As I do about 95% of my things online. One of, if not the biggest threats to me is losing access to the accounts. Whereas most people fear hackers, I rather fear abuse by these platforms I have an account with. The problem is very simple, the so-called separation of powers does not apply in the digital space.
In the offline world, those who dictate the rules are political figures, those who enforce the rules are police & security forces, and the ones who punish those that break the rules are the court. In stark contrast, platforms as I like to call them (be it social media, webshops, forums etc.), dictate the rules, enforce the rules and punish those who break the rules all under one entity.
Therefore any kind of judgment / punishment that a platform deals out to its user is inherently biased which makes it incompetent. Thus in my eyes, their punishment is always invalid because of incompetence.
And what happens if you give incompetence the digital nuke option? A total recipe for disaster! Such power, to deny somebody access to platforms whereas lives become increasingly digital makes being a digital paria equivalent to an online death sentence. It's like having your passport destroyed and no country wants to acknowledge you as one of their own.
To make matters worst, denying entry (ban) in particular the permanent ones (perma-bans) is irreversible. It's like choking somebody for too long, they can't come back if you found out you were too harsh on them. So this tool, the power to dish out perma-bans should be removed from the options of platforms. Accessibility should be granted, even if people somehow go against the TOS sometimes.
Its personal
Because the effects of perma-bans are crippling my digital life & infrastructure. How many integrations with other pieces of software I cannot make due to Paypal permabanning me for a slight mistake I made when I was barely 18 years old, not even having ill intent?. Or how about losing access to the two places (Fiverr & Upwork) where I recruited virtual assistants from helping me to overcome the healthcare bureaucracy effectively cutting me off from the help I need? Or even volunteering platforms such as NLvoorElkaar where they do not follow their own rules properly and if you point out the mistake they made they perma-ban you.
It is such injustices that are my reasons why platforms should be stripped of their favorite solution. By stripping away this power they have to confront reality and that means modifying TOS to be more inclusive and acknowledge that some situations might not necessarily follow the TOS but are not inherently wrong either. That the only way forward is to be critical of what you offer as a platform and that suggested improvements by users must be embraced in full instead of fought in full.
Stripping away platforms of their perma-ban (and ideally also their normal ban) possibilities tears down the easy path for these platforms, namely ignoring / silencing the problem. This is not correct because platforms are inherently a public space, even if owned by a private organization thus if made accessible to all, it can't be (perma)banned to any.
But what if the offense is so bad? Then it still has to go through court. And the court can't dish out perma bans, only temporary ones. And the more crucial the platform is (for example payments, access to resources, communication with institutions) the shorter the ban or even flat out impossible. Instead, restrictions can be an alternative. But a flat out ban should be a thing of the past, its too crude to be wielded. But if it must, then at least by an independent party.
Do you believe that this situation calls for action? Please sign my petition here and help society move forward.