Mass Reporting

[Alison22 Jewell]

Hey everyone,

I'm not a frequent poster to the Forums, but a LONG time user.

I have started hearing that mass reporting of people at venues for age-play is becoming a thing. Plus it seems like people are targeting venues for this kind of thing.

•  How can those who aren't engaging in ***** (which is gross) actually get heard by LL on these issues?
•  Are there going to be ways to look for those who might mass-report people as a harassment/trolling activity and deal with them instead?
•  What is the plan for all of this? ***** is gross, but just rocking up at places and getting people banned when they are not engaging in ***** at all is worse...

[Dakota Linden]

Greetings all!

The only "automation" that is used for Abuse Reports is for grouping Reports together.  If others engage in "mass reporting", all of the AR's against the same user get grouped together as single Abuse Report in the tool that the Governance Team uses. 

Mass reporting does not, in any way, affect how the Governance Team does their job.  This is not a popularity contest and the Governance Team does not look at the number of reports filed against a user and think "oh, a lot of people are reporting this, it must be true".  

The Governance Team will not action an account without proof.  

Having said that, multiple Abuse Reports CAN help the Governance Team sometimes.  One person may submit a report with confusing or unclear information or they quote the TOS without providing any actual information about what the other person did.  Some reports may have screenshots that do not help.  Either the user names are not shown, or the image shows the floor instead of the user or issue that is being reported, etc.  Some may use wrong Report Types (like Gaming Policy Violation which is for Skill Gaming Violations and not a generic option) to report Harassment or Objects that are encroaching, etc. 

Having a couple of reports from different reporters can help the Governance Team determine what the user is being reported for and what to look for in their investigation. 

The reason why 99% of all appeals fail is because the Governance Team was extremely thorough in their report and documented proof of the violation.

While we appreciate that friends want to help each other, Linden Lab does not accept appeals submitted by others. 

Any action against an account is solidly under Account Privacy and Security and Linden Lab does not, and will not, provide any information about an account to anyone other than the verified owner of the account. 

[Lindal Kidd]

Submitting falsified Abuse Reports is itself a ToS violation.  If nobody was *****ing, LL will most likely see that and take no action.  If they DO take action and someone gets erroneously suspended or banned, they should submit an appeal immediately.  Normally, LL does not consider inputs from third parties, but in a situation like this, if others were present, I'd recommend that they submit counter-ARs and support reversing the action taken on the affected person.

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, Alison22 Jewell said:

Hey everyone,

I'm not a frequent poster to the Forums, but a LONG time user.

I have started hearing that mass reporting of people at venues for age-play is becoming a thing. Plus it seems like people are targeting venues for this kind of thing.

•  How can those who aren't engaging in ***** (which is gross) actually get heard by LL on these issues?
•  Are there going to be ways to look for those who might mass-report people as a harassment/trolling activity and deal with them instead?
•  What is the plan for all of this? ***** is gross, but just rocking up at places and getting people banned when they are not engaging in ***** at all is worse...

The AR would have to have screen shots that showed the activity going on.  Unless you are at a venue where everyone is AFK and someone else comes along putting a child avatar into compromising positions with everyone, I can't see how a mass AR would even come close to standing a chance.

[Alison22 Jewell]

1 hour ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Submitting falsified Abuse Reports is itself a ToS violation.  If nobody was *****ing, LL will most likely see that and take no action.  If they DO take action and someone gets erroneously suspended or banned, they should submit an appeal immediately.  Normally, LL does not consider inputs from third parties, but in a situation like this, if others were present, I'd recommend that they submit counter-ARs and support reversing the action taken on the affected person.

It might be true, but I don't know if LL are going through these one-by-one or just letting 'algorithms' deal with it like all that YouTube nonsense.

[Alison22 Jewell]

3 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

The AR would have to have screen shots that showed the activity going on.  Unless you are at a venue where everyone is AFK and someone else comes along putting a child avatar into compromising positions with everyone, I can't see how a mass AR would even come close to standing a chance.

But then, how at a teen venue which itself is pretty loud about not including/tolerating that kind of activity be the spot where a lot of disparate people all seem to catch a ban? It sounds like the sort of dogpiling you see happening on Twitter and YouTube. Someone comes along, hits report a bunch of times, the algorithm kicks in, and then 6+ months later a set of human eyes gets to it and things get reversed. Well after the damage is done.

[LittleMe Jewell]

8 minutes ago, Alison22 Jewell said:

It might be true, but I don't know if LL are going through these one-by-one or just letting 'algorithms' deal with it like all that YouTube nonsense.

 

5 minutes ago, Alison22 Jewell said:

But then, how at a teen venue which itself is pretty loud about not including/tolerating that kind of activity be the spot where a lot of disparate people all seem to catch a ban? It sounds like the sort of dogpiling you see happening on Twitter and YouTube. Someone comes along, hits report a bunch of times, the algorithm kicks in, and then 6+ months later a set of human eyes gets to it and things get reversed. Well after the damage is done.

 

We have been told that LL does not use algorithms for ARs and that each & every one is dealt with individually by a live person.  The closest they come to anything like algorithm or automated is that multiple ARs for the same object or person are somehow grouped together for review.

