Github Account suspended due to violent commit in Github Classroom

[nawat-john]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

GitHub Classroom

Hi everyone,

I'm an instructor using GitHub Classroom. Recently, a group of students committed content that violated GitHub's ToS. As a result, the system automatically suspended all instructors associated with that class.
I keep sending tickets from my suspended account's email since the day I was suspended for every 2 weeks and now it was already 2 months! I open a ticket in my alternative account and they reply me super quickly but it's useless because I have to request in my main account. I now have no idea if there is any hope to reinstate my main account. Is there any suggestion about this situation?

[nawat-john]

Is there any idea?

[ShubhamTiwari007xx]

This is a difficult situation, but there is still hope for reinstatement. What likely happened is that [GitHub Classroom](https://classroom.github.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) triggered an automated enforcement action because instructors are associated with the organization/classroom where the violating content was uploaded.

A few practical suggestions for them:

• Continue replying to the same existing support ticket instead of creating many new ones. Multiple tickets can sometimes slow review because cases get merged or deprioritized.

• In the ticket, clearly emphasize:

  • they were an instructor,
  • the violating content was uploaded by students,
  • they were not the author/uploader,
  • and they are willing to remove or moderate content immediately if reinstated.

• Include:

  • classroom name,
  • organization name,
  • approximate suspension date,
  • and any relevant repository links if available.

The fact that support responds quickly on the alternate account is actually a positive sign — it means the account is not completely ignored, but the suspended-account review queue may require Trust & Safety/manual investigation.

They should also avoid:

• opening repeated duplicate appeals every few days,
• creating replacement accounts to bypass suspension,
• or attempting to transfer classroom ownership while suspended.

A calm escalation message is usually more effective than frequent short follow-ups.

Something like:

“I understand GitHub must enforce ToS policies seriously. However, this content was uploaded by students in a classroom environment, and my instructor account was automatically suspended as collateral enforcement. I respectfully request a manual review of my role and activity.”

For education-related cases, manual review can unfortunately take a long time, especially if Trust & Safety is involved.

They can also ask from the alternate account whether the original ticket has:

• been assigned,
• is awaiting manual review,
• or requires additional verification.

But the actual appeal still generally has to come from the suspended account owner.

[ahxdalt-hub]

my main github acc wew supsned idk why is there any way i can regain it?

[ShubhamTiwari007xx]

Try to recover your suspended GitHub account by submitting a formal appeal through the GitHub Support Contact Page

[nawat-john]

If you have no clue, you have to ask them the true reason of suspension first. Then clarify yourself and fix the things which violated TOS. Github support will reply your ticket within 4 days if they did not ignore your ticket. You may follow the same method as mine if you still get no response.

[Gecko51]

Two months is rough. The bottleneck is that any appeal touching a suspended account has to go through Trust and Safety review, and that queue is genuinely slow for Education flagged cases.

A few things worth trying that go beyond filing another ticket:

Stop reopening from the suspended account every two weeks. Each new ticket starts queued from zero, and replies you send in between can reset the SLA timer on the existing case. Pick the oldest ticket, reply once a month with a calm status request, and let it sit.

From the alt account, email education@github.com directly instead of using the general support form. Reference your suspended handle and the classroom org name. The Education team has an internal channel to Trust and Safety that bypasses the public support queue.

Post one polite message on X tagging @githubsupport with your ticket number (no personal details). Public mentions sometimes get triaged faster.

If you have an institutional email (.edu or school domain), verify it on the alt account and mention it in the email to education@. It helps prove you're actually the instructor and not a student trying to get around the suspension.

One thing to avoid: do not transfer the classroom org or recreate it from another account while suspended. That can flag as evasion and turn the temporary hold into a permanent ban.

At 2 months in, the case is most likely sitting waiting for a human review. The Education path tends to be the fastest because it goes around the general queue.

[nawat-john]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's been 3 months since my account was suspended, and now I've been reinstated. After replying to dozens of emails on my previous tickets and emailing education@github.com with my university account several times, I finally got my account back.

A 3-month gap was so long that I had to use my alternative account as my main one. Even after I changed my appeal strategy, the process still consumed a whole month. I hope GitHub support will improve on this point for future issues.

Sincerely thank you,