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- Posted: Wed, 15 Jun 2016 21:46:18 +0000
Hello,
We wanted to take a moment to go over in more detail on what Gaia Online considers abusive behavior, how to report the behavior, and how to better handle yourself when being placed in these situations. As a general reminder please be aware that by creating an account on Gaia Online, you agreed to both the Terms of Service and the Rules and Guidelines. Both of these documents state that all abusive behavior is disallowed.
Abusive Behavior
This is considered as having the intention of insulting or harming another user or group of users. The intentions behind a situation, the continuation of the behavior and/or the severity of the threat will most often be what determines how a situation is handled.
Gaia Online divides abusive behavior into three categories; flaming, trolling, and abuse/harassment. These are the terms that the moderation team will use to better explain the behavior they are discussing with a user within reminders, warnings, or any other forms of education about the Terms of Service.
Flaming
Trolling
Abuse/Harassment
The Ignore System/Ignore List Circumvention
Curse Words
Abuse/Harassment Outside of Gaia
We thank you for taking your time to read through this and we hope this information helps to clarify how to handle abusive situations and to keep them from escalating. If there are still questions or concerns, please feel free to private message any moderator for further clarification.
To find an online moderator, use the [View Forum Moderators] found at the top of every forum.
Educate yourself on other issues by checking out these links:
Hacking Prevention and Account Security
Reminder: Don't Joke About Your Age
Reminder: Subjects You Should NOT Joke About
Reminder: Don't Post Sexually Explicit Content
Recognizing & Reporting Password Phishing
E-mails, Gaia Account, and Security: Why it's important
Gold Buying, Off-Site Trading, and You
We wanted to take a moment to go over in more detail on what Gaia Online considers abusive behavior, how to report the behavior, and how to better handle yourself when being placed in these situations. As a general reminder please be aware that by creating an account on Gaia Online, you agreed to both the Terms of Service and the Rules and Guidelines. Both of these documents state that all abusive behavior is disallowed.
Abusive Behavior
This is considered as having the intention of insulting or harming another user or group of users. The intentions behind a situation, the continuation of the behavior and/or the severity of the threat will most often be what determines how a situation is handled.
Gaia Online divides abusive behavior into three categories; flaming, trolling, and abuse/harassment. These are the terms that the moderation team will use to better explain the behavior they are discussing with a user within reminders, warnings, or any other forms of education about the Terms of Service.
Flaming
Flaming is directed abusive comments or actions towards one person. This includes insulting a specific user through private messages, comments, on the forums, the flash spaces, and anywhere else on the site.
Other inclusions of flaming are sending abusive messages through friend requests, trade titles, and anonymous gifts.
Reporting Flaming
As the reporter, only report flaming if it is happening to you. Once the user has been reported, place the user on your ignore list so the abusive messages will no longer be seen (how the ignore system works is explained further within this topic).
Not all third party reports for flaming are considered abusive as it could be two friends joking around with each other. The moderation team does take that into consideration upon reviewing the report and should reply if they feel that there is no abusive intent between the users involved. Should your friend come to you about their abusive situation, encourage them to report it.
When it comes to reporting a flaming situation that needs to be reviewed by the moderation team, the best way to do so is by directly reporting the content. For example, if someone is insulting you within the flash spaces, the best thing to do is report the conversation as the abusive content is appearing on the screen. If the content is no longer appearing, there is less of a chance of the report system catching the abusive statements.
If you are receiving abusive anonymous gifts, report the private message sent by [NPC] Rina. Similarly, if a user has sent you an abusive friend request or an abusive private message, report the private message that contains the offending content.
Send a private message an online moderator if a user has created abusive or otherwise inappropriate Towns topics as there is not a report system for them.
Other inclusions of flaming are sending abusive messages through friend requests, trade titles, and anonymous gifts.
Reporting Flaming
As the reporter, only report flaming if it is happening to you. Once the user has been reported, place the user on your ignore list so the abusive messages will no longer be seen (how the ignore system works is explained further within this topic).
Not all third party reports for flaming are considered abusive as it could be two friends joking around with each other. The moderation team does take that into consideration upon reviewing the report and should reply if they feel that there is no abusive intent between the users involved. Should your friend come to you about their abusive situation, encourage them to report it.
