Reporting Website Abuse

[OJB]

Hi there

 

I didnt really know which section this should go in, so I chose this one.

 

Basically there is someone who posts on my forum, but has a link back to his website. In this website there are articles full of race and homosexual hate. I.e one particular article is about how the owner hates asian taxi drivers and how he thinks gays should be shot.

 

Now this site is NOT hosted by TCH, but by another host. I went to the host's site and was looking for a complaints section to report the site, but i was just wondering (from a web hosts point of view) how this sort of offence is dealt with, or whether they see it as a low-level thing and prefer only to tackle the big offenders.

 

Personally i think the content of said site is ignorant and pathetic, not to mention racist and homophobic.

 

What happens when a site is reported? Does it need multiple complaints to be considered?

Edited October 19, 2006 by OJB

[TCH-Bruce]

You could always ban the IP address and/or email address of the offender to prevent them from accessing your board. You could also use .htaccess rules to block them from coming to your site.

 

Unless the person is causing bodily harm to someone or threatening to do harm I don't think there is much you can do beyond that. I don't know if your site is a US based site or not but people have the right to speak their opinions in the US whether or not we agree with them.

[OJB]

^ ok. thats what i wanted to know cheers...

 

I didnt want to report them if there was nothing going to come of it... i.e. wasting my time...

 

I did not know the ins and outs of what can and cant be said on a website

 

as for blocking the guy at the moment he has only once broken my forum rules, but he is being watched closely now and has been warned if he breaks them again he will be banned indefinately... at which point I will use IP ban and maybe .htaccess

[Deverill]

Although people here have the right to speak their opinions, it does get grey when they start inciting hate acts, conversing across state lines about a crime (such as his site advising another to burn a cross in someone's yard for instance,) etc. We also are provided the right to associate with whom we please which would be exercised in your case by the steps Bruce gave.

 

What can be done depends on who the host is. If they would be shocked and horrified by it (maybe) or if they have an AUP against such things (more likely) it would be beneficial to inform them. Sometimes, however, the host is the jerk - uhm, I mean person in question and it does no good.

 

Why do there have to be so many haters in the world?