By 'all seem to catch a ban - do you mean a full ban from SL?   LL will investigate all claims of age-play - and they do tend to drop the hammer hard - but only if they have at least something that supports the AR as being valid.  Also, from my understanding, very few of those ever get reversed.

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by LittleMe Jewell

[MoiraKathleen]

2 hours ago, Alison22 Jewell said:

But then, how at a teen venue which itself is pretty loud about not including/tolerating that kind of activity be the spot where a lot of disparate people all seem to catch a ban? It sounds like the sort of dogpiling you see happening on Twitter and YouTube. Someone comes along, hits report a bunch of times, the algorithm kicks in, and then 6+ months later a set of human eyes gets to it and things get reversed. Well after the damage is done.

If it's a group of disparate people, how do you know that they were banned from SL because of something that happened at a specific venue?  It could have just as well been based on inappropriate activity they were engaged with at other regions.   The type of activity you are referring to generally results in a complete ban from SL altogether, so I'm not  sure how you would know that a lot of disparate people were banned.   

 

[Alison22 Jewell]

Because I know a number of people who attended a venue that is aimed for teen AV socialising, and at least two of them had the same thing happen in the same window of time. And they had few other overlaps than this venue and myself. Hence why I am suggesting that this venue may have been where someone was making vexatious reports.

[LittleMe Jewell]

11 minutes ago, Alison22 Jewell said:

Because I know a number of people who attended a venue that is aimed for teen AV socialising, and at least two of them had the same thing happen in the same window of time. And they had few other overlaps than this venue and myself. Hence why I am suggesting that this venue may have been where someone was making vexatious reports.

But were they banned from SL or banned from the venue/region?  It is totally possible that someone complained to a venue/region owner about multiple people and got them banned from the location.

As I said, if it was an LL ban due to age-play, then it would have been a permanent ban and only reversible if the party appealed and was able to prove that it was a false report - which, as far as I know, happens very seldom.  LL tends to do a detailed investigation of things before issuing a permanent ban.

[Lindal Kidd]

If they were ACTUALLY under 16, in RL, that'd get them banned for sure.

[Lindal Kidd]

49 minutes ago, Dakota Linden said:

...Mass reporting does not, in any way, affect how the Governance Team does their job.  This is not a popularity contest ...

In this case, I think it would be an "UNpopularity contest".

[GreenLantern Excelsior]

The Linden Lab guidelines for filing an Abuse Report have stayed pretty much the same since around 2007, especially regarding which and how many residents should write reports.

Quote

Abuse occurs when someone violates the Second Life Terms of Service (ToS) or the Community Standards (CS). Every Resident agrees to abide by these rules upon joining Second Life. Some special areas, such as Infohubs, have additional restrictions called the Welcome Area Guidelines.

Whenever you see one of these rules being broken and you believe it to be intentional or malicious, everyone present at the scene should file an abuse report. If there are multiple incidents, file multiple reports.

File reports on any abuse you witness in addition to abuse that targets you personally. Not every Resident is aware of the abuse-reporting system or remembers to use it, so please help out your fellow Residents! Reports from multiple people underscore the seriousness of an incident.

If there's a single particle emitter in an empty region, it may not be worth reporting. But if someone is griefing 20 residents in a sandbox, the Governance Team wants to receive 20 Abuse Reports...according to the guidelines.

Regarding the original post, LL sends an email to the resident informing them that their account has been suspended, the amount of time of the suspension, and the reason. There's no way the resident will know who reported them or how many reports there were, unless the person who wrote the report brags about it. The Governance Team investigates every report, and they don't take action on hearsay, so chances are excellent that the people who were banned had violated the Terms of Service and that the ban was well deserved.

[Kerrianne Wheatcliffe]

On 2/19/2020 at 10:35 AM, Dakota Linden said:

Greetings all!

The only "automation" that is used for Abuse Reports is for grouping Reports together.  If others engage in "mass reporting", all of the AR's against the same user get grouped together as single Abuse Report in the tool that the Governance Team uses. 

Mass reporting does not, in any way, affect how the Governance Team does their job.  This is not a popularity contest and the Governance Team does not look at the number of reports filed against a user and think "oh, a lot of people are reporting this, it must be true".  

The Governance Team will not action an account without proof.  

Having a couple of reports from different reporters can help the Governance Team determine what the user is being reported for and what to look for in their investigation. 

The reason why 99% of all appeals fail is because the Governance Team was extremely thorough in their report and documented proof of the violation.

Thank you for that very thourough explanation of how abuse reports work.

Sometimes on my parcel, I can be a little laxed in how I file reports, just because I am not sure anything ever really is done about it, but this is helpful.

What is the best way to file a report against someone, @Dakota Linden?

Usually I kick and ban them before reporting, and it’s not like we can record their actions.

If they IMed or sent something local chat, those messages are in the screen shot.  Beyond that, I am not sure what else can be done.

