All the examples are US companies. One way to look at the problem is US companies disregarding principles of US government/society: due process, transparency, accountability.
Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
11–20 of 55 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#12Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#13Take a moment to appreciate how bad the idea of relying so much on those platforms was in the first place and think about less postmodern ways to earn a living.
I'm sure your useless statement will be of great relief to the victims of the various megacorporations that control many of the critical components of our society.
GP's comment is useful. It is putting the finger in the wound. The megacorps are only megacorps, because we (not me actually) flocked to them, fell for their promises, gave away our data (mine too) and grew them into what they are today, while ridiculing those who point out the unhealthy dynamics.
Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#14The tricks are mostly proactive / strategic rather than reactive.
• Don't rely on platforms you have no control over in the first place. PayPal can close your PayPal account, but nobody can close your self-custody Bitcoin wallet. Self-ownership comes with some risks, but it negates some others. The solution is to use both (and others), which brings us to our next point -
• If you must use some platforms you have no control over, have functionality redundancies in place with other providers, to eliminate single points of failure. You can encourage customers to use alternative payment mechanisms by offering price incentives to lesser utilized mechanisms. Obviously you don't want to lose too much money, but there is a case to be made that getting 100% of your potential profit, but getting it from one payment provider is riskier than getting 90% of your potential profit, split across two payment providers. This works for ad buys too, rather than just receiving revenue.
As far as reactive techniques go, getting in contact with customer service and saying your account was hijacked because your computer got hacked and you had your password saved can be effective if there was a specific behavior/condition you are confident that caused the ban, which you are also confident you can avoid in the future. This excuse is particularly good because it offers an explanation not only for the behavior, but also for almost all of the metrics/identifiers that would be used to validate it was you - IP address, useragent, etc.
Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#15Buy the platform?
Just make sure you're prepared to deal with unsolvable challenges on the bleeding edge of computer science, like having >1000 poorly batched RPC's /s
Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#16Demand regulation. It is astounding that e.g. paypal is not subject to the requirements that banks have
Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#17I think you just get a new unique identifier and start over, right? None of these sites know who "you" are, they only have information about certain identifiers that you are in control of. First they ban your email, and you can create an infinite number of those for free. Then they ban your IP address, and you unplug your cable modem and plug it back in, and that problem is solved. Then they ban your phone number, but you can have a brand new one in minutes. Then they ban "you" based on your driver's license, but you just move to a new state and change your name, and get a brand new one that's not in their system. Facebook doesn't have a team of private detectives surveilling you 24 hours a day.
Realistically, I feel like the Tech Companies are losing against their more traditional peers, except maybe Amazon. Maybe social media is a big part of your life and you got banned, but I think it's pretty much on the way out. Nobody can make money with social media, it seems. AirBnB seems to have whipped traditional hotel companies into shape; better rates and less nickeling and diming. Now it's AirBnB that surprises you with a $200 "cleaning fee" because you didn't wash the coffee pot with soap and water. Paypal? Just make your customers pay you with Zelle. The incumbents caught up to the tech disruptors, and the incumbents are actually regulated.
Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#18You can't fight City Hall.
Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#19Re: Ask HN: How do you fight unjust bans from online platforms?
#20You can't fight City Hall.
Your state legislature can, though.