Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#191

Post by cookingrobot » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:15 PM UTC

My idea is we should regulate a lot of online services like we do landlords.

I remember years ago Microsoft thought someone was pirating their software so they started reading their emails looking for evidence. That seemed wrong to me. A landlord wouldn’t be allowed to snoop through your drawers if they thought you were stealing, they’d need to convince the police to get a warrant.

And in this discord case, once a company agrees to create an account for you and start providing service, they shouldn’t be allowed to “evict” you overnight for no good reason. There should be a proper process with protections when ending the relationship.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#192

Post by qzx_pierri » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #177

qzx_pierri wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but those government services are funded using taxes, so yes, you ARE entitled to those services. You are not entitled to the use of any private service.

Effectively, the entire internet is privatized. To put another way, it is impossible to access those government websites without using a private service. And since the government does not provide an email system, you still need to use a private service to access those public resources.

> you still need to use a private service to access those public resources

Unless you contact them through USPS, which is a public service.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#193

Post by zamalek » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

> I recently tried to make a separate work account in Discord.

You should explain this to your employer and not use a gaming communication platform for work purposes.

Matrix is trivial to self-host.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#194

Post by workethics » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:18 PM UTC

ridgered4 wrote: post #174

cloudwalk9 wrote: post #28

Discord Trust and Safety in particular is downright useless. I feel I should share my story. It's a personal hell I've been stuck in for a while. I'm disabled from severe depression resistant to first line treatments, bedridden a lot of the time, and I rely on the platform for most of my social interaction and resources for my hobbies, as far as I can pursue them of course. Discord is invaluable and is basically a mo…

> A few days ago I made three accounts to try to test ways to get them off my back. One was made on a virtual machine on a VPS located a thousand miles away from me and had no connection to me. Although I did give vague hints to friends that it was me. They banned all three accounts, even the VM one. I had a nervous breakdown knowing I may never be able to participate on the platform again. I also felt like I was bei…

They probably use the user's social graph. Taking all those precautions won't help if the new account just rejoins the same servers and talks to the same people as the banned account.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#195

Post by whatisthiseven » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:20 PM UTC

aaronmdjones wrote: post #142

kouteiheika wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. Still logged in through Firefox, but can't login through Chrome anymore. Exact same computer, exact same IP address. I contacted support and they refused to help me, quote: > I just checked with my team, and upon review of your account, it appears that our detection system has triggered successfully and we will not be removing the phone verification requirement on your account. You'll be required to regist…

> I just checked with my team, and upon review of your account, it appears that our detection system has triggered successfully That's exactly the same response I got, word-for-word, to my lockout ticket [1]. Initially I thought it was a human replying to my ticket, now I'm not so sure. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31398660

I sat alongside customer service agents working phones, email, and chat. They use copy-pasted stuff for everything. I will watch them search word for a template way slower than I could type, but that's their process.

Re-used phrases is not a sign of a bot, IMO. But it is a sign of employees who have to respond to the same thing over and over and don't have much power to effect change.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#196

Post by falcolas » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:21 PM UTC

qzx_pierri wrote: post #192

falcolas wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Effectively, the entire internet is privatized. To put another way, it is impossible to access those government websites without using a private service. And since the government does not provide an email system, you still need to use a private service to access those public resources.

> you still need to use a private service to access those public resources Unless you contact them through USPS, which is a public service.

See the aforementioned "you can only access some government services via the internet" statement.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#197

Post by ncmncm » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:23 PM UTC

vel0city wrote: post #175

horsawlarway wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm 33. I think you're wrong. I suspect you're older - imagine the US without a public highway system. Imagine every highway is private. Imagine what arbitrary bans from those highways would do to impact how you live. Talk to me about how well we should communicate face to face in that situation? Idea not that appealing? That's what you're advocating for today. A complete loss of a highway system that has no public r…

In your example of the highways though, Facebook and Discord aren't the highways. They're the private clubs you take the highways to. The highways are the telecom companies, the ones where you're incredibly limited on which ones will service your area, where you realistically don't have multiple choices. Discord isn't the only group chat platform on the internet. WhatsApp isn't the only text message service out there…

The people you need to communicate with are not on Matrix or Mastodon.

"Private" clubs and golf courses banning only Jewish and black people are not allowed anymore, for reasons.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#198

Post by yamtaddle » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:23 PM UTC

anoonmoose wrote: post #51

moss2 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another idea would be legislature. Have these online public spaces serve under the same laws as real-life public spaces (museums, parks et cetera). If a town banned you from the train station because you refuse to give them your phone number, that would open them up to being sued. That should absolutely apply to Discord, Google Mail and Amazon AWS.

That should absolutely not apply to Discord, Google Mail, or Amazon AWS, because those are all private companies restricting the use of their private property. You may call them "public spaces" or "public services" but that is an abuse of the word "public".

When you invite the public in, it's public. Maybe not quite the same way as a city park, but it's not wholly private either. That's both obvious in a common-sense way, and part of the law. It's just not really been applied to the Internet yet.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#199

Post by vel0city » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:23 PM UTC

falcolas wrote: post #145

qzx_pierri wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I acknowledge your feeling that the internet is real life, and I respect your opinion, but I have to disagree. I'll repost part of a comment I made 5 months ago because I think it's very relevant: "Don't forget that everything you see online is a facade. 15+ years ago, I fell in love with the internet because it's somewhere I could go to be something that I'm not. I could be LOUD, or I could say things I would normal…

Many government functions (unemployment, DMV appointment scheduling, etc) can not be accessed from any place but the internet. It's one reason that Public Libraries are so important these days. That our government requires you to use the internet puts lie to the idea that you can live a complete life without the internet.

Being banned on Discord does not prevent you from using the DMV's website.

Re: Ask HN: Discord banned me with no recourse

#200

Post by cloudwalk9 » Thu, Sep 15, 2022, 4:24 PM UTC

TakeBlaster16 wrote: post #122

cloudwalk9 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've considered it. But they have a right to refuse service for any reason. Only damages I could claim is 10 dollars from my last month of Nitro. Not sure what they're doing counts as disability discrimination either. Probably don't have a case.

I would claim the total amount you've spent on Nitro since you first made your account. That was an investment into your account and its history, and now it's gone. You sound like a sympathetic plaintiff. You have a shot. Best case, you get an actual human to look at your situation. Worst case, you're out filing fees and end up back where you started.

I also live in a state that permits injunctive relief in small claims court, I think. Although I'm not sure how much teeth that would have. I'm kinda concerned about them digging into my old DMs because I'm sure they'll find a reason to make everything relevant they possibly can, and they end up on a record I can't seal or something, costing me all sense of privacy and dignity.

I'm generally clueless about the process in depth, admittedly.