How to Submit an Abuse Report

Submitting a report is actually really easy. Getting it published is the hard part.

There isn’t much in the way of formal rules you have to follow to bring an issue to this site’s attention, as the research taking place is independently directed and motivated.

1. Send an email to abuse@silogroup.org.
2. Describe the abuse.
3. Post any links you have bookmarked for proof. Attach any emails or other evidence that would prove it. Treat it like this is your day in “internet court”.
4. All posts are replied to. There are usually lots of followup questions in the responses you will receive. Some investigations span months. If you do not reply to those followup questions your report will be discarded.

Tips

Is it in good faith?

Are you trying to weaponize the site in your own abusive campaign? If so, you run a very real risk of contributing to the publications here, just, not in the way you might expect.

Is it true?

Try to differentiate between interpersonal problems and actual abusive behaviour. Sometimes when people get very angry at each other over an interpersonal issue, they demonize each other. Are the person’s actions up to the level of abuse, or a betrayal of public trust, fraud, or defamation of someone, or are you just really angry at them? Do you want to declare that someone is a horrible person or do you want to alert the public to a serial behaviour that’s deliberate and harmful as a deterrent to future abuse and to seek some form of justice that would otherwise be denied to you?

Is it in proper light?

Sometimes during disputes people have a tendency to exaggerate the behaviour of others, and it’s important to step back and read your report and say “is this the level at which it really happened?”

Is it in discord with this person’s public reception?

Some people are just jerks. It’s important to know when to pick your battles. Do people already know this person is abusive to others? If they do, will your report really change that public perception? Bear your own interests in mind and manage your expectations – if everyone knows what they’re doing already, it may just need said, but if you’re expecting the world to side with you, think again – most of the people that get listed here are so good at evading accountability that it may be twisted around to become your fault over things you didn’t even do sometimes. Yes, there are horrible people out there that never can be held accountable and the people who could hold them accountable are not only aware of it already in alot of cases, but condone and hide the abuse. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try, it just means you should manage expectations.

Stuff That Typically Gets Published

Nothing is out of scope, but, typically successful reports involve specific behaviours at play:

• Harassment
• Coordinated/Group Harassment (getting other people to join in or harassing as part of a group)
• Defamation (the courtroom definition of defamation is not used here – this means “people saying things that damage the reputation of another without regard for accuracy”. While the law’s intent for its definition is generally respected, there is no allowance for technical loopholes designed to escape accountability - “was it true?”, “was it harmful?”, “was the intent of the reveal to harm?”)
• Serial defamation (using a consistent pattern of defamation, such as “crying wolf” repeatedly against other people, particularly to advance career interests)
• Acts of violence

Also of particular interest are damaging behaviours by community leadership:

• Gatekeeping (denying access to a community under false pretenses etc)
• Obscuring or reversing reports of abuse (leaders who received reports of the abuse you’re reporting and “flipped it around on you” with misrepresented information, or made it quietly disappear without consequences – these people need exposed too)
• Blacklisting behaviours (leaders who gatekeep as a result of other communities' gatekeeping – while sometimes well intended, blacklisting behaviours to restrict access as a result of actions taken in other communities is ultimately harmful if not supportive of predatory interests when the original action was under false pretenses)