Why has the USMNT X account been temporarily restricted?

The official USMNT account has been “temporarily restricted” for having “potentially violated” site rules.

The United States’ profile on X, formerly known as Twitter, was blocked out early on Friday morning. It came just hours after Gregg Berhalter’s side had beaten Trinidad and Tobago in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final.

There was no particularly contentious incident in the United State’s 3-0 win and there have not been any ill-advised statements from the team’s social media posts in recent days.

The reason for the USMNT restriction on Elon Musk’s social media platform is still unclear.

Why do accounts get temporarily restricted?

The USMNT account is still accessible, but the profile page comes with a warning notice for content.

It reads: “You’re seeing this warning because they may have potentially violated the X rules. Do you still want to view it?”

Although there is no specific reason given for the temporary restriction, a section on the X Help Center gives some explanation of why accounts are hit with this measure.

“If your account has been limited because it may have violated the X Rules, you can still browse X, but while in this state, you can only send Direct Messages to your followers.”

The X Rules are numerous and it’s not clear which rule the USMNT account is supposed to have broken. Users with a temporarily restricted account may be required to delete certain posts to restore full access to their account, or simply verify their email address or phone number.