LHR case study: Facebook account suspended, business page gone – Mainz court bars Meta’s suspension within three hours

Arno Lampmann

2 hours ago

At 10:46 a.m. the application went to the Regional Court of Mainz via the German lawyers’ electronic mailbox (beA); at 1:45 p.m. the preliminary injunction against Meta was in our inbox. Three hours for a suspended Facebook account, a suspended Instagram account and a business page that nobody could reach any more.

How can a regional court move that fast? A good part of the answer lies in Frankfurt.

By order of 4 November 2026 (case no. 1 O 150/26), the Regional Court of Mainz (Landgericht Mainz) issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting Meta Platforms Ireland Limited from keeping our client’s Instagram and Facebook accounts deactivated, from denying her family business the administration of its Facebook business page and from deleting the stored data. The order was issued without an oral hearing; it is not final, and Meta may lodge an objection.

Facebook account suspended, business page gone as well

Anyone who runs a business page on Facebook needs a personal profile through which the page is administered. If Meta suspends that profile, the business has in practice lost its page, even though the page itself was never challenged. That is exactly what happened here.

Our client is a partner in a small family business and was the only administrator of its Facebook page. On 15 and 16 October 2026, Meta deactivated her Instagram account and her Facebook profile. The notices consisted of references to the “terms on who may use Facebook” and unspecified “Community Standards”. Which post, which act, which violation? Not a word, not even after our formal letter. Instead, Meta announced that the data would be permanently deleted.

For the business this was no small matter. According to the evidence submitted to the court, it had around 18,100 followers on Instagram and around 12,000 on Facebook and had acquired some 80 % of its customers through these two channels. It could no longer reach these customers, and the Christmas season was just around the corner.

Creating a new profile and simply carrying on with the page is not an option either. Meta excludes this itself in clause 3.1 of its own terms of service, a point the court expressly turned against the company.

Two applicants, one problem

We therefore filed the application on behalf of both: the account holder personally and the family business as operator of the page. The Regional Court of Mainz treated both as affected parties within the meaning of Section 33(3) of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB).

The business, the court held, is directly hindered in its commercial activity by the loss of its essential communication and marketing channels. The account holder is affected because, in addition to her personal means of communication, she lost the very ability to administer the page and thereby take part in business.

The operative part of the order reflects this precisely. Meta must not only release both accounts but also restore administrative access to the business page. According to the order, merely reactivating the personal profile is not enough if the administration rights were separately withdrawn or restricted.

Why does the Regional Court of Mainz have jurisdiction over Meta?

The claims are based primarily on competition (antitrust) law, and jurisdiction follows from that. The international jurisdiction of the German courts results from Art. 7(2) of the Brussels Ia Regulation, because a breach of the antitrust prohibition of abuse is a tort. Under Section 87 GWB, the regional courts have exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction regardless of the value in dispute.

Territorially, the concentration rule in Section 89 GWB leads to Mainz: in Rhineland-Palatinate, the Regional Court of Mainz hears all antitrust cases from the districts of the Higher Regional Courts of Koblenz and Zweibrücken. Anyone living or doing business there therefore does not end up at the nearest regional court, but before a chamber that deals with these questions regularly.

Dependence instead of dominance: the Frankfurt line

On the merits, the Regional Court of Mainz follows almost entirely the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main (Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt am Main), which, in proceedings conducted by our colleague Knut Schreiber, ordered Meta to unblock an Instagram channel by order of 14 July 2026 (case no. 11 W 12/26 (Kart)). We reported on it in detail. At every decisive point, the Mainz reasoning cites that order and no other decision.

The chamber therefore left open whether Meta holds a dominant position. It was sufficient that the applicants are dependent on Meta within the meaning of Section 20(1) GWB. Under the Frankfurt formula, the operator of a commercially used channel is dependent if the suspension cuts the connection to its followers and it cannot even tell them about a move to another platform. The followers chose this particular channel, so another platform is not a substitute.

For Facebook, the page model added to this and, in the court’s view, intensified the dependence. And because Facebook and Instagram act as intermediaries on multi-sided markets, the chamber also examined dependence under Section 20(1) sentence 2 in conjunction with Section 18(3b) GWB and affirmed it in view of the reach built up over years.

