Son about to go to university, all Freshers info etc. on Facebook and it won't let him open an account

[Plasmodesmata]

Any ideas?
son is about to go to university.
He's waiting on an autism assessment, very socially awkward, thought it might be useful for him to try to get in touch with potential new flatmates / coursemates before going as he finds online easier than face to face.
For some reason, all the hall of residence stuff, freshers stuff is on Facebook of all things despite the fact that noone under about 40 uses it.
so he tries to set up an account (obviously didn't have one before, being 18 not 50....)
and it got instantly banned for "community standards" or some such. He had not posted anything - just requested to join the uni halls group.
he did use his real name and details.
There was a button to press to "appeal" but it just came back with "computer said no sorry that's it for you no Facebook account".
he's just shrugged. But now he can't access any information or find out about flatmates etc. before he goes.
I'm guessing if he tries to open another account the same thing will happen.
Does anyone have any bright ideas?

I'm not sure I'd want someone finding out about me before I moved in with them. Is this what the kids fo these days?

Has he previously had one and been banned?

other son went last year - they just got name of people in flat. I mean it's not compulsory. Just thought it might be helpful.

Can he try with a different email address?

Nope. The kids don't do Facebook. They think it's for old people.

I don't know - can he? I've a feeling that might get banned as well, as same IP address.

Older teens definitely do Facebook. It’s very useful for organised events like school formals and uni offer holder groups, freshers events etc.

If he tried from wifi he could try from mobile data with a new email address?

God I hope DS’s uni doesn’t do that. I think he’d rather die than use Facebook!

Now I think about it, maybe that’s why he has surprisingly little info so far.

This is a good idea.
Or maybe go somewhere like a cafe or library with free WiFi to do it.
If he doesn't have another email address, it's very easy to set one up with Gmail.

Yep he tried from home pc originally so might suggest using phone and wifi.
thanks!

DC all started an (old persons 😉) FB account for Uni (with a lot of eye rolling) but then the first year flatshare was quickly established on whatsapp once it was confirmed.

Yes, it is. It is a bit of an ice breaker.

It's not a platform of choice for teens, but many people join at some point just because if you need to follow a link (see the menu for a local pub with no website, follow a small event of interest or a local band, get info on some small-scale activism, or just read something someone sent you) FB won't let you view full content without an account. He might have done this at some point and forgotten after the immediate need passed so they think he already has an account?

He can try making an account under another name (a lot of people use a version of their name for privacy and plausible deniability because if someone reports you for using a false name, you do get banned - for example Christopher Blackheath-Jones becomes Kit Jones) and separate email address; maybe not ideal if he wants to post but would at least let him see the info and he might be able to put his correct name in later. I'd do it under a different ISP if he can.

FWIW (this goes back a few years) I was banned on Twitter for similar reasons immediately after opening an account and before completing my profile or adding any contacts; all I'd done was try to follow the accounts I was interested in. Didn't get any response from support and finally got an acquaintance who works there to check; there was nothing to indicate why I'd been banned except that whatever I did triggered a "suspicious activity" algorithm and no one followed up on my queries. I think these platforms in general are severely understaffed and rely on AI.

My dc had a fb account closed down due to inactivity . They opened another one and added a few friends to it. Doesn't really use it - it's just for uni info.

I'm guessing an algorithm got him.
Funny that you're supposed to use your real name - I didn't, for ages (teacher).