When it comes to reporting a flaming situation that needs to be reviewed by the moderation team, the best way to do so is by directly reporting the content. For example, if someone is insulting you within the flash spaces, the best thing to do is report the conversation as the abusive content is appearing on the screen. If the content is no longer appearing, there is less of a chance of the report system catching the abusive statements.
If you are receiving abusive anonymous gifts, report the private message sent by [NPC] Rina. Similarly, if a user has sent you an abusive friend request or an abusive private message, report the private message that contains the offending content.
Send a private message an online moderator if a user has created abusive or otherwise inappropriate Towns topics as there is not a report system for them.
Trolling
Trolling is when a user has malicious intentions to upset, offend or otherwise create negative reactions from other users. This includes, but is not limited to; threatening, posting derogatory statements regarding race, religion, sexuality, capabilities or any other groups as a whole.
Negatively name dropping users such as "call out" threads (threads created to mock or "out" another user), threads announcing someone has ignore listed you or that you have ignore listed a specific user, and threads which make claim of a user violating the Terms of Service in any manner are also considered trolling as they draw negative attention from the user base toward a specific user.
Threatening to report another user, or telling them that they have already been reported can be seen as trolling; this action is a form of intimidation because it is used to get the targeted user to do something that he or she did not originally want to do.
Reporting Trolling
The best way of reporting trolling is directly reporting the content.
Should a user have an avatar that is being used to create an abusive image, report a post or thread the user has made and explain that the report is for the avatar. If there are no posts or threads, use the report profile option.
In addition to reporting a user who is trolling, do not "feed the trolls." This means not encouraging or antagonizing users who are clearly trolling. Users, who behave in this manner, are also breaking the rules. Acting this way is not an excuse and may result in warnings.
Negatively name dropping users such as "call out" threads (threads created to mock or "out" another user), threads announcing someone has ignore listed you or that you have ignore listed a specific user, and threads which make claim of a user violating the Terms of Service in any manner are also considered trolling as they draw negative attention from the user base toward a specific user.
Threatening to report another user, or telling them that they have already been reported can be seen as trolling; this action is a form of intimidation because it is used to get the targeted user to do something that he or she did not originally want to do.
Reporting Trolling
The best way of reporting trolling is directly reporting the content.
Should a user have an avatar that is being used to create an abusive image, report a post or thread the user has made and explain that the report is for the avatar. If there are no posts or threads, use the report profile option.
In addition to reporting a user who is trolling, do not "feed the trolls." This means not encouraging or antagonizing users who are clearly trolling. Users, who behave in this manner, are also breaking the rules. Acting this way is not an excuse and may result in warnings.
Abuse/Harassment
Harassment is considered a campaign of targeted abuse that extends beyond a single incident. Some examples include; multiple users being abusive toward or complaining against a single individual, threatening another user, constant or continued unwanted contact or abusive messages, and blackmail.
Posting the personal information of another user is seen as a form of harassment. Personal information includes information that may be used to identify the person in real life, such as their legal name, physical address, or anything else that is considered personal.
Posting another user's personal image can be seen as a form of harassment if done without their permission.
If the content is extremely severe, please first report the post/thread/PM and then immediately send an online moderator a private message with a link to the content (or the report confirmation number) so it can be reviewed quickly and the Administration team can be notified. An example of this would be a specific threat of violence towards a group or individual and the user has listed time, place, and means.
These types of threats should not be joked about as the moderation team takes these threats seriously as explained in the reminder of subjects you should not joke about.
Reporting Harassment through the Abuse/Harassment Report Form
The Abuse and Harassment Report Form is meant to be used as a means to send the Global Moderation team information about your abusive situation. This form is for users to consolidate the details of an ongoing harassment situation and should include report confirmation numbers of other reports that are relevant to the situation being reported.
This report form should only be used after the abusive content has been directly reported. For more information on how to properly report violations through various areas of the site, please see this report guide.
Use the ignore feature after gathering evidence of the abusive behavior and filing the reports to help prevent the situation from escalating. This also includes you not responding to the user(s) making the abusive comments. Report them and immediately add them to your ignore list.
Within the report, please make sure to use the current username of the person and make sure it is spelled correctly. The form will accept any username given. If the username is incorrect, then the wrong user is being reported. If unsure of the spelling, use the user identification number, also called UID (the unique number attached to every account, you can find this number in the URL of every user's profile and does not change even if their username does). Should this involve more than one account, list the other accounts or UIDs in the "How were you harassed?" box.
