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[tech] Managing un-moderated account creation and it's side-effects

Sean Conner sean at conman.org

Thu Jan 7 08:03:12 GMT 2021

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It was thus said that the Great Mansfield Mansfield once stated:

Hello!

One of my goals has been to have a client / server pairing that

supports helping non-technical users go from downloading a client to

posting content as quickly and painlessly as possible. In my mind this

means allowing new accounts to be created *without* moderating their

creation... which leaves me wondering how I might respond to side-effects

like any unwelcome content (illegal, offensive, spam, etc.).

I understand that walking down a path that allows un-moderated account

creation is asking for trouble. I'm still interested in exploring

the possibilities to see if a compromise might be found for

my implementations.

I am not a lawyer, so take what I say with a few bolders of salt.

How concerned are you? I can see where you might be subject to:

* laws where you live * laws of the domain you register (for instance, the purely fictional .fd top level domain (Freedonia) might subjects you to its punative libel and copyright laws despite where you or the server or your users are located) * laws where the server resides * laws where the user lives

All of those might be the same country; it might not. The US has strongfreedom of speech codes and thus libel cases are harder to prosecute (to adegree); the UK has less free speech and very strong libel laws (compared tothe US) so you might be liable for something a user said. Again, itdepends upon jurisdiction.

I know the US (since I live there) tries to make a distinction between a"publisher" and a "platform" and one of the differences comes down tomoderation---do too much and you can fall into the "publisher" categorywhich makes you more liable for what is said than if you are in the"platform" category. Too little moderation and, as you say, is alsotroublesome.

Okay, ignoring legal liabilities, one way might be to use an "invite-only"system. The website Lobsters (https://lobste.rs/) uses an invite system. Users can invite new users (even ones they don't know) but they then becomeliable for the new users behavior. I'm checking the current moderationqueue for users [1], and while most are userid changes (foo changed usernameto bar), some users have been banned (mostly for spamming; one for"repeatedly trying to use Lobsters to whip up an online outrage mob againstorganizations they don't care for"), some have had invites disabled forinviting too many other people who have been banned. That seems to work forLobsters.

Also, trying to invoke a community spirit can help.

-spc

[1] https://lobste.rs/moderations?moderator=%28All%29&what%5Busers%5D=users\

I'm not sure if you can read the link if you aren't a member.