Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
1267 lines (902 loc) · 50.6 KB

File metadata and controls

1267 lines (902 loc) · 50.6 KB

Top

Seanpm2001_GitHub-Account-Flagged-2022July19th

Information about my main GitHub account @seanpm2001 which was flagged on 2022 July 19th.

Index

00.0 - Top

00.9 - Title

01.0 - Context

02.0 - Days flagged

02.1 - Days flagged in 2022

02.1.1 - Days flagged in 2022 January

02.1.2 - Days flagged in 2022 February

02.1.3 - Days flagged in 2022 March

02.1.4 - Days flagged in 2022 April

02.1.5 - Days flagged in 2022 May

02.1.6 - Days flagged in 2022 June

02.1.7 - Days flagged in 2022 July

02.1.8 - Days flagged in 2022 August

02.1.9 - Days flagged in 2022 September

02.1.10 - Days flagged in 2022 October

02.1.11 - Days flagged in 2022 November

02.1.12 - Days flagged in 2022 December

03.0 - Usage of alt account

03.1 - Alt account discovery

04.0 - Stress

05.0 - Follows during suspension

06.0 - Achievements during suspension

07.0 - Feedback during suspension

08.0 - Odd restrictions

09.0 - Spammy

10.0 - GitHub customer support

11.0 - Reddit post

12.0 - Negative impact

13.0 - Inability to use third party programs

14.0 - Discussions locked

15.0 - Codespaces workaround

16.0 - Upload functionality diminishing

17.0 - Attempting to continue normally

18.0 - Finally, a response

18.1 - Update 1 (2022, Thursday, August 4th)

18.2 - Update 2 (2022, Friday, August 5th)

19.0 - What was done, and what should have been done

19.1 - What GitHub did

19.2 - What I would do differently

19.2.1 - Running an online service

19.2.1.1 - Avoiding GitHubs 2022 July 19th mistake

19.2.1.1.1 - Basic guidelines

19.2.1.1.2 - Additional notes

20.0 - GitHub pro

21.0 - Microsoft

22.0 - Conclusion

22.1 - Aftermath

23.0 - Sources

23.1 - Other people dealing with the same problem

23.2 - Related problems

23.3 - Forum is moving

23.4 - Reddit post

23.5 - The contact link

23.6 - GitHub email address (bot)

24.0 - File info

25.0 - File history

26.0 - Footer

Context

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/FlaggedBanner/Dark/PNG/FlaggedBanner_DarkMode.png /Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/FlaggedBanner/LightTritanopia/PNG/FlaggedBanner_Tritanopia_Light.png /Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/FlaggedBanner/LightProtanopia/PNG/FlaggedBanner_ProtanopiaLight.png

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this image (profile during suspension)

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/Profile/PNG/Profile_Seanpm2001_Flagged_2022July19th.png

On 2022, Tuesday, July 19th, upon starting my computer, I found that my main account had been flagged. It retained functionality, except for images not rendering (but none of the files being corrupted) and my entire account being hidden from public view. I have sent a repeal on 2022, July 19th. I did not receive a response until 2022, Thursday, August 4th at 12:26 am. The suspension was reinstated, and now I have to delete all my organizations before I can review it again, this is going to take a while, then the review is going to take time too.

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this image (appeal message 1)

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/AppealMessage/2022.07.19/Redacted/PNG/Appeal1_Redacted.png

On 2022 July 22nd, I sent another appeal message, as the previous email I used was incorrect. I won't put the image here, as it is pretty much the same, but here is the message sent image:

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this image (message sent response)

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/AppealSent/AppealSent_LightMode_1080p.png

Days flagged

This is a set of tables for the days of this year where I was flagged, and when I wasn't flagged.

Current range: 2022, Tuesday, July 19th to 2022, Thursday, August 4th (17 days, or 2 weeks, 3 days)

Click/tap here to expand/collapse all tables

Days flagged in 2022

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table

Date Flagged?

Days flagged in 2022 January

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 January, 6 months before the flag)

2022 January (month -5) Flagged?
2022, Saturday, January 1st
2022, Sunday, January 2nd
2022, Monday, January 3rd
2022, Tuesday, January 4th
2022, Wednesday, January 5th
2022, Thursday, January 6th
2022, Friday, January 7th
2022, Saturday, January 8th
2022, Sunday, January 9th
2022, Monday, January 10th
2022, Tuesday, January 11th
2022, Wednesday, January 12th
2022, Thursday, January 13th
2022, Friday, January 14th
2022, Saturday, January 15th
2022, Sunday, January 16th
2022, Monday, January 17th
2022, Tuesday, January 18th
2022, Wednesday, January 19th
2022, Thursday, January 20th
2022, Friay, January 21st
2022, Saturday, January 22nd
2022, Sunday, January 23rd
2022, Monday, January 24th
2022, Tuesday, January 25th
2022, Wednesday, January 26th
2022, Thursday, January 27th
2022, Friday, January 28th
2022, Saturday, January 29th
2022, Sunday, January 30th
2022, Monday, January 31st

Days flagged in 2022 February

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 February, 5 months before the flag)

2022 February (month -4) Flagged?
2022, Tuesday, February 1st
2022, Wednesday, February 2nd
2022, Thursday, February 3rd
2022, Friday, February 4th
2022, Saturday, February 5th
2022, Sunday, February 6th
2022, Monday, February 7th
2022, Tuesday, February 8th
2022, Wednesday, February 9th
2022, Thursday, February 10th
2022, Friday, February 11th
2022, Saturday, February 12th
2022, Sunday, February 13th
2022, Monday, February 14th
2022, Tuesday, February 15th
2022, Wednesday, February 16th
2022, Thursday, February 17th
2022, Friday, February 18th
2022, Saturday, February 19th
2022, Sunday, February 20th
2022, Monday, February 21st
2022, Tuesday, February 22nd
2022, Wednesday, February 23rd
2022, Thursday, February 24th
2022, Friday, February 25th
2022, Saturday, February 26th
2022, Sunday, February 27th
2022, Monday, February 28th

