Lack of transparency regarding "report bans" / shadowbanned reports

Hi everyone,

I wanted to ask about how the report system handles users who might submit what the system algorithmically considers "too many false reports". Is it true that Lichess quietly stops taking reports into account without notifying the user?

Lately, I’ve been reporting in completely good faith. Out of my last 30 reports, I am absolutely convinced that at least 3 were clear cheaters. None of them have been banned, which leads me to guess that my account might be in some sort of restricted pool where my reports are simply ignored.

If this system exists, shouldn't there be a clear notification stating "Your reports are no longer being processed"?

Even if we look at this from a troll-prevention perspective:

If a user is intentionally trolling with false reports, telling them "we are ignoring you now" stops them (I don't think that wasting their time is a good punishment).

If a user is acting in good faith (like me), keeping them in the dark just leads to frustration and a feeling of shouting into a void.

Why is there no transparency here? I feel like knowing whether our reports actually matter is a basic standard for any reporting system.

FromFAW
Do I get informed about the actions taken?
You might get a notification if somebody you reported is banned. You will not get notifications about any other actions taken. So there might have been a warning without you getting informed about it. Getting no notification doesn't mean the report was dismissed or not looked at. There is no need to send a second report about the same infraction. It will not be looked at faster nor will it make a ban more likely.

Thanks for the reply, but I think there is a misunderstanding. I am not here to argue whether those specific 3 players were cheating or why they haven't been banned yet.

My question is purely about the transparency of the reporting system itself regarding the reporter's account status.

If Lichess implements a system where a user's reports are algorithmically muted or automatically disregarded due to a low "success rate" or "too many false reports," does the user get any explicit notification about this restriction?

If yes, where can we see it? If no, don't you think that keeping good-faith users completely in the dark is bad user experience (UX) and leads to unnecessary frustration?

Thanks for the radio silence from the moderation team. I think the complete lack of response to a legitimate question about system transparency speaks volumes about the level of respect for the community here. This platform is definitely not heading in the right direction when it comes to user experience and communication.

(@)Kuphel: 'I think the complete lack of response to a legitimate question about system transparency speaks volumes about the level of respect for the community here.' ~ Perhaps the moderators have let the fanboys who make arguments like, 'Lichess is free [SIC: It relies on user donations], so stop complaining about it' get to their heads.

It is indeed infuriating that Lichess has an entire sub-forum named, 'Lichess Feedback,' yet do not properly respond to questions there. Why even have the sub-forum, then? If the moderators will not respect the users who post there, then is it not just a waste of space? It would also help if the moderators explained why they close threads (especially in Lichess Feedback): https://lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/send-the-stupid-report-2-times-just-so-that-the-moderators-notice-it

@ALichessModerator: 'You might get a notification if somebody you reported is banned. You will not get notifications about any other actions taken.' ~ I seem to recall the, 'Someone you reported was banned' message being replaced with, 'Action was taken based on a report you made'? Was that reverted?

@shadow1414 said ^

(@)Kuphel: 'I think the complete lack of response to a legitimate question about system transparency speaks volumes about the level of respect for the community here.' ~ Perhaps the moderators have let the fanboys who make arguments like, 'Lichess is free [SIC: It relies on user donations], so stop complaining about it' get to their heads.

It is indeed infuriating that Lichess has an entire sub-f...

Lichess is in fact free because it does not charge users, they have the option to pay as much as they can afford for no personal benefit, a donation. Also, there are not that many Lichess moderators, because it's a free site and they are volunteers, so be gracious. Also, you can't just use [sic] for something you disagree with. And, why do you do this (@) thing so as to avoid sending the person you're talking about a notification? You're not doing anyone a favor.

(@)Royals_Fan22: 'there are not that many Lichess moderators, because it's a free site and they are volunteers' ~ If there are not enough moderators to keep the forums safe, then they should remove them or get more/better moderators; poorly moderated forums are dangerous. What if someone kills themselves because Lichess did not take action against people who harassed them? Do you want Lichess to end up in a lawsuit and potentially be shut down?

Would it be okay if I gave a homeless person moldy bread for free? Sure, it is free, but it is still trash.

'be gracious' ~ I am trying to help the website improve because I enjoy it; you are trying to negate criticism and thus keep problems alive. My criticism is free, so follow your own logic: Be Gracious.

1. There is a report ban that can be applied to an account.
2. This is exclusively up to human moderators through a manual button. No algorithm can do that on its own.
3. It is used very sporadically and only in a few cases:

• extremely inappropriate language across several previous reports and directed at either the reported player or the moderators (or both);
• reporting every single one (or almost) of your losses and all of these reports were incorrect;
• using multiple alt accounts to spam-report the same player.

4. Players will normally receive a warning before the mark is applied.