If the report reference numbers have been saved, list those within the "How were you harassed?" box as well. These reports will help the Global team to validate what is being described and move forward with the case.
Being as detailed as possible will help resolve the case much more quickly. Sending in vague descriptions such as "this user was abusing me" and not providing any other detailed information or report numbers as proof will more likely result in the Global team not being able to address the abusive behavior.
While the Abuse and Harassment form does say the team will accept screenshots of abuse, text transcripts of conversations, and copies of abusive images sent to you by the abuser, these are no longer considered acceptable evidence of abuse. The team has received so many edited screen shots in the past of users trying to abuse the report system. To ensure no one is trying to abuse the report system, all evidence presented in this manner will be rejected unless there is onsite proof or reports that confirm the content.
Even though the Global team is the group that answers Abuse and Harassment reports, all mods are trained to handle abuse so using the forum report system is acceptable for all forms of flaming, trolling and abuse/harassment related to a single incident or situation.
Posting the personal information of another user is seen as a form of harassment. Personal information includes information that may be used to identify the person in real life, such as their legal name, physical address, or anything else that is considered personal.
Posting another user's personal image can be seen as a form of harassment if done without their permission.
If the content is extremely severe, please first report the post/thread/PM and then immediately send an online moderator a private message with a link to the content (or the report confirmation number) so it can be reviewed quickly and the Administration team can be notified. An example of this would be a specific threat of violence towards a group or individual and the user has listed time, place, and means.
These types of threats should not be joked about as the moderation team takes these threats seriously as explained in the reminder of subjects you should not joke about.
Reporting Harassment through the Abuse/Harassment Report Form
The Abuse and Harassment Report Form is meant to be used as a means to send the Global Moderation team information about your abusive situation. This form is for users to consolidate the details of an ongoing harassment situation and should include report confirmation numbers of other reports that are relevant to the situation being reported.
This report form should only be used after the abusive content has been directly reported. For more information on how to properly report violations through various areas of the site, please see this report guide.
Use the ignore feature after gathering evidence of the abusive behavior and filing the reports to help prevent the situation from escalating. This also includes you not responding to the user(s) making the abusive comments. Report them and immediately add them to your ignore list.
Within the report, please make sure to use the current username of the person and make sure it is spelled correctly. The form will accept any username given. If the username is incorrect, then the wrong user is being reported. If unsure of the spelling, use the user identification number, also called UID (the unique number attached to every account, you can find this number in the URL of every user's profile and does not change even if their username does). Should this involve more than one account, list the other accounts or UIDs in the "How were you harassed?" box.
If the report reference numbers have been saved, list those within the "How were you harassed?" box as well. These reports will help the Global team to validate what is being described and move forward with the case.
Being as detailed as possible will help resolve the case much more quickly. Sending in vague descriptions such as "this user was abusing me" and not providing any other detailed information or report numbers as proof will more likely result in the Global team not being able to address the abusive behavior.
While the Abuse and Harassment form does say the team will accept screenshots of abuse, text transcripts of conversations, and copies of abusive images sent to you by the abuser, these are no longer considered acceptable evidence of abuse. The team has received so many edited screen shots in the past of users trying to abuse the report system. To ensure no one is trying to abuse the report system, all evidence presented in this manner will be rejected unless there is onsite proof or reports that confirm the content.
Even though the Global team is the group that answers Abuse and Harassment reports, all mods are trained to handle abuse so using the forum report system is acceptable for all forms of flaming, trolling and abuse/harassment related to a single incident or situation.
The Ignore System/Ignore List Circumvention
The Ignore System
This is a system that is provided to help prevent future contact with another user for whatever reason. The Ignore List can be seen here as a tab within the Friend List.
For specifics on how this system works, please review this thread.
The ignore system should be used in cases where it has become clear that the other user will not stop sending unwanted messages and after a report has been filed against the abusive content.
While users are allowed to ignore whomever they want, this tool should not be abused. One example would be creating a thread in Site Feedback and blocking all users that do not share the same ideas.
