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vendingmachine commented on the word shadow banning
Shadow banning isn't a new concept; it's frequently used in forums and on other social networks as an alternative to banning someone outright.
Instead of kicking someone off, shadow banning makes a person's post visible only to the user who created it. The idea is to protect others from harmful content while eventually prompting the shadow-banned user to voluntarily leave a forum due to a lack of engagement.
If a user is banned outright, the thinking goes, the person is aware of it and will likely just set up another account and continue the offending behavior.
Shadow banning is typically used to stop bots and trolls and is effective in combating bots where 'bot herders' who maintain these accounts don't necessarily know whether or not their bots are actually being seen by other people.
"Shadow banning: What it is -- and what it isn't", Alfred Ng, cnet.com, 26 July 2018
Also known as stealth banning, ghost banning or comment banning.
July 27, 2018