Tips to Avoid Being Blocked on LINE
What is Blocking?
Before discussing being blocked on LINE, let's first understand what blocking is. There are two types of blocking on LINE: 'friends blocking you' and 'officially blocking you'. Some people refer to official blocking as 'suspension', but in fact, LINE's suspension does not mean that your account is entirely blocked; blocked accounts can still do many things. The only power you lose is your ability to speak. A more accurate term for blocking would be 'muting', which means you have been muted! While you can still send messages to friends, your friends will never see those messages (interestingly, voice or video calls can still be made, but text messages are muted).
Friends Blocking You
Friends blocking you means that if your friend (a friend is not necessarily a close friend, but that is what they are called on LINE) doesn't like you or the messages you send, they can press the block button to block you. This way, they don't have to see you anymore, and you become part of their blocked list. If they are really angry, they can also click edit in the blocked list to remove you, and from then on, the two of you can no longer add each other as friends with the same account, which can be considered a true breakup! (You can unblock someone using LINE reincarnation, but that's another topic.)
Officially Blocking You
If you are blocked by LINE officially, that's a serious matter! Because when you are blocked by the official account, you won’t notice anything different while using LINE. You will still receive messages sent to you from friends, and everything seems normal until you realize that the messages you sent are forever unread by your friends. You can no longer send any messages to your many friends. Being blocked by LINE officially just disables your message-sending feature; other functions like changing your profile picture, making voice calls, video calls, updating notes, adding photos, posting to your homepage, changing your nickname, changing dynamic news, etc., will still function normally. Your friends can still see or receive everything except your messages. The only function you lose is sending messages to friends, but if your LINE can't send messages, this LINE account loses its meaning! I want to share my own experience of being blocked by LINE officially; at the moment of being blocked, you feel like a mute who can hear the other party but can't speak. It’s very painful!
How to Unblock by Official LINE?
Friends may have various reasons to want to block you, but being blocked by friends isn’t a big deal, as everyone has the freedom to choose who they like or dislike. However, being blocked by LINE officially turns your account into a useless one, losing its value. According to many users and my own experience, the success rate of requesting LINE to unblock is very low (extremely low), and it's even harder than climbing to the sky. Did you know? LINE has no customer service phone number (it's quite something!). To inquire with LINE, you can only go through the official website’s 'Submit Feedback' page, spending time filling it out word by word. Anyone who has used the feedback form knows that this back-and-forth could take at least three days (it’s said that the speed has improved a bit recently), but at most, it may end without any results (especially if your tone in reporting the issue is not pleasant). The process of reporting the issue is full of miscommunication, believe me! In the end, you may very likely choose to 'give up directly' and reapply for a new LINE account (but the original phone and mobile number will never be able to use LINE or apply for a LINE account again; regarding this, let's just say LINE is tough!). I share this with you because my previous LINE account was blocked, so I can describe it authentically for you to understand.
Under What Circumstances Will LINE Officially Block Your Account?
Based on customer and user feedback, as well as our team’s research and practical experience, combined with LINE’s detailed service terms prohibiting certain activities, accounts may be temporarily blocked if there are reports of sending large amounts of commercial advertisements to strangers, spreading pornographic content, or illegal fraud. The main reasons for being blocked by LINE officially can be summarized into two:
1. Sending Too Many Messages Too Quickly
Based on our laboratory tests, sending too many messages in a short period will cause LINE to automatically block your account (including the mobile phone and number will never be able to use LINE again). Therefore, everyone should pay special attention when sending bulk messages; take a few seconds of rest after sending each message and wait longer after sending dozens of messages (recommended after 10 messages). In short, slow sending will ensure you stay safe from blocking. Our developed LINE automated bulk messaging software, AUTOS, has been optimized to ensure that using the AUTOS robot for bulk messaging will not result in being blocked due to speed issues.
2. Being Reported by Friends
If sending bulk messages disturbs friends (usually advertisements), friends can report you through LINE’s reporting feature (which is only available on the mobile app; the desktop version of LINE has no reporting feature). If reported, you may face a permanent block by LINE officially. Currently, there is no evidence showing how many people need to report, how many reports must be exceeded within a certain period, or what fixed rules will trigger the blocking mechanism. However, we believe that LINE probably doesn't hire a large number of people to view and review each report (which should be considerable); they likely rely mainly on computer programs to analyze and execute fixed rules to enforce blocking.
Let’s take a look at the scenarios where the report button appears; these are what we must avoid. First, when adding friends using LINE ID or phone number, the other party will see the options to add or block but not the report button; it is meaningless to report to the official website at this point due to lack of evidence. Therefore, when you use the 'LINE Automated Friend Adding Robot' along with 'Extraction Service' to add friends in bulk, you can rest assured! You won’t be reported.
