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Seeking Help - Stalker abusing WordPress, How do I get a support response?

  1. dantmay
    Member

    I and my wife have submitted several reports of abuse regarding a blog maintained here at WordPress.com.

    We have received no response whatsoever, not even a polite "We're looking into it."

    My family is dealing with a rapidly evolving and frightening situation in which a Stalker is utilizing WordPress, Tumblr and other services to attack myself, my wife and my family. This Stalker is also spamming services such as our accounts on YouTube and sending unwanted private messages to our friends and family on Facebook seeking to direct traffic to the blogs where she entertains her libelous fantasies.

    I am seeking any help/advice that will put me in touch with someone at WordPress who is willing to address our concerns. As I said, we have submitted multiple reports of abuse for this WordPress blog, patiently detailing the ways in which the blog content and tagging practices violates WordPress terms of service. No response.

    Please Help.

  2. timethief
    Member

    Read this policy please > http://en.wordpress.com/freedom-of-speech/
    WordPress.com suspends blogs or blog posts for the following types of abuse:
    Personal threats
    Calls to violence
    Impersonation of a private person
    http://en.wordpress.com/abuse/

    For more regarding defamation etc. see here and consult your local authorities and an attorney > http://en.support.wordpress.com/disputes/

  3. dantmay
    Member

    Thank You, I have read all of that extensively already but will revisit it.

    What I request is a means to converse with someone about the issue as it goes beyond Freedom of Speech. As I said, I have done as asked and detailed the ways in which the blog violates WordPress terms of service. Is it too much to ask that some action be taken on those terms alone?

    The full names of my 3 minor children are repeatedly tagged in entries of this blog. My children otherwise have zero internet presence in accordance with the desires of their parents. This stalker is purposefully dragging our children into the mud of her delusions.

    I'm happy to say that Tumblr has been very communicative and helpful (this WordPress site is one of only three of which we are aware on which this woman duplicates all of her rants). I seek the same opportunity to communicate with WordPress and plead the case of abuse.

    It seems to me that legal action regarding Defamation of Character should be an entirely separate issue from simply seeking support and communication from WordPress.

    Thoughts?

  4. timethief
    Member

    This is a peer support forum. It's a public forum available to everyone who has internet access. If you have already contacted Staff, who serve over 35 million of us, please be patient while waiting for their off forum response in an email response to you.

  5. dantmay
    Member

    Thanks again timethief. If I am in the wrong place I do apologize.

    I am seeking communication here from moderators or staff precisely because I have received no response whatsoever to my proper use of the Abuse form provided by WordPress support. None.

    I have used the "modlook" tag as specified here:
    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/wordpresscom-forums-code-of-conduct?replies=1
    Which I take to suggest that the Forums are a valid way in which to seek engagement with Support.

    Re: patience. It has been almost a month since my first reporting of Abuse to WordPress Support, and as I mentioned in my initial post, nothing so much as a polite response that the matter is under investigation.

    Admittedly, the matter is of growing concern because this Stalker continues to initiate unwanted contact of my friends and family and continues to blog away with clear intent to harm my family. The spamming actions of this Stalker mean that this is not something I can simply ignore. And because she is a Stalker I cannot and will not create a countering blog to "discuss" this issue in the WordPress marketplace of ideas. All advice regarding dealing with a Stalker (cyber or otherwise) is the same - Do Not Communicate with or Contact the Stalker. It gives them exactly what they want.

    You see the problem I face?

  6. raincoaster
    Member

    Naming your children isn't abuse per se. Until the person crosses a legal line, it's doubtful WP.com will take action unless you have a court order such as a restraining order against that person. Some services interpret posting names and addresses as abuse (Twitter is one) and some don't.

  7. dantmay
    Member

    Thanks raincoaster, I'm disappointed to hear that WordPress might not take a strong position protecting minors. Tumblr has certainly taken a very hard line regarding the issue, particularly given the bloggers penchant for discussion of pedophilia. You may understand my...um...taking exception to my children being associated with such.

    Legal action is definitely being explored, though it is expensive. And frankly it's just plain wrong that so large a service as WordPress, with such ostensibly positive aims, should take the position that a court order or some such should be necessary for them to enforce their own Terms of Service. A legal case of Defamation or Harassment should be an entirely separate matter and I will be very disappointed if WordPress takes a passing the buck stance that Freedom of Speech excuses blatant violations of their own Terms of Service. I am still hopeful that such will not be necessary in order to plead that case that the bloggers intent is solely to do harm. In my abuse reports I have detailed numerous points in which this blogger is demonstrably in violation of WordPress Terms of Service. And, as pointed out by another poster regarding WordPress and Freedom of Speech:
    "we are strict about shutting down blogs that violate our terms of service"

    Unfortunately I have yet to see any kind of response or even concern from WordPress regarding these abuses of it's services. It's beginning to feel like an elaborate shell game.

    I am still patient and hopeful that WordPress will offer an appropriate response. I use WordPress myself to run my own privately hosted site.

    WordPress should not defend the tagging of my children's names in blog posts discussing pedophilia, suggestions of criminal activity and intent to harm. They are minors, they are not active on the internet and this Stalker is clearly trying to "poison the well" for them when they someday become responsible citizens on the internet.

  8. raincoaster
    Member

    I'm afraid I don't see any specific actions which violate WordPress.com's Terms of Service.

    If there are specific threats against your children, I'm sure you'd have said so, and that's not a civil matter but a criminal one, so contact the police.

    I wouldn't worry about the ability of one person to "poison the well" against people who are currently minors. By the time they're of age, some ten year old WordPress posts aren't going to count for much.

  9. dantmay
    Member

    Thanks raincoaster, I'm not discussing the specifics here, so no you haven't. I have communicated the specifics of the violations through WordPress Abuse reporting and will happily share the same here if a staff member elects to become a part of the conversation.

    No, there are no specific threats. Only implied. Very antagonistic and aggressive language. And it differs from someone who is simply choosing to share their thoughts through their blog. This woman is specifically trying to reach out with her fantasies and employ others to "stop" me. As I have said, she is spamming through other services in order to reach friends and family of mine and draw them to her blogs. Such activity is specifically cited as inappropriate in WordPress Terms of Service.

    Taken in totality, the intent of this blogger is clear. And the intent is not to the good.

    Re: 10 years from now. This woman, as I have already said, is a Stalker whose activity of unwanted contact spans a period of more than 7 years. Her blog here at WordPress and her others maintained at Tumblr are a new development, as is her distressingly aggressive and abusive language.

    Thanks for the responses folks. Still holding out hope for some official contact.

  10. raincoaster
    Member

    If someone had been abusing my family for seven years, I'd have gone to the police seven years ago. I suggest you go as well. A restraining order, which needn't cost you anything at all, will work against WordPress.com.

  11. 1tess
    Moderator

    No volunteer here, including me, can deal with this situation. This is a public forum, and any discussion here is available publicly. This topic has been tagged for staff, who will see that and will respond. Other than the advice from timethief and raincoaster, there is no more to be done here.

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