A specific explanation
Explain the action, evidence, and rule behind a restriction. A generic reference to the terms leaves people unable to respond.
Independent initiative · Starting with LinkedIn
Your network.
Your livelihood.
Your voice.
An account restriction can put years of professional relationships out of reach. We’re building a campaign for clear explanations, meaningful appeals, and fair access to the tools we use.
An early invitation to users, builders, and legal advocates.
Relationships take years.Access matters.
Initiated by Alexey Kostarev, co-founder of Robot Vera.Experience challenging platform restrictions. A new campaign to build together.
01 / What we stand for
Fair rules.
A real way to be heard.
Platforms need to protect people from spam and abuse. Users also need to understand restrictions, challenge mistakes, and know which tools they can responsibly use. These are the changes we want to pursue.
A meaningful appeal
Give users a practical way to provide context and receive a reasoned review of the decision.
Fair treatment of tools
Assess independent tools by what they do and the risks they create. Make the boundaries clear and proportionate.
02 / We’ve challenged a platform before
This isn’t our
first time asking
for fair access.
Alexey Kostarev, a co-founder of Robot Vera, is initiating this campaign with experience from a previous platform dispute. Robot Vera’s developer, Stafori, challenged HeadHunter’s restrictions on its recruiting software in Russia.
That challenge led to an antitrust finding against HeadHunter. It is a reason to organize, document the facts, and pursue the question seriously.
Alexey KostarevInitiator · Co-founder, Robot Vera
A challenge to platform restrictions
Stafori complained about restrictions affecting Robot Vera. The dispute included accounts blocked for using the software.
An antitrust finding
Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service found abuse of a collective dominant position and obstacles to Stafori’s market access. It ordered HeadHunter to consider Stafori’s product-registration applications.
Documented by HeadHunter itself
In its annual report for 2021, HeadHunter disclosed losses in the first-instance and appeal courts, and a further appeal filed in February 2022.
This was a specific Russian competition case, not a blanket right to automate any platform. LinkedIn’s conduct requires its own evidence and legal assessment.
Read HeadHunter’s SEC filing · Risk factors & legal proceedings ↗03 / A question worth testing
My computer.
My workflow.
Where’s the line?
Can a platform prohibit a personal software assistant simply because it automates actions a user could perform manually?
Our founder’s starting example is a local workflow for reading posts, organizing connections, and sending connection requests within the limits he understands LinkedIn to publish.
LinkedIn’s terms separately prohibit unauthorized automation. Staying within volume limits does not itself authorize a tool. We want to examine whether blanket restrictions are justified in specific cases.
Read LinkedIn’s position · User Agreement §8.2 ↗A personal workflowFOUNDER’S ACCOUNT
- ↳ Collect posts available to the account
- ↳ Organize connection information locally
- ↳ Send connection requests within stated limits
- ↳ No automated messaging
- ↳ No resale or distribution of collected data
- ↳ No upload of collected data to third-party clouds
Self-described, not independently audited. Passive collection and connection requests need separate analysis. Information being visible does not make it exclusively the viewer’s property.
04 / From individual stories to evidence
Let’s find the pattern.
We want to hear from people with account restrictions and builders affected by tool bans. The first task is to establish what happened—not to assume every restriction was wrong.
Restricted or suspended accounts
The notice, date, stated reason, and steps taken to appeal.
Restrictions involving third-party tools
What the tool actually did, what information it accessed, and any applicable limits.
A professional or business impact
Documented consequences, including subscriptions, interrupted work, and lost access.
Gather accounts→Check documents→Group comparable cases→Seek legal assessment
Future case collection should be private, with separate permission for legal sharing and publication. No lawsuit has been filed by this initiative; grouping claims depends on jurisdiction and facts.
05 / The record, not the rhetoric
A starting point
you can check.
Public sources behind this proposal. They establish relevant disputes, policies, and organizations—not a finding that LinkedIn has acted unlawfully in any particular user’s case.
Regulatory decision · Russia · 2019
The Robot Vera / HeadHunter dispute
FAS decision No. 11/01/10-9/2019 describes account restrictions and the competition issues raised by Stafori.
Decision text, reproduced by Garant ↗Company disclosure · SEC · 2022
HeadHunter’s own account of the outcome
The annual report for 2021 discloses the finding, remedy, fine, and litigation status at the time.
HeadHunter Form 20-F ↗Platform policy · LinkedIn
The automation restriction is explicit
Section 8.2 prohibits unauthorized automated methods, including access, contacts, messages, and posting. Local operation is not an express exception.
LinkedIn User Agreement ↗Independent organization · Germany
Fairlinked is already advocating for change
The association represents commercial LinkedIn users and campaigns on third-party tools and platform access. We have no confirmed partnership.
Fairlinked’s stated agenda ↗Related model · Platform workers
Organizing around data and evidence
Worker Info Exchange helps workers pursue data rights. Its work around Uber offers an organizing model, not a legal precedent for LinkedIn users.
Worker Info Exchange ↗Founder background · Independent reporting
The people behind Robot Vera
RBC’s reporting identifies Alexey Kostarev among the project’s founders and describes the HeadHunter dispute.
RBC Style · June 2022 ↗ 06 / Help shape the next step
Should we
build this together?
We’re testing interest before launching a public campaign. Tell us what would bring you in.
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