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DECISION – 'aristarchus':
Introduction:
Actions have consequences. This is not a matter of free speech or censorship.
Doxing "Doxing or doxxing is the act of publicly revealing previously private personal information about an individual or organization, usually via the internet." This is the definition upon which we are basing this decision. Legally, the term does not appear to be well-defined in the US but doxing is also covered by laws relating to harassment, threats, and abuse. Elsewhere in the world, the definitions are sometimes more clearly defined but might cover a broader interpretation than the US definitions. Which interpretation is applicable could depend on the location of the perpetrator.
Background:
We first noticed that something was amiss in late 2020. Submissions from 'aristarchus' would contain certain words, phrases and names which were apparently unconnected with the rest of the content. We were unable to understand their significance at that time, but they would be meaningful to the intended victim. (Story submissions by 'aristarchus' often contain additional material that he has inserted himself.) In almost all cases we removed them prior to posting the submission as a story because they had no bearing on the rest of the submission.
In late 2021 the doxing became more blatant both in comments that were made to stories and as well as on IRC. We also contacted the victim (by now it was obvious to us who it was) who responded and explained what had been published, where and when. We also discovered additional material that had not been seen by the victim. He had been suffering this abuse for a considerable time.
Please Note:
This investigation is not something that has been carried out purely on a whim by the admins on this site. During it we have consulted with and taken advice from a representative of the board of directors. (As an aside, SoylentNews PBC has never been 'run' by 'TheMightyBuzzard' or any of the current admin staff whose names you know well.) This is a serious matter and the investigation was conducted with utmost discretion by a very small team.
To ensure that 'aristarchus' is aware of this Decision he will receive an Admin-to-User message and an email to the address associated with his username drawing his attention to it.
Publishing Personal Information:
It is now apparent that 'aristarchus' has doxed at least one person in our community, and possibly others who may have left the site rather than suffer the harassment. This is not a single act, but has taken place repeatedly over a significant period of time.
'aristarchus' has published the victim's full name, where the victim lives, and the victim's employer. Presumably he believes this information to be accurate. We have seen additional comments that contain threats and state very personal information, such that posting them here would likely do further damage. We are trying to be discreet. If it were you, would you want us to air all the information that has been revealed? This action might also have placed other members of the victim's family at risk from abuse or embarrassment.
It is obvious that 'aristarchus' has conducted research away from this site. SoylentNews PBC does not hold such information nor has it been ever been declared in any comments.
We can only guess at the true reason behind these disclosures: at the very least it appears to be a smear campaign.
What We Have Done So Far:
- The victim has a full copy of all the evidence that we have been able to trace to date. The evidence was all publicly accessible. We are not aware of a compromise of any other community members' information. We are not going to indicate where this information might be found.
- We have made a separate backup of the database to ensure that evidence should not be lost.
- We have removed personal information from database comments and IRC logs where possible.
- It is entirely for the victim to decide whether to seek legal redress in this matter.
Options:
There are 2 options open to us.
(1) Permanent Ban
- 'aristarchus' will face a full and permanent ban from this community.
- His account(s) will be completely disabled.
- Any further posting he may make to the site will be treated as Spam.
(2) Temporary Ban
- 'aristarchus' will face a temporary ban of 3 months where his account(s) will be disabled. He will be able to restore his 'aristarchus' account when his ban ends. His conduct during this time will be taken into consideration before his account is reactivated.
- During the ban 'aristarchus' may still post on the site as an 'Anonymous Coward', with all the limitations that are associated with that i.e. no journal, no ability to moderate, etc. Whether he wishes to make his identity known in his AC posts is entirely up to him.
- During and subsequent to the ban he is to act as we would expect any other member of this community to act. He is not to disrupt other discussions nor is he to continue to complain about his treatment. The ban is entirely a consequence of his own actions. We will not discuss this matter publicly. If he has complaints he may contact us via email as usual.
- He is to refrain immediately and completely from harassing other members of this community.
- Any serious future abuses by 'aristarchus' can result in a permanent ban being imposed without further warning.
We acknowledge that 'aristarchus' regularly makes insightful and interesting observations and we recognize that he has many supporters on this site. That is why we have offered the option of a conditional Temporary ban.
