Imaginary Landscape
RSS FeedToday the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, in collaboration with the non-profit Center for Democracy & Technology, released the report:
Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users
The report provides a framework for managing violations to a website's terms of use and how best to handle the process, up to and including account deactivation.
From the press release:
This report explores these dilemmas and recommends principles, strategies, and tools that companies and users alike can adopt to mitigate the negative effects of account deactivation and content removal. Through case examples, we outline the ways in which platform providers can have a positive impact on user trust and behavior by being more clear and consistent in developing ToU and other policies, responding to and evaluating suspected violations, and providing opportunities for recourse and appeal. We also highlight concrete actions that users can take to educate themselves about how the moderation, takedown, and abuse-prevention mechanisms work for the services they use, provide and communicate context where necessary, and engage with companies and other users around such issues.
This is a must-read for anyone who maintains registered users on their website. It provides suggestions on how to update current terms of use to provide more clarity as well as other suggestions to prepare for violations.
Updated 09/21/11 @ 10:22AM CDT by brian
