP. That said, there is not way for a service provider to know whether you have a static or dynamic, so if they block an IP, they will only be blocking the current user of said IP. When that IP is then re-issued to someone else, they will then be blocking someone else for no reason. (hence why they don't tend to do it)
Logically, I can understand that what you relate makes sense, but this is not the actuality of what is happening. And Instagram would not care one jot who they ban! It explains to me why perfectly nice accounts just vanish without a trace, from people with nice uplifting content. I’ve seen it happen a few times. They DO ban/block people’s accounts for no reason. They get rid of accounts and provide no customer service people to email or telephone. Algorithms are set up and boom–your account is gone for good.They MUST be banning via ISPs- how else can they be doing it? There is no other way. As for what type of ISP I have; I don’t know. I’ll have to contact my Broadband provider tomorrow and find out.
[quote] could try a browser you’ve not used with the service before (Firefox?) to ensure a clean profile. There is of course the possibility that their end if borked re; creating new accounts and you’re hitting a service bug. You could probably clarify a lot of these questions by registering via your mobile phone with WiFi turned off (so it using 4G/mobile), this would then be using an IP issued by your mobile operator [quote]
Chromebooks only use Google, and my phone and tablet are Android, as I
told you, and both use Google only.I don’t have Firefox on the Linux netbook.
Now I also mentioned that it is very slow, only has an HD. To spend a few hours trying to get Firefox on it, and then having to scoot about to find a new email provider I have never used before–then creating another new account–this will take a couple of days, and since it is my ISP they have banned, it will do no good. Hours and hours wasted just to get that white broken link page again. Even if, a remote if at that, I could get the account to work on Firefox, it would be a great amount of time to boot the slow netbook up, and waiting and waiting for extremely slow images to load up to view. I couldn’t stand using it. The machine drives me nuts, it’s that slow. I only put it on to use the scanner or occasionally to use Audacity for mp3 file editing.
Regarding the smartphone; that’s an option trying with my mobile data ( I have to credit it again in a couple of days) but–if that doesn’t use the ISP means I’ll use up my mobile data pretty quickly!
Apologies, having trouble with the formatting and quotes.
So it’s difficult to be too explicit without knowing your exact setup, but if they are blocking you by IP address, then what they are actually doing from their perspective is blocking you in the immediate term and random “other” users in the mid to long term. This potentially creates practical and legal issues as it may well incur the (potentially justified) wrath of other users. Whereas from your perspective they may be randomly blocking accounts, typically they will be acting within their terms and conditions, which are unlikely to allow them to block unknown users for no reason, so again, this would seem unlikely (!)
For most (?) people using Google Chrome, they will sign into Chrome and synchronise their browser with their Google account, which means they will be able to log in use their email for example on each device, It also means that their cookies etc for each site are also shared, so once your browser is borked on one device for a given site, the site settings potentially causing the issue will be sync’d to all other devices using that account. Now, if you have multiple Google accounts and use a different one on every device (!) then I would agree that using a different device (on a different profile) would prove blocking was not reliant on cookies et al. If on the other hand you are a regular user and log into the same google account on each device - it does not.
If you are unable to use another browser and are convinced the problem is your IP address, and think your mobile data is too expensive, you could always put your requests through a proxy server. There are free proxy servers out there which google will locate for you, using a proxy will categorically prove whether the IP is or is not an issue.
For what it’s worth my expectation would be that site registration on a mobile would use low numbers of Mb’s. My mobile SIM costs me £6 per month and comes with a 4Gb data allowance. Attempting registration via mobile would seem inconsequential in terms of cost?
So it's difficult to be too explicit without knowing your exact setup, but if they are blocking you by IP address, then what they are actually doing from their perspective is blocking you in the immediate term and random "other" users in the mid to long term. This potentially creates practical and legal issues as it may well incur the (potentially justified) wrath of other users. Whereas from your perspective they may be randomly blocking accounts, typically they will be acting within their terms and conditions, which are unlikely to allow them to block unknown users for no reason, so again, this would seem unlikely (!)
Oh they can and do, do it. I was on instagram for about 4 years and saw many times accounts just vanish ( never to come back), and another person who’d followed them say that that person’s account had been blocked for no good reason. These were people who had not posted anything that “broke the rules.” ( Obviously the other person had shared an email or other contact with the person via a DM previously so was able to pass the message on that the account had been blocked ). Instagram is a law unto itself, and there is NOBODY to complain to if they block your account. They have no phone number to contact, no customer service team at all. They have an A.I set up to search for “suspicious content” and it automatically blocks and removes accounts. And A.I as we know lacks human discernment. That’s how Instagram operates. And since there is nobody to complain to, they get away with it.