Ignore List Circumvention
Ignore list circumvention is a form of abuse/harassment. This is where a user finds a way to contact someone that has placed the user on ignore, such as by using a mule (secondary) account to send that user a message. Once a user has placed someone on the ignore list, that user is not allowed to make any contact with him or her, even if what is being said is not abusive.
It is considered abuse/harassment to bypass the ignore list by both the user placing the ignore and the user being ignored. Meaning, if you put a user on your ignore list, you can not then contact that user on a mule account. This also includes creating threads with the intent to be abusive towards that user.
Requesting a friend or another person to bypass the ignore system is another form of ignore list circumvention. All those involved in bypassing the ignore system would be considered part of the harassment.
To report ignore list circumvention, report the content directly and explain what the user is doing. If this is a continuation, use the Abuse and Harassment to report all accounts involved and provide report confirmation numbers, usernames, and any other specific details.
This is a system that is provided to help prevent future contact with another user for whatever reason. The Ignore List can be seen here as a tab within the Friend List.
For specifics on how this system works, please review this thread.
The ignore system should be used in cases where it has become clear that the other user will not stop sending unwanted messages and after a report has been filed against the abusive content.
While users are allowed to ignore whomever they want, this tool should not be abused. One example would be creating a thread in Site Feedback and blocking all users that do not share the same ideas.
Ignore List Circumvention
Ignore list circumvention is a form of abuse/harassment. This is where a user finds a way to contact someone that has placed the user on ignore, such as by using a mule (secondary) account to send that user a message. Once a user has placed someone on the ignore list, that user is not allowed to make any contact with him or her, even if what is being said is not abusive.
It is considered abuse/harassment to bypass the ignore list by both the user placing the ignore and the user being ignored. Meaning, if you put a user on your ignore list, you can not then contact that user on a mule account. This also includes creating threads with the intent to be abusive towards that user.
Requesting a friend or another person to bypass the ignore system is another form of ignore list circumvention. All those involved in bypassing the ignore system would be considered part of the harassment.
To report ignore list circumvention, report the content directly and explain what the user is doing. If this is a continuation, use the Abuse and Harassment to report all accounts involved and provide report confirmation numbers, usernames, and any other specific details.
Curse Words
Gaia Online allows users to use expletives as long as the intent is not abusive or sexually explicit toward another user.
If someone is not comfortable with this type of language, there is word filter that can be changed within Account Preferences. These settings will block a specific list of words.
If someone is not comfortable with this type of language, there is word filter that can be changed within Account Preferences. These settings will block a specific list of words.
Abuse/Harassment Outside of Gaia
If a user continues the abuse on another site or chat program, the moderation team on Gaia Online can not assist. In these cases, use the report system found within that site or chat program. If the abuse starts on another site and continues on Gaia, the moderation team can only review the content that has been posted on Gaia Online.
Try using sites and chat programs that have the ability to report abuse, have an ignore system, and have settings to change contact and viewing to friends only.
Should the abusive situation reach the point of being a legitimate threat against your life or become severe in any other way, please contact your local authorities. If the abuse on Gaia has become severe enough to be a legitimate threat against your life please contact your local authorities and file a report using the appropriate reporting form, selecting "Inappropriate Content" as the tag so that we can make sure to deal with it immediately and the Administration team can be made aware.
Try using sites and chat programs that have the ability to report abuse, have an ignore system, and have settings to change contact and viewing to friends only.
Should the abusive situation reach the point of being a legitimate threat against your life or become severe in any other way, please contact your local authorities. If the abuse on Gaia has become severe enough to be a legitimate threat against your life please contact your local authorities and file a report using the appropriate reporting form, selecting "Inappropriate Content" as the tag so that we can make sure to deal with it immediately and the Administration team can be made aware.
We thank you for taking your time to read through this and we hope this information helps to clarify how to handle abusive situations and to keep them from escalating. If there are still questions or concerns, please feel free to private message any moderator for further clarification.
To find an online moderator, use the [View Forum Moderators] found at the top of every forum.
Educate yourself on other issues by checking out these links:
Hacking Prevention and Account Security
Reminder: Don't Joke About Your Age
Reminder: Subjects You Should NOT Joke About
Reminder: Don't Post Sexually Explicit Content
Recognizing & Reporting Password Phishing
E-mails, Gaia Account, and Security: Why it's important
Gold Buying, Off-Site Trading, and You