A suspension without reasons is treated as groundless

The court derived the unfair impediment and unjustified discrimination under Section 19(1), (2) no. 1 GWB from Meta’s silence. Where a suspension is imposed without specific reasons and no reason is apparent, it is to be regarded as groundless and arbitrary. The applicants had also credibly shown that no violation had in fact occurred.

That is the heart of the matter, and it is uncomfortable for platforms. Anyone who refers to “Community Standards” in general terms can hardly claim afterwards, in summary proceedings, that there was a good reason after all.

The court gave separate reasons for the prohibition on deletion. Deletion would not merely be the technical execution of the suspension but its final consolidation; once posts, follower relationships and customer communication are lost, the lawful state could not be restored even after winning the main proceedings.

Urgency: followers move on, Christmas does not wait

The court found urgency under Sections 935 and 940 of the German Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) on three grounds. With every week of suspension, followers threaten to turn to other channels and not return even after a win. The upcoming Christmas business, for which the company depends on its visibility, could not be advertised without the channels. And the announced deletion would have finally frustrated enforcement of the claim.

The chamber set the value in dispute at EUR 20,000. Meta bears the costs.

From LHR’s practice

Our colleague Anastasia Baumann expressly enclosed the Frankfurt order as an annex to the application. The Mainz chamber relied exclusively on it in its reasoning, and less than three hours passed between receipt and order. We have recently also acted against groundless Meta suspensions before the Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main, as reported (in German) here and here.

What affected users can take from the case

The speed was no accident but the result of an application that made the court’s job easy. Anyone affected by a Meta suspension should keep a few points in mind:

Secure suspension notices, replies to appeals and the deletion announcement immediately, ideally with screenshots from the app and the browser.
For Facebook business pages, check who the administrator is. If everything depends on a single profile, the account holder and the business belong in the application together.
Document the commercial importance: follower numbers, share of customers from social media, upcoming seasonal or promotional business. A statutory declaration in lieu of oath (eidesstattliche Versicherung) is the tool for this.
Do not wait for weeks on the platform’s internal appeal. Delay puts urgency at risk.
Do not just cite the relevant case law, here the Frankfurt order, but submit it to the court.

Under paragraph 4 of the order, the injunction only takes effect once it is served on Meta together with the application and the statutory declaration. We will report on whether Meta then releases the accounts as swiftly as the court decided.

Frequently asked questions on suspended Facebook and Instagram accounts

What can I do if my Facebook account has been suspended and my business page is gone with it?+

Besides the appeal to Meta, a preliminary injunction based on German antitrust law is an option. Both the holder of the suspended profile and the business whose page is administered through that profile can be applicants. In such a case, the Regional Court of Mainz also ordered Meta to restore administrator access to the page.

Does Meta have to be dominant for antitrust law to apply?+

Not necessarily. According to the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt and the Regional Court of Mainz, relative dependence under Section 20(1) GWB is sufficient. It is likely where the user loses their followers through the suspension and cannot even inform them of a move to another platform.

May Meta suspend an account without giving a specific reason?+

In summary proceedings, a mere reference to Community Standards is regularly not enough for German courts. If Meta names no specific violation even after a lawyer’s letter, they assume a groundless and arbitrary suspension, which under antitrust law amounts to an unfair impediment.

Which court has jurisdiction over a preliminary injunction against Meta?+

German courts have jurisdiction under Art. 7(2) of the Brussels Ia Regulation, even though Meta is based in Ireland. For antitrust claims, the case goes to the regional court designated by the respective federal state for antitrust matters, for parts of Rhineland-Palatinate the Regional Court of Mainz.

Can I prevent Meta from deleting my data after a suspension?+

Yes, a prohibition on deletion can be included in the application. The Regional Court of Mainz granted it because, once posts, follower relationships and messages are deleted, the previous state could not be restored even after winning the main proceedings.

Your Instagram or Facebook account has been suspended and Meta gives no reason?

Send us the suspension notice and a few key facts about your channel. We will assess whether a preliminary injunction is an option and how quickly it can be prepared. You will usually receive an initial assessment within 24 hours.