However, if you send messages to newly added friends (you added them, but they haven't agreed), the other party’s mobile LINE will display three buttons (only available on mobile apps, no report button on desktop): (1) Add, (2) Block, (3) Report. Thus, you have a one-third chance of being reported; the reasons for reporting fall into four categories: (1) Sending spam advertisements, (2) Sending pornographic messages, (3) Harassment, and (4) Other. After a friend reports you, LINE will send the user’s personal information and the last ten messages sent (the user being you), or problematic content submitted (regarding homepage submissions) to LINE for review. Assuming LINE doesn’t employ many people for manual handling of reports, we speculate that they might analyze based on the number of reports, frequency, or whether the same message has been sent, etc., then execute blocking commands based on matched information. As Cao Cao famously said: 'It’s better to wrongly kill a hundred than to let one go', and if you are wronged, you can submit feedback.
Another place where the report button appears is in your chat settings with the other party; at the bottom, there will be a report button. However, it is hidden more discreetly, and if the other party has already added you as a friend but later dislikes you, the most they will do is block you, and it is rare for someone to specifically go into chat settings to report you.
In addition, when you add notes in the chat with friends (but the other party has not yet added you), the other party will also see three buttons: Add, Block, Report. If you add a note without the other party’s consent, they may report you, giving you a one-third chance.
Furthermore, by clicking on the three dots at the upper right corner of the homepage, you will also see a report button. This is for reporting your homepage submission content; if there are advertisements, pornographic or harassment behaviors, anyone can report. However, the report for the homepage is not like the three buttons that appear when you actively send messages to a person who hasn’t added you as a friend; the report button here is hidden, and the other party must find it in order to report, so we deduce that the chance of being reported here will also be low.
Lastly, someone asked if adding to groups would result in being reported; currently, it will not. The other party only has the options to join or decline, with no report button appearing, so feel free to add friends to groups!
Based on the above analysis, we can draw three conclusions:
- Adding friends is relatively safer than sending bulk messages; even if you add strangers as friends, there will be no risk of being reported.
- When you join the other party through search and become friends, and the other party has not yet agreed that you are their friend (has not yet clicked the add button), forcibly sending messages to them at this time is the most dangerous, with the highest probability of being reported and facing official blocking.
- Homepage and note submissions may be reported, but since the report button is not obvious and does not appear directly on the screen, the probability of being reported is very low.
Finally, here are a few methods currently being utilized for LINE marketing:
1. Extensive Exposure (LINE will definitely not be blocked)
By adding friends but not sending messages, you allow LINE friends to see you, arousing curiosity or interest, thereby generating business opportunities. The advertising effect of this method mainly occurs on the screen of agreeing to add friends, where the other party will see your avatar, homepage photo, homepage submissions, nickname, dynamic news, and other advertising information. The design of these images and text is crucial, instantly generating interest or curiosity in the other party, guiding them to your website, adding another LINE account, or calling the seller.
The advantage of extensive exposure is that your LINE account will not be blocked by the official, but the downside is that it cannot force the audience to see it as directly as text messages or bulk messaging. To facilitate everyone using this method, we developed the autoF automated friend-adding robot, which, combined with the extensive exposure feature in the extraction service, allows you to use a small number of LINE accounts to cycle through adding friends without being subject to the 5000 friend limit, providing you with uninterrupted advertising exposure 24/7.
2. Strong Exposure
After adding friends, sending a large number of messages can disseminate advertisements to all friends on the list in a short time, which is referred to as strong exposure.
The advantage of strong exposure is that your friends will immediately receive LINE messages, with a very high probability of seeing them, and the effect is most direct. However, the downside is that it is very easy to be blocked or reported by friends, and it is more likely that LINE will block you before completing the bulk sending, resulting in higher costs (mobile phone numbers).
3. Account Cultivation (LINE will definitely not be blocked)
This is the method we most recommend! After adding friends, the LINE account should be cultivated and managed over a long period. Do not easily send bulk messages or place overly obvious advertising messages in your avatar, homepage photo, homepage submissions, nickname, or dynamic news. By cultivating a relationship of trust with friends, you can engage in long-term value marketing, ensuring lasting success!
Other Shares
- If you need to send advertisements to unfamiliar friends for work, it is advisable to limit the number of recipients to no more than 500 friends at a time, and then rest for over an hour before continuing to send.
- Do not make all the bulk message content advertisements. If you first send a friendly message (like greetings or weather changes), and then insert the advertisement afterward, the chance of being blocked will significantly decrease.
- Use different messages sent randomly in bulk can also reduce the risk of being reported.
- If the other party has already added you as a friend, the chance of you being reported is very low. Therefore, if you first guide friends to add you, and then many people add you as friends, the chances of being reported will decrease.
- Make the advertisements in your bulk messages newsworthy or storytelling so that the other party cannot tell it is an advertisement, and naturally, they won’t report it.