shadow ban
n.n. the act of secretly limiting how many people can see a user's content on a social media platform. The user doesn't get a notification, so they might not realize their posts are being hidden.
n. an act by an online platform of suppressing a user's content so it is not visible to others, without notifying the affected user. Often used transitively as a verb.
A shadow ban can limit an account's reach.
After his engagement dropped suddenly, he suspected the platform had given him a shadow ban for posting controversial content.
Critics argue that opaque shadow ban policies allow platforms to censor speech under the guise of content moderation without affording users due process.