VIDEO GAME WORLD FAQ
Trolling on the internet and vandalizing wikis are very bad. The internet, just like the world itself, is public. Every social networking site (such as Discord, Newgrounds, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Reddit, and Twitch) has community guidelines and terms of service. Vandalizing wikis is against Wikipedia’s (including the Wikimedia Foundation’s) terms of service. This includes Fandom’s terms of service and its guidelines (they will still need to understand why it’s really bad to vandalize wikis and fire some of the staff as they will be required to take anger management classes and seek professional help). The internet giants won’t allow ban evasions if the individual’s account (including their IP address) gets permanently banned from the platform as they will send the evidence to the offender’s ISP and possibly have their email forwarded to the offender’s local law enforcement, as they will either give the offender a warning or have the offender face fines and/or incarceration. You probably have heard that Japan has introduced an anti-trolling bill in response to Hana Kimura’s death.
Changing the IP address or using a VPN after the account is permanently banned will be nearly impossible (potentially, of server money, too, and massive unblock/unban requests). That’s why the internet giants won’t allow them back on the websites and online communities they used to frequent after their accounts are permanently banned.
The internet, just like the real world itself, wanted everyone to be nice and respectful. Some of them try to troll the internet by harassing or threatening anyone, including any online communities. An online troll is a person who posts or makes inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, an online video game) or in real life, with the intent of provoking others into displaying emotional responses, or manipulating others’ perception, thus acting as a bully or a provocateur. But the online trolls don’t just enjoy becoming jerks on the internet nor live in their parent’s basement. They are also not just unemployed as they have low-paying jobs. They also don’t just say “always” and “never”, or go off-topic. They get their accounts and IP addresses permanently banned by the internet giants’ trust and safety team (or have them permanently banned from the forums and/or Discord servers by the forum and/or Discord server administrators and moderators)! That’s why…
So, all internet giants — including the forum and Discord server administrators and moderators — are being threatened by online trolls, they are becoming really concerned about trolling and they have trust and safety team officials including the forum and Discord server administrators and moderators hunting down every offender’s online handle along with their IP address while sending the evidence to the offender’s ISP as well as the forwarding the offender’s email to the offender’s local police. Trolls can also end up in prison if they live in the UK, Ireland, or Japan. The American and Canadian law enforcement agencies cannot arrest online trolls at all, and the American government and Canadian government (including the Democratic Party of the United States and the Liberal Party of Canada) will not be introducing any anti-trolling bills.
Although there might have been ban evasions, although there might have been trolling by spreading negativity, although there might have been self-deprecating on the internet, although there might have been blatant vandalism on wikis, although there might have been online death threats, although the forum-, Reddit-, and/or Discord-goers will say that the individual’s attitude is “the biggest problem here” or they will say “your attitude is garbage,” the internet giants’ trust and safety team officials (or similar) still think that’s trolling.
After the Chuck Taylor incident in mid-2009, I worked on removing all traces of my former online handle on all internet/email accounts so that the netizens could not see me by my former online handle anymore. That should have prevented the netizens, the internet giants and its trust and safety team officials, and the Wikimedia Foundation officials from its trolling/harassing effect. So I was confident. But it seems I failed on that point, since Flickr (owned by Yahoo! at the time) based its complaint on a trolling online handle in late 2009.
A ban evasion (also known as “suspension evasion” or “block evasion”) is an attempt by an individual to circumvent disciplinary restrictions placed on an online account. The internet giants’ trust and safety team (including the forum and/or Discord server administrators and moderators) will employ various methods to detect and prevent ban evasion. Someone attempting to do that action may create a new account with similar ID credentials or use a previously-created account to continue the purpose of the banned account.
The outcome of ban evasion is that users who were restricted or deactivated on a platform for violating the site’s community guidelines and terms of service can return and continue their abusive behavior. This can result in an unsafe platform where netizens can repeatedly face harassment, spam, trolling, and even fraudulent activity or account takeovers. They can and will detect and track the person’s IP address (including the person’s ISP). If a banned user attempts to access the site from a different IP address or an ISP, they may be flagged for ban evasion. In rare cases, civil charges for ban evasion can be upgraded to criminal ones and may happen if it’s determined that the purpose of evading the ban was to commit acts classified as criminal, such as by the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or to commit massive online harassment as well as trolling, including online death threats.
In the end, there will always be something that some people or companies will dislike, and I don’t want to report everything or fight endlessly. If the person successfully evades the ban by changing their IP address or using a VPN, they will still face serious consequences such as fines, incarceration, or both. If you believe you were banned unjustly, it is better to contact the internet giants’ trust and safety team and/or the moderation team to appeal the ban or discuss the issue.
Even if the internet giants’ trust and safety team and/or the moderation team (or similar) say it’s best to accept it as they will not reverse the permanent ban/suspension and you refuse to respect their decision, you will send online death threats at them while attempting to change your IP address or using a VPN while your evidence is being sent to your ISP (and possibly have your email forwarded to your local police), you will still get caught by your local police, the FBI and/or the ICPO. Most websites have procedures in place for users to appeal bans/suspensions or resolve disputes as they will reject the decision to reverse bans/suspensions if the user threatens the internet giants’ trust and safety team and/or the moderation team by inciting a riot by throwing bricks at the headquarters’ windows (including any beefed-up security) and/or sending death threats.
Besides, if you want to troll on the internet, you might be interested in using the online troll simulator by WizardKicks or Yle’s Troll Factory game. There’s also the Angry Troll Simulator (Steam, Windows only, paid). Give them a try if you wish…
I don’t have a DeviantArt anymore (so, no need to call me a “butthurt nerfherder” or whatever). DeviantArt has become a cyberbully harbor and has removed or relocated “deviations” (submissions) for copyright infringement and other violations. Art theft on the site has become rampant, and the site’s staff and volunteers are unfriendly (they are also becoming pro-AI and pro-NFT). The FBI and Interpol should have a chance to raid DeviantArt’s and Wix’s headquarters for failure to moderate the sites, failure to listen to the community, and failure to foster guidelines and have the DeviantArt staff face 24 months in prison and six months of supervised release. The former help desk staffer (which we cannot name) is “not an American citizen.”
No, I don’t think so. The new video game community is now in the hands of someone under the age of 18/19 right now. It’s going to be very hard to keep the video game community’s lights on since I’ve seen people being jerks on the internet as they have faced permanent bans/suspensions and are required to seek a mental help professional by using BetterHelp.
No. I don’t think so.
I have no time to edit wikis, so people won’t complain about vandalism or using a username affiliated with the trademarked brands/franchises. I prefer spending my time and energy creating artwork and comics (manga) rather than editing wikis.
The young Wikipedia editors will probably need to be mentored by the (experienced) Wikipedia administrators, as the young Wikipedia editors (most likely teenagers or high schoolers) are probably known to vandalize wikis. They will have to wait at least six months and familiarize themselves with Wikipedia’s policies and guidelines after being blocked/banned indefinitely, and, after six months without editing or creating a new account, they can appeal to the active administrator(s) by promising to avoid the behavior that led to the block/ban on Wikipedia. If not, they are banned permanently. They can also create their own wikis by downloading MediaWiki (requires a domain), or they can use Miraheze, and the main differences are they don’t have to follow Wikipedia’s policies and guidelines (including the standard offer) and face indefinite blocks/bans specifically.
If you or someone you know has thoughts of suicide, please seek professional help or call the Suicide & Crisis Helpline by dialing 988. The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide also provides contact information for crisis centers around the world.