Action/Conclusion:
'aristarchus' must now decide which ban he wishes to accept. This is not negotiable – there are no other options open to him. If he does not respond either by commenting here or by email within 48 hours of the release of this Decision then we will assume that he has chosen the Temporary Ban and he is bound by the conditions stated within it. He may elect to change to a Permanent ban at any time.
For legal reasons we do not intend to comment further. The community can now see why several of the site admins have been putting in long working days, sometimes in excess of 12 hours since just before Christmas. We are exhausted and need to have a period of normal activity so that we can recover. We urge the community to be circumspect and restrained in the discussions to this Decision – there is little to be gained from inflaming the current situation any further. We ask you not to speculate about the identity of the victim.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 03 2022, @02:37PM (16 children)
Ideally? Ari apologizes, and makes amends. The old Ari returns, and makes real contributions to the site. All the stupid just blows over, and is forgotten over the next few months. What are the odds?
- Target (not victim)
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Thursday February 03 2022, @02:58PM (14 children)
That makes sense to me.
Sometimes we all go too far when our blood is up. It's also possible to develop deleterious patterns of behavior because we think we're doing the right thing, or because we think the target of those actions deserves it. We are living in toxic times, and they're bleeding into all of us.
There has to be a road back to discourse. There has to be a road back for him, or we can't expect there to be one for any of us.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by acid andy on Thursday February 03 2022, @06:05PM
Well said Phoenix. I believe there are few if any saints in this place (as it also is elsewhere).
Welcome to Edgeways. Words should apply in advance as spaces are highly limite—
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 03 2022, @07:50PM
A lot of Valium and/or CBD in the drinking water (and all beverages) would be a start.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Thursday February 03 2022, @08:29PM
Wise words.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Friday February 04 2022, @01:20PM (10 children)
Who really believes that aristarchus just went a little too far because his blood was up? We have years of harassment, abuse, and exploits of the system (such as the modbombing of last summer). This has been escalating for a long time.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday February 04 2022, @02:05PM (9 children)
You didn't read the second line of mine you quoted. Aristarchus thinks he's doing the right thing. He thinks he's fighting people who are "toxic" and bad, and that doing that makes him a "good" guy. He doesn't realize he has gone way over the line.
This is a wake-up call. We all need those from time to time.
Let's let him nurse his wounded pride and see what he does with this rebuke. I hope he returns to what he was before undertaking the behaviors you listed. He used to laugh at himself and engage with humor. He used to employ his knowledge of the Western Tradition to skewer posts that were erroneous or not well thought through. The Trump years broke him, though, and he has not mended even when his team achieved the Executive and Legislative branches. He has fallen victim to the constant legacy media brainwashing that demands its acolytes defame, deplatform, and attack, attack, attack anyone who doesn't bend the knee to them.
He's not alone in any of that. If there's no road back from such extremism for him, then there is none for for any of his confreres and we must all, perforce, come to literal blows. If your opponents deny your very basic humanity, your right to exist, then no possibility for peaceful reconciliation exists.
So, aristarchus, can we live together in a contentious reality, or do we have to come to blows?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday February 05 2022, @12:14AM (8 children)
He has acted in bad faith often enough and just with the aristarchus persona generated a bunch of secondary personalities, that I'm not sure he cares what the right thing actually is or actually holds to the opinions he claims to have.
I don't buy that we're all aris a step away from extremism. My take is that he's going to push until he's permabanned and then some new personality will pop up to replace him. It might share aristarchus's views or it might not.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Saturday February 05 2022, @01:18PM (5 children)
Well I suppose when you're extremely establishment with the big corporations and big money on your side, it doesn't get called extremism.
Welcome to Edgeways. Words should apply in advance as spaces are highly limite—
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday February 05 2022, @06:38PM (3 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 06 2022, @02:25PM (2 children)
Would you consider yourself to be a problem for the site?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 06 2022, @04:45PM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 14 2022, @10:34AM
Bad faith, khallow, you argue in bad faith. And it has become tiresome.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 06 2022, @02:34AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 06 2022, @12:55AM (1 child)
The Irony of khallow complaining of "bad faith"! Ha! Ha ha!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday February 06 2022, @02:38AM
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 04 2022, @05:28AM
Right, khallow!