I got a response to my ticket from FL support, which simply told me to follow steps in advanced help topic #91:
(91) I am getting this error message when the Instagram Like task is running: "400...feedback_required...Sorry, this feature isn't available right now..."
It means your account or IP/Proxy has been flagged by Instagram because they think you have been liking too many photos or liking photos too fast. Try these:
1. Stop the project in which the affected account is.
2. Set "Like Limit" to 2-3, set "Daily Like Limit" to 200-350, set "Delay Like" to 55-75 seconds.
3. Right-click on the affected account and select "Refresh"
4. Right-click on the affected account and select "Pause". Keep the account paused for about 48 to 72 hours.
5. After 48 to 72 hours, right-click on the account and select "Resume". Then, run the account again.
6. If the issue persists and you have not been using proxy, switch to an internet connection with a different IP address or rent a private proxy (probably from another country) and assign it to the account.
7. If the issue persists and you have been using proxy, change the proxy assigned to the account or rent a private proxy from a different provider (probably from another country) and assign it to the account.
8. Click this menu and try again: "File->Clear->All Session Cookies"
9. If the issue persists, pause the account for one week and try again after that.
So I've done that already -- I've already had those accounts paused for three days (since Friday). I did the changes to like limit and delay like, though I don't see how that would affect the initial like / error response I might get. I selected "refresh" though I dont know what that does. I haven't waited 48 to 72 hours but I'll do that now. I changed proxies, cleared cookies, tried again, and got the same error message.
Ok, four questions:
1) What the heck does "refresh" do? I can't imagine "refresh" doing anything more than logging out and in but of course I don't know.
2) What do the "session cookies" do? Does that have anything to do with how the program or account is viewed by IG?
3) I noted three accounts appeard to be affected all within a few hours of each other last Friday, all of which were on different proxies, and each looked different from each other with widely different ages. I can give you my FL settings if you like but it was fairly conservative, maybe 20-30 follows per hour and 40 - 60 likes per hour, less than 500 likes per day. The proxies are advertised as private IG proxies by a reputable provider. I have about 17 other proxies I could try in various US cities but if this is a FL issue that may affect how IG sees my proxies I dont want to swap to others for fear I'd 'taint' them. All three IG accounts affected were over two years old, with followers ranging from nearly 2k to 17k. I had rarely gotten any holds or temp bans in the past, and nothing like that in the last few months. All three accounts work normally on the android or ipad app. Also the app works fine on those proxies using the FL-affected accounts when I switch to that proxy using an android app that lets me do that.
4) Are other programs besides FL affected? I've read comments that some other programs are being affected, but it appears almost all of the affected users are using FL. It appears that IG has made some changes which affect the emulated app that FL is presenting IG, so that it easily blocks likes from that emulated app. Note the error that IG is throwing:
Last response code: 400 -> feedback_required Sorry, this feature isn't available right now An error occurred while processing this request. Please try again later. We restrict certain content and actions to protect our community. Tell us if you think we made a mistake. was received from instagram [yourusername]
"Feedback required" means there would normally be some prompt for user interaction, I suppose like the temp ban we sometimes see on the app itself. Feedback is prompted, but not usually really required, if one waits a day or two the ban goes away. Rarely a ban may be applied longer than that -- I've never, ever had one longer than a day -- and I've never had FL or any other program banned without affecting the app. It might go away if I could tap on the button that IG may be trying to present FL, but I can't of course, that may be something that could be (or needs to be) implemented in the emulator's code.
It appears FL and maybe some other programs need to change how they are emulating the app. Some program providers may be less affected by this or not affected at all. If so, which ones aren't being affected as much, or not at all? I'm not looking to switch (right away), I just want to understand what's happening.