For most (?) people using Google Chrome, they will sign into Chrome and synchronise their browser with their Google account, which means they will be able to log in use their email for example on each device, It also means that their cookies etc for each site are also shared, so once your browser is borked on one device for a given site, the site settings potentially causing the issue will be sync'd to all other devices using that account. Now, if you have multiple Google accounts and use a different one on every device (!) then I would agree that using a different device (on a different profile) would prove blocking was not reliant on cookies et al. If on the other hand you are a regular user and log into the same google account on each device - it does not.
Not sure how much I’m synched, but I might be to some extent.
If you are unable to use another browser and are convinced the problem is your IP address, and think your mobile data is too expensive, you could always put your requests through a proxy server. There are free proxy servers out there which google will locate for you, using a proxy will categorically prove whether the IP is or is not an issue.
I’d be able to use another browser in the near future, as I plan to buy a refurbed laptop off a computer company I know ( they do good repairs and refurbs, used them a few times in the past ) and have the latest Peppermint on it, so I could use another browser. At the moment that netbook I have is way too slow to be worth the bother.
Do you know any reliable proxy servers? Is it easy to set up? Might be the answer. Don’t they give one more privacy and are a good idea anyway?
I re set the IP, doing the router thing this morning, I think, the numbers looked different ( although I’m not great remembering numbers ), and for a moment I was allowed to log into instagram using the last new log in I created, but then it told me my password was wrong ( i had forgotten it, and used my email one ). I was sent a link to reset it. I did so, then I was blocked again as soon as I tried to log in. They must have a very sophisticated and strong algorithm to block my IP.
For what it's worth my expectation would be that site registration on a mobile would use low numbers of Mb's. My mobile SIM costs me £6 per month and comes with a 4Gb data allowance. Attempting registration via mobile would seem inconsequential in terms of cost?
Registration of course, low data use, but using it to access instagram daily would eat it up pretty quickly! I will try it tomorrow when I credit the phone (pay day).
they get away with it
So do I understand correctly that you are complaining about a company who provide you with a free service, then operate said service according to the rules they have made for themselves … ? Are you saying they should provide a free service and operate as “you” would like them to regardless of the costs and all the legal rules they need to follow in order not to be sued out of existence?
Not sure how much I’m sync’d, but I might be to some extent
Well, if you go into Chrome, settings, sync and Google services it will tell you what is sync’d. As you don’t know what is sync’d it will probably be set to defaults, and by the sound of it you are using one Google account, which means that if your profile is borked on one device for that site, it could easily be borked on all devices (!!!)
I think, the numbers looked different
My mind is boggling at this point, how can you possibly determine the problem without either making notes or remembering the before and after status?
They must have a very sophisticated and strong algorithm to block my IP
Ok, so you’re thinking that you’ve logged in with a clean account and a new IP address and somehow they “know” this is associated with “you”? (That’s not the way it works!)
A more likely scenario is, you log in with a new account, the javascript loads into your browser and accesses your local storage for the site. (which you’ve not cleared and is sync’d to all your devices) It sees from the local storage that you’ve had a previous account, looks up the previous account in their database, sees the previous account was blocked, then does a back-flip in your browser.
So do I understand correctly that you are complaining about a company who provide you with a free service, then operate said service according to the rules they have made for themselves .. ? Are you saying they should provide a free service and operate as "you" would like them to regardless of the costs and all the legal rules they need to follow in order not to be sued out of existence?
They remove accounts for doing nothing wrong. I’ve seen it many times on instagram. Why create a site for people to share photos and then remove someone’s account randomly for no reason? That is what I think is awful. But they don’t remove people who go against the rules of decency ( which instagram states are their rules) such as women posing nude except for a pair of period stained knickers. But they removed a lovely young woman’s account where she posted photos of her pet rats. She never broke any “rules.” She is only one example of what I have seen. If they were fair and removed only the “rule breakers” I would not be cross with them. They allow all those vapid “influencers” prancing about “lip synching” to the current pop hits, but they state that “copyrighted” music is not allowed to be posted. They allow these “influencers” presumably because they generate money for instagram. But they remove decent people who are sharing nice, uplifting content with their friends, who have not done anything wrong, like that poor rat lady.
My mind is boggling at this point, how can you possibly determine the problem without either making notes or remembering the before and after status?
I HAVE written down the numbers, and will reset it tonight and check it again after that.
Ok, so you're thinking that you've logged in with a clean account and a new IP address and somehow they "know" this is associated with "you"? (That's not the way it works!)
A more likely scenario is, you log in with a new account, the javascript loads into your browser and accesses your local storage for the site. (which you’ve not cleared and is sync’d to all your devices) It sees from the local storage that you’ve had a previous account, looks up the previous account in their database, sees the previous account was blocked, then does a back-flip in your browser.
