Why does Y!A remove a question just because it was reported but won't remove users who harass and stalk?

Y!A keeps saying they want to keep this site safe, but malicious users can stalk, send people intimidating emails and when we report the harassment, Y!A never reply or tell us what they will do about it, but very quickly willing to accept any report of a violation by anyone and remove an innocent question?

Why does Y!A remove a question just because it was reported but won't remove users who harass and stalk?
First of all you need to understand that the reporting/violation system is automatic. Yahoo doesn't want to spend the money to hire people to review each individual report and determine whether or not that report is in fact legitimate. So a while back they established "community moderation," which enables Y!A users to report anything they see that breaks the community guidelines. The downside to it is that it allows trolls to run amok. So I completely understand your frustration as I have been a victim of malicious/unjustified reporting.





Y!A's FAQ says that a question or answer will be removed if it's reported by one or more "reliable users." If the circumstance is more serious then the Answers staff may remove a question or answer themselves after reviewing it. However, the majority of the time they're just automatically removed and violation notices are issued, because of the way the Y!A system is designed. I personally feel the whole reporting/violation system needs to be changed because innocent questions and answers will be reported/removed while others, that are extremely offensive, are left alone. PLUS, I know that there are waaaaaay too many trolls disguised as "reliable users" who are out to get other users they don't like by wrongfully reporting them.





Furthermore, people who state their opinions are being reported as well. And Y!A says that having a strong opinion is NOT a justifiable reason for reporting someone. They just ask that users "do not use slurs to refer to groups of people, do not insult other members, and do not act in a belligerent manner towards others" when stating their opinions. Unfortunately other users still do report opinionated questions or answers regardless of the fact that they don't violate any of the community guidelines. This is EXTREMELY frustrating because honest Y!A users shouldn't have to pay the price for report happy trolls!





Now, if you've received a violation notice you can appeal if you feel that you didn't violate any of the community guidelines. Just know that after appealing you'll receive an automated response that lists the community guidelines and then it will ask you to appeal again if you still believe your question or answer was removed unfairly. (Note: you may want to copy and paste your appeal's details and save it in a word document as you'll probably need to list it again in your final appeal). A couple of months ago I had a question and my points restored after turning over a violation notice that said I had been "chatting." So don't lose hope. People CAN actually win appeals. You just need to make sure that you address your case in a calm and concise manner as opposed to just asking, "Why?" or ranting. As a result the Y!A team will have a better understanding of the point you're trying to make.
Reply:Reported questions get removed.......by the computer system. Then you can appeal once, which is also handled by a computer. Then you can appeal a second time which might be looked at by a human being.





If you complain about being stalked, that also gets handled by a computer. If you complain about the complaint being ignored THAT gets handled by a computer...





Being stalked is very hard to prove. If you don't want emails from somebody you can block them, or allow no contact from anyone (so they can't make a new account and get you from that). People you trust can still contact you because you can give them your email privately.





Getting upset like this is what the nasties are looking for. Suck it up and get on with your life.
Reply:Wow..that's a very good question..I know how you feel when you talk about Yahoo deleting innocent questions, since two of mine have been deleted for NO reason and the appeals have been ignored.





My guess is that they just don't have the time or help to go through all of their complaints, appeals and etc so...maybe they don't even bother at all. My only suggestion to you would be to block emails/i/ms from people on this site under your profile information, since it is a waste of time to report them.





It IS unfortunate, but I don't think there's a "good" answer for your question; I think it's just the way it is because the Yahoo people arent on top of things at all really.
Reply:Yahoo does this because they give out false information
Reply:Maybe they think if they ignore it it will go away. Maybe they just don't care. Guess we are on our own.