[LittleMe Jewell]

5 hours ago, Kerrianne Wheatcliffe said:

What is the best way to file a report against someone

In the viewer:  Help menu / Report Abuse -- If it is about something you can show inworld, then have it showing in your view.  The Report process will automatically take a screen shot.  Pick the appropriate category.  If it is for an inworld object, you can click the orange box in the Report Abuse window and then click the object inworl and it will automatically fill in the object and owner.  If not an object you can click, then click Choose and start typing a person's name - select them in the list and click OK. Write a short descriptive Summary and then give as much detail as you can in the Details section.  Then click "Report Abuse" button.

If for something here in the forums, simply click the 'Report post' link in the upper right of the post you want to report.  The link is a hidden link until you mouse over it:

Type in comments as to why you are reporting the post - what you think the problem is.

 

[Kerrianne Wheatcliffe]

3 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

In the viewer:  Help menu / Report Abuse -- If it is about something you can show inworld, then have it showing in your view.  The Report process will automatically take a screen shot.  Pick the appropriate category.  If it is for an inworld object, you can click the orange box in the Report Abuse window and then click the object inworl and it will automatically fill in the object and owner.  If not an object you can click, then click Choose and start typing a person's name - select them in the list and click OK. Write a short descriptive Summary and then give as much detail as you can in the Details section.  Then click "Report Abuse" button.

If for something here in the forums, simply click the 'Report post' link in the upper right of the post you want to report.  The link is a hidden link until you mouse over it:

Type in comments as to why you are reporting the post - what you think the problem is.

 

Thank you, but that wasn’t what I asked.  It was more about the content of the report, since most aren’t investigated due to completeness.

When you eject and ban someone, and file later,  You have no screenshots and unless something is in local chat or IM, no evidence.  SecondLife doesn’t have a record button for griefers.

[LittleMe Jewell]

50 minutes ago, Kerrianne Wheatcliffe said:

Thank you, but that wasn’t what I asked.  It was more about the content of the report, since most aren’t investigated due to completeness.

When you eject and ban someone, and file later,  You have no screenshots and unless something is in local chat or IM, no evidence.  SecondLife doesn’t have a record button for griefers.

All you can do is supply as much information and details as you can.  We've been told that many time.

[Kerrianne Wheatcliffe]

1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

All you can do is supply as much information and details as you can.  We've been told that many time.

I was hoping there were some hints in there how to get better details.  I'd rather protect the parcel first, report later.

[bigmoe Whitfield]

3 hours ago, Kerrianne Wheatcliffe said:

I was hoping there were some hints in there how to get better details.  I'd rather protect the parcel first, report later.

Remember too, LL has everything logged server side as proof too, so abuse report it and let them handle it.

[Lindal Kidd]

21 hours ago, Kerrianne Wheatcliffe said:

Thank you, but that wasn’t what I asked.  It was more about the content of the report, since most aren’t investigated due to completeness.

When you eject and ban someone, and file later,  You have no screenshots and unless something is in local chat or IM, no evidence.  SecondLife doesn’t have a record button for griefers.

They do, though.  LL can access logs of local chat and IMs, and they keep them for some period of time.  So if you report someone, give names, dates and times.  LL can then look back at what went on in chat and IM, and can take appropriate action.

They don't log Voice though...which is one reason I don't like Voice.

[Dakota Linden]

On 5/23/2020 at 2:44 PM, Kerrianne Wheatcliffe said:

Thank you for that very thourough explanation of how abuse reports work.

Sometimes on my parcel, I can be a little laxed in how I file reports, just because I am not sure anything ever really is done about it, but this is helpful.

What is the best way to file a report against someone, @Dakota Linden?

Usually I kick and ban them before reporting, and it’s not like we can record their actions.

If they IMed or sent something local chat, those messages are in the screen shot.  Beyond that, I am not sure what else can be done.

Hi all!

Sorry for the delay. 

You can right click on the user and choose the option to Report Abuse from the menu.  This will open up the Abuse Report UI Window and grab a screenshot and the exact location of where the Abuse happened. 

You should then be able to move that AR UI window to the side and work on kick/banning them from your parcel/region. 

After you have kick/banned them, you can move the Abuse Report UI Window back to your main view and continue filling out the information on what happened for the Governance Team. 

When you are done, submit the report.

This should allow you to immediately grab the information and a screenshot of the offending user/avatar for the report and also allow you to address the immediate issue of getting them off your land before finalizing the AR and submitting the report. 

[MaxSilverDragon]

role playing as a kid on Second Life is already basically dead cuz you're automatically considered a pedo immediately and there's nothing you could do about it

even if you're not interested in sexual activities at all and you just like looking like a kid I highly recommend people avoid child avatars at all costs being one or being around 1 it sucks it's just the way people think it's not possible to be what you want to be in second life anymore

that's why I stopped being a child Avatar over a year ago it's no longer welcome anywhere

second life is a giant playground you have to be serious  not have fun in it or you'll get banned

this is seriously how I feel about second life right now

the most vague rule on second life is ***** some people consider the active role playing as a kid ***** 
being a child Avatar *****
doing sexual acts as a kid Avatar is the true definition of ***** to me I personally see nothing wrong with role playing as a kid or having a child Avatar it's when you start to f***