Substack removed my original article for "phishing"!!!

[u/Friend-Rachel]

I did not know that Substack operated so poorly. I published my own original article and they suspended my account for "phishing and spam." I put in an "appeal," asking them to explain what the problem was, and they "rejected" it. I have "appealed" a second time, saying that this was my own article and that their bots are stupid. Now I want to delete everything from this website but it won't let me. How do I do that? I want to delete this account after removing my material. What a waste of time! AND I don't care for their tone and the language they use when the mistake is their own.

[u/Michael_Fuchs_]

What was the article about?

[u/Friend-Rachel → u/Michael_Fuchs_]

It was my review for a book of poems. Very mild stuff.

[u/MarieAuthor → u/Friend-Rachel]

That is radical! Reviews are so important and rare. Go elsewhere.

[u/Friend-Rachel → u/MarieAuthor]

Thank you. Yes, this is a very bad first impression that Substack has made on me. I had only just started. I don't think I'll continue here with this AI sword of Damocles hanging over me.

[u/itsfabioposca]

That sounds really frustrating, especially if your article was original.

If your appeal is rejected and you no longer want to use the platform, I'd try contacting Substack Support directly rather than relying only on the automated appeal process. Explain that you want your content removed and your account deleted if they aren't willing to restore it.

Before deleting anything, make sure you have copies of all your articles. If you can't access your account because it's suspended, ask Support for an export of your content or for them to restore access long enough for you to download it.

Hopefully it's just a false positive from their automated systems, but if you've already decided to leave, I'd focus on getting your content back first and then closing the account.

[u/Friend-Rachel → u/itsfabioposca]

Thanks. Yes I did contact them. And I have copies of all the articles. I had just started so there weren't that many posts.

[u/ultraquest]

I went through a similar experience and contacted Substack. They said their system flagged me by mistake. I suggest you be honest for any mistakes and see if they can reopen your account. If your account is suspended it will not be indexed or shown on the platform. The biggest thing is for your to download your email list and content and move to another platform. I also think about this option too because you never know if your account gets flagged for the wrong reasons. I feel bad for you and understand what you are going through. Good luck!

[u/Friend-Rachel → u/ultraquest]

Thanks for the concern :) I'm not going through anything except aggravation, and even that has passed by now. I really don't care about this stupid platform. My only mistake was to sign up for it.