This is a Chromebook. I don’t know what javascript is nor how to get rid of it. When I clear the browsing data, cookies etc on my Chromebook all the websites I log into require me to log in again and I get emails asking me if this is me. Ones like banking send me a confirmation code, so they think I might be a new log in/new person. Only instagram does not do that, so this leads me to think they are doing something beyond browser log ins, that they have very sophisticated ways of detecting IP locations.
Here is a post I found on Quora who has/had exactly the same problem as I. Now, I can see that this explains something—BUT–I tried to create a new account on my Chromebook which was bought new in June, 4 months after they removed my account. I did not have this Chromebook then. I was using my Linux netbook.
[i]How does Instagram know to ban my newly created account? I have changed my IP and used new email and name etc. I’ve even cleared browser cookies etc. And they ban my account before first log in everytime. How could they possibly know?
More than likely it’s because you used the same DEVICE to make a new account. Let me explain. Every phone, Android or IPhone, has a unique number called an Ad ID. Since nearly every app on the planet uses this number to advertise something to you , OR if you have already created an account and used the app before. That’s a why you can’t get a new customer deal like $20 off your first order of $25 on Uber Eats repeatedly by just creating a new email account.There is a way to reset the Ad ID, but IDK if it works. Factory hard reset won’t solve your problem either.[/i]
I managed to log in using incognito mode!!! I dunno what that means, how I was blocked/getting the white page “broken link.” I will have to only access it incognito–but if you can shed light on to why that is/what happened I’d be very grateful thanks Mad Penguin.
I’ve been reading a lot of articles to try and solve the problem. Was beginning to wish I knew The Lone Gunmen I.T geeks from The X Files…
I swear I am gonna go mad soon! I closed the incognito window and used my normal window for some other stuff. Opened a fresh incognito window and logged into my new insta and it did the same freaking thing- “this page is broken.”
I checked my email and had two messages from instagram: “We noticed a login from a device you don’t usually use.”
What the heck is going on?!
Ok, so first off, the Ad Id thing, I’m guessing they are referring to the UDID, this would not surprise me for phones and indeed other non-Linux OS’s - but it’s not a feature of “Linux”. i.e. if you’re using Linux, this should not be something you would need to worry about.
As I understand it, incognito mode shields the browser session from your local environment / settings on your PC. Specifically your local settings for a given site (the stuff we talked about clearing) but maybe more significantly, your current google credentials.
Things you could try;
- Clearing your settings for the site
- Trying the site while logged out of your google account in Chrome
- Trying the site while logged into Google as a different user (i.e. register a new google account)
To try to clarify the clearance of settings in this context;
- Go to the site in question in your browser
- Hit Ctrl+Shift+I
- You should see a menu down the left (although the position can be reconfigured)
- Click “Storage” under the “Application Menu”
- On the right is should list “Storage” and the URL of the site concerned
- Under this is a “Clear site data” button
- This should only clear data for that site
Just to reiterate, there are essentially two things that are likely to be associating you with an old account;
- Your local storage (as above)
- Your google account
Now Google do change things fairly frequently, but currently my understanding is that the application should not be able to read your google account settings unless you explicitly let it. i.e. it will pop up a box on the screen prompting you for which account to use.
If you’re not trying this from a Linux machine, it is possible you are falling foul of the UDID, in which case you should probably try a forum for the Operating System you are using (!)
I had an issue couple of months ago making a purchase on Ebay. Took 4 attempts to get the payment to go through, all because for some mysterious reason Paypal thought I had logged in from a different device. I had done nothing of the sort, I was using same PC I’ve been using for last 10 years!
What caused all this behaviour I’ve no idea, but it annoyed the hell out of me, so I can fully understand your frustration Matilda.
Ok … 
… so although people don’t tend to block based on IP, they do track your IP, and they will notice when your IP changes. If you take a look at one of the services that does this (like Netflix) you will (or may) see on occasion the location you’re registered at looks to be different, i.e. it looks like either you are accessing from somewhere else or someone is using your account.
Typically what’s happening is that your ISP (for example BT) has switched a block of addresses from one free pool to another, so all of a sudden people in Manchester will be getting addresses that 5 minutes earlier were being issued in London. When this happens, the ISP needs to update the GEOIP database that tracks “where” addresses are being issued. Invariably there is a lag, and sometimes the ISP can be quite slow … so for a while, addresses will report being somewhere they are not. i.e. the location of an address is dependent on a manual database push. When this happens, you can sometimes get a message from Netflix saying something like “I know you’re in Cardiff, but someone just accessed your account from Croydon, was this you?”.
… there is a lot of string and sticky tape going on behind the scenes of the Internet, it really is amazing it performs as well as it does!