Today we banned vote manipulators and reset their votes. As cache expires, the accounts targeted will have their point totals adjusted appropriately.
You will likely recognize many of the names now on the ban list. Some I have mixed feelings about as I considered them fun to have around or an asset to Voat as a whole, but objectively, there was no question as to their abuse and manipulation, and for this reason we had no choice but to respond to all abuse with the ban hammer.
@Cynabuns and I have finalized a new system for more efficient processing of vote manipulation bans and going forward we will be reviewing manipulation more regularly. We don't plan on allowing the hammer to gather dust any longer.
We did not send warnings today like we usually do for those in the gray area. If we come across your name again, you will be banned. Fair warning. It's not worth it.
If you feel you have been targeted by vote manipulation please PM me so I can research as we are dealing with a mountain of data when reviewing bans.
To those banned:
I personally don't judge your actions, but you know as well as I do what you were doing. Vote manipulation can not continue going unchecked and for the sake of integrity you got the hammer. If you want to create a new account and forgo the manipulation, you are welcome back. If not, I'll ban you again (and again and again). The thing you don't realize is when I ban you, I am resetting your votes against your target(s), so there is no point in continuing with these ways.
P.S. Now vote manipulators get a shiny new badge so everyone knows that they've been bad little goats. :)
P.P.S. The ban reasons in the ban log are wonky because if a user had multiple infractions, we only used the first description. In addition, the target in the description may be the banned user (which doesn't make sense) as many of these bans resulted in both users (vote farmers) being banned and the code simply reused the same description for each ban.
Banned user log:
https://voat.co/log/banned/user
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17057058? ago
@Dial_indicator, how you doin?
midnightblue1335 ago
Jesus, what the fuck is with that guy!? Look at the sheer number of accounts he used to manipulate his CCP.
Glory_Beckons ago
It's not like he kept it secret. He was openly bragging about it. He would also use them to downvote bomb anyone who triggered his fragile fee fees.
Long overdue crackdown on SJW-esque narrative control tactics and artificial content suppression/promotion. I'm surprised there aren't more names on the list. A few come to mind that belong on it.
midnightblue1335 ago
I am stunned we didn't see a bunch of those v/aww faggots on that list.
Glory_Beckons ago
Exactly what I was thinking.
@FrostyPuppy is on the second page and attributed to @Dial_Indicator, but where are all the others? There were dozens of those with similar names, and clearly all upvoating each other. Did they all belong to Dial_Indicator? Unlikely... and even if yes, that means he still has access to them.
midnightblue1335 ago
At this point, I don't really care if those retards get banned or not- because they stopped their faggotry. I like the occasional cute picture of an animal on front page, but the sheer volume of bullshit they were cranking out was practically spam.
fluhthreeex ago
They've farmed up and did it for a reason. Either for the lulz, to brigade with, or to build up alts and sleepers to come back with, if they haven't already. I'd still be concerned if there were literally dozens.
Glory_Beckons ago
Agreed, most important thing is that it stops. Just surprised they didn't get picked up by whatever algorithm was used to find and ban the ones they did catch.
captainstrange ago
Careful of going to the opposite end and turning this into a weaponized purity spiral / witch hunt.
Glory_Beckons ago
Free Speech can never be more than an illusion as long as a small group of individuals with a shared agenda have disproportionate control over what information everyone else does or doesn't see.
There's nothing wrong with a witch hunt, when there are actual witches poisoning your well of knowledge.
No point in digging up old drama as long as it stays dormant though.
captainstrange ago
While the implication of a 'witch hunt' is that there are no witches, you're correct.
I'm just cautioning and reminding about the problem inherit with the approach.