![\"shot-facebook-445-3\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/shot-facebook-445-3.jpg\")
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You cannot use Facebook\u2019s functionality to act as an entry mechanism into a competition. This means you cannot automatically register someone into a competition because they liked your page or shared your photo.<\/p>\n
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You cannot use the like button as a voting mechanism for a competition. For example, you cannot upload an album of photos that have been submitted to a competition and ask your fans to \u2018like\u2019 their favourite with the photo with the most \u2018likes\u2019 being the winner.<\/p>\n
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You must not notify the winner of your legitimately run competition through Facebook. That means no post congratulating the winner if they haven\u2019t already been privately notified off Facebook.<\/p>\n
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Whether you were aware of these rules or not, they have been in place for years, and still every day businesses are breaking them, with small business being the biggest offender.<\/p>\n
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So what\u2019s the harm in breaking the rules? Well, if Facebook decides to punish you, quite a bit actually! You could suffer a short-term ban from Facebook, or you can even lose your entire Facebook page and all its fans, and potentially have to pay to reinstate it.<\/p>\n
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Two New Zealand businesses, Velvet Burger<\/a> and Hell Pizza<\/a>, both suffered by losing their Facebook pages for a significant period of time after breaking Facebook\u2019s T&Cs.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n