GitHub suspended my account, the ridiculous explanation came only after I challenged the decision — and it was false.
I recently experienced something that I had previously associated mainly with social media platforms: my account was suspended without ANY explanation, and I was left trying to understand what I had supposedly done wrong.
Except this time, the platform was GitHub.
And the consequences extended beyond losing access to an account. They affected an open-source project I had been developing for the Hive community - the HiveCensus.
What happened to Hive Census?
For some time, I have been working on Hive Census, an open-source application intended to help us better understand the geographical distribution of the Hive community.
The idea is relatively simple. Users can voluntarily declare their location, and the application can also process publicly available location information from Hive profiles. In addition, it records and presents location of Hiveans stated by them in account description. The project does not require GPS tracking or the collection of private location data.
Its source code was hosted on GitHub, while the application itself runs on Cloudflare.
The project is available here:
https://app.hive-census.workers.dev
The GitHub repository was hosted under the HiveCensus organization:
https://github.com/HiveCensus/hive-census
Then, unexpectedly, my GitHub account was suspended.
I lost access to the repository and the development workflow I had been using.
At the time of the suspension, I had not received an email explaining the specific reasons for the decision.
This was particularly frustrating because I was not using GitHub to distribute malware, send spam, manipulate users, or engage in any other activity that might reasonably justify such a measure.
I was developing an open-source application.I never thought to create backup. I thought the GitHub was the backup I needed.
First the punishment, then the explanation
When I discovered the suspension, I tried to find out what had happened.
The problem was that I could not effectively use the normal appeal procedure from my suspended account.
Eventually, on November 9, 2026, I received an email from GitHub Support explaining that the account had been flagged for suspicious activity.
According to GitHub, the system suspected that I had created or operated more than one free user account, potentially violating its account requirements.
There was just one problem.
I had never had another GitHub account.
This was my first GitHub user account. I had not previously operated another one, nor had I created additional user accounts to circumvent GitHub's rules. Before the era of AI I had no skills or knowledge to use it.
I had created a project associated with Hive Census, but that is not the same thing as operating multiple personal accounts.
GitHub's explanation was therefore based on an allegation that I categorically reject as factually incorrect.
Perhaps an automated system misunderstood something. Perhaps it interpreted some technical activity as suspicious. Perhaps the existence of a project organization contributed to the confusion.
I do not know.
And that is precisely the problem: GitHub has not provided me with the concrete facts that would allow me to understand or meaningfully challenge the accusation.
The email also indicated that replies were not monitored and directed me towards the support and appeal process.
In other words, the explanation arrived only after I had already been deprived of access and had taken steps to challenge the situation.
The European Union has rules about this
I live in Poland, which is a member of the European Union. And I have only learned about these rules after the incident.
This Digital Services Act establishes obligations concerning transparency and the treatment of users by certain digital services.
Regulations require a clear and specific statement of reasons and facts and circumstances.
This includes certain decisions suspending or terminating user accounts.
Also, the statement of reasons must be supplied to affected user no later than the date on which the restriction is imposed, provided that the relevant electronic contact details are known - they were known because I have registered with an email address.
These requirements are not satisfied merely by invoking a vague suspicion without explaining the underlying circumstances.
Nevertheless, the circumstances of my case raise a serious question about compliance with the transparency obligations established by European law.
If a platform suspends an EU user's account because of an alleged breach of its terms, can it simply provide the explanation afterwards, once the user has already begun challenging the decision?
And can an unsupported allegation of multiple accounts constitute a sufficiently specific explanation?
In my view, these questions deserve examination by the competent authorities.
An automated system is not evidence
I understand why GitHub uses automated systems to detect suspicious activity.
A platform of that size must deal with spam, malicious repositories, abusive accounts, and attempts to circumvent its rules.
Automation in our era is inevitable.
But automation is not infallible.
An algorithm may detect a pattern. That does not mean the pattern proves misconduct.
In my case, the allegation of multiple free user accounts is simply BS
If GitHub possesses evidence to the contrary, I would like to know what it is, at least to the extent necessary to understand the decision and exercise my rights. But the whole system in constructed in a way Tech companies don't want to talk evidence or explain anything to anyone.
Otherwise, I am effectively being asked to defend myself against an accusation whose factual basis remains undisclosed. And there's another problem: it's much easier to prove that something happened than to prove that something never happened. If I say I'm a firefighter, I can simply show you my firefighter ID. But how do I prove that I've never been a firefighter? I'd need some kind of central register of all firefighters, past and present, that could confirm my name has never been on it. Without something like that, what am I supposed to do? And that's exactly the position GitHub has put me in. I'm being asked to prove that I've never had another account, while GitHub won't even tell me what makes them think I did.
And that is not a particularly convincing model of procedural fairness.
What about the right to appeal?
The Digital Services Act also contains provisions concerning internal complaint-handling systems. DS requires online platforms, to provide an effective mechanism for challenging certain moderation decisions.
Such complaints must be handled in a timely, diligent, non-discriminatory, and non-arbitrary manner.
The provision also requires decisions on complaints to be taken under the supervision of appropriately qualified staff, rather than solely through automated means.
My experience raises practical questions about the effectiveness of such procedures when the user cannot access the ordinary appeal mechanism after suspension.
A right to appeal is not particularly useful if the mechanism for exercising that right becomes inaccessible precisely when it is needed.
Again, whether GitHub's conduct in this particular case constitutes a breach requires an assessment of the applicable provisions and the complete factual circumstances.
But the question is legitimate.
This matters beyond my account
I am not writing this because I believe GitHub must provide its services to everyone without conditions.Of course it can establish rules. Of course it can combat abuse. But there should be a meaningful distinction between enforcing rules and making an unsupported accusation.
I wish there was decentralised repo that I could integrate with the cloudlfare!
The individual user must then spend hours or days discovering what happened, finding the appropriate procedure, and attempting to establish that the alleged misconduct never occurred.
In my case, GitHub appears to have treated a suspicion as sufficient grounds for suspension.
I would have expected something more than that.
What happens next?
I intend to pursue clarification of this decision and the legal questions it raises. I have filed a DSA complaint to polish authorities and I wait for their response.
I am also exploring alternative hosting arrangements for Hive Census, including GitLab infrastructure associated with the Hive ecosystem.
The application itself remains available through Cloudflare, although losing access to the original GitHub development workflow has complicated further work.
This experience has also reminded me of something that the blockchain community discusses frequently: dependence on centralized infrastructure creates risks, even when the project itself is open source.
We can build decentralized applications, publish transparent code, and promote openness.
But if the development infrastructure depends on a single provider, that provider can still interrupt the entire process.
I do not expect GitHub to abandon automated moderation. I'm afraid it is the only defense against automated attacks.
Although, I expect it to recognize that automated systems make mistakes.
I expect meaningful explanations when accounts are suspended. I find appaling the way my GitHub account was suspended, because I didn't receive any message about it.
And I expect companies providing digital services in the European Union to respect the procedural safeguards established by European law. Theese regulations came into the force because of the Hi-Tec companies behaving like petty princes treating users like peasants of no rights.
The allegation that I operated multiple free GitHub accounts is false.
I should not have to prove that I did not create accounts that never existed.
If a company can suspend your account first, explain itself only after you complain, and then rely on an allegation that is not true, what practical protection does an ordinary user really have? Especially if one has to prove a negative fact - that one is not somebody.
If you have any contacts who might be able to look into my case, I'd really appreciate your help. At the moment, GitHub isn't responding to my emails.