Recently I played a game where I had a strong feeling that my opponent was cheating. I reported it immediately, and my opponent was quickly banned by the site. But I was confused about why my rating points weren't refunded (I now understand why - my Classical rating was provisional), so I asked about this in a forum post (lichess.org/forum/lichess-feedback/why-werent-my-rating-points-refunded-vs-a-banned-cheater).
My post included my opponent's username and a link to the game in question. Some of the commenters on my post complained about my "public shaming" of my opponent because I included his username. I was not verbally abusing him or making an unconfirmed accusation - he had already been banned by the site, so I was simply stating an established fact.
The only mention of "public shaming" I can find in the Lichess rules is in the "Chat Etiquette" (lichess.org/page/chat-etiquette), and the examples that they give (“is ... a cheater?”, “...is an idiot”, “...is a noob, "...is a loser”) sound like insults and/or unconfirmed accusations, not merely identifying a confirmed cheater like I did. I cannot imagine that Lichess prohibits stating that a certain username has been banned for cheating. Are the commenters on my post over-applying the concept of "public shaming"?
I would especially appreciate if any actual Lichess mods could chime in. Either way, I think Lichess should clarify in its policies what does and doesn't constitute "public shaming".
Thanks,
Alex
My post included my opponent's username and a link to the game in question. Some of the commenters on my post complained about my "public shaming" of my opponent because I included his username. I was not verbally abusing him or making an unconfirmed accusation - he had already been banned by the site, so I was simply stating an established fact.
The only mention of "public shaming" I can find in the Lichess rules is in the "Chat Etiquette" (lichess.org/page/chat-etiquette), and the examples that they give (“is ... a cheater?”, “...is an idiot”, “...is a noob, "...is a loser”) sound like insults and/or unconfirmed accusations, not merely identifying a confirmed cheater like I did. I cannot imagine that Lichess prohibits stating that a certain username has been banned for cheating. Are the commenters on my post over-applying the concept of "public shaming"?
I would especially appreciate if any actual Lichess mods could chime in. Either way, I think Lichess should clarify in its policies what does and doesn't constitute "public shaming".
Thanks,
Alex