Days flagged in 2022 March

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 March, 4 months before the flag)

2022 March (month -3) Flagged?
2022, Tuesday, March 1st
2022, Wednesday, March 2nd
2022, Thursday, March 3rd
2022, Friday, March 4th
2022, Saturday, March 5th
2022, Sunday, March 6th
2022, Monday, March 7th
2022, Tuesday, March 8th
2022, Wednesday, March 9th
2022, Thursday, March 10th
2022, Friday, March 11th
2022, Saturday, March 12th
2022, Sunday, March 13th
2022, Monday, March 14th
2022, Tuesday, March 15th
2022, Wednesday, March 16th
2022, Thursday, March 17th
2022, Friday, March 18th
2022, Saturday, March 19th
2022, Sunday, March 20th
2022, Monday, March 21st
2022, Tuesday, March 22nd
2022, Wednesday, March 23rd
2022, Thursday, March 24th
2022, Friday, March 25th
2022, Saturday, March 26th
2022, Sunday, March 27th
2022, Monday, March 28th
2022, Tuesday, March 29th
2022, Wednesday, March 30th
2022, Thursday, March 31st

Days flagged in 2022 April

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 April, 3 months before the flag)

2022 April (month -2) Flagged?
2022, Friday, April 1st
2022, Saturday, April 2nd
2022, Sunday, April 3rd
2022, Monday, April 4th
2022, Tuesday, April 5th
2022, Wednesday, April 6th
2022, Thursday, April 7th
2022, Friday, April 8th
2022, Saturday, April 9th
2022, Sunday, April 10th
2022, Monday, April 11th
2022, Tuesday, April 12th
2022, Wednesday, April 13th
2022, Thursday, April 14th
2022, Friday, April 15th
2022, Saturday, April 16th
2022, Sunday, April 17th
2022, Monday, April 18th
2022, Tuesday, April 19th
2022, Wednesday, April 20th
2022, Thursday, April 21st
2022, Friday, April 22nd
2022, Saturday, April 23rd
2022, Sunday, April 24th
2022, Monday, April 25th
2022, Tuesday, April 26th
2022, Wednesday, April 27th
2022, Thursday, April 28th
2022, Friday, April 29th
2022, Saturday, April 30th

Days flagged in 2022 May

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 May, 2 months before the flag)

2022 May (month -1) Flagged?
2022, Sunday, May 1st
2022, Monday, May 2nd
2022, Tuesday, May 3rd
2022, Wednesday, May 4th
2022, Thursday, May 5th
2022, Friday, May 6th
2022, Saturday, May 7th
2022, Sunday, May 8th
2022, Monday, May 9th
2022, Tuesday, May 10th
2022, Wednesday, May 11th
2022, Thursday, May 12th
2022, Friday, May 13th
2022, Saturday, May 14th
2022, Sunday, May 15th
2022, Monday, May 16th
2022, Tuesday, May 17th
2022, Wednesday, May 18th
2022, Thursday, May 19th
2022, Friday, May 20th
2022, Saturday, May 21st
2022, Sunday, May 22nd
2022, Monday, May 23rd
2022, Tuesday, May 24th
2022, Wednesday, May 25th
2022, Thursday, May 26th
2022, Friday, May 27th
2022, Saturday, May 28th
2022, Sunday, May 29th
2022, Monday, May 30th
2022, Tuesday, May 31st

Days flagged in 2022 June

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 June, 1 month before the flag)

2022 June (month 0) Flagged?
2022, Wednesday, June 1st
2022, Thursday, June 2nd
2022, Friday, June 3rd
2022, Saturday, June 4th
2022, Sunday, June 5th
2022, Monday, June 6th
2022, Tuesday, June 7th
2022, Wednesday, June 8th
2022, Thursday, June 9th
2022, Friday, June 10th
2022, Saturday, June 11th
2022, Sunday, June 12th
2022, Monday, June 13th
2022, Tuesday, June 14th
2022, Wednesday, June 15th
2022, Thursday, June 16th
2022, Friday, June 17th
2022, Saturday, June 18th
2022, Sunday, June 19th
2022, Monday, June 20th
2022, Tuesday, June 21st
2022, Wednesday, June 22nd
2022, Thursday, June 23rd
2022, Friday, June 24th
2022, Saturday, June 25th
- 2022, Sunday, June 26th
2022, Monday, June 27th
2022, Tuesday, June 28th
2022, Wednesday, June 29th
2022, Thursday, June 30th

Days flagged in 2022 July

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 July, start of suspension/flag)

2022 July (Month 1) Flagged?
2022, Friday, July 1st
2022, Saturday, July 2nd
2022, Sunday, July 3rd
2022, Monday, July 4th
2022, Tuesday, July 5th
2022, Wednesday, July 6th
2022, Thursday, July 7th
2022, Friday, July 8th
2022, Saturday, July 9th
2022, Sunday, July 10th
2022, Monday, July 11th
2022, Tuesday, July 12th
2022, Wednesday, July 13th
2022, Thursday, July 14th
2022, Friday, July 15th
2022, Saturday, July 16th
2022, Sunday, July 17th
2022, Monday, July 18th
2022, Tuesday, July 19th (day 1) ✔️
2022, Wednesday, July 20th (day 2) ✔️
2022, Thursday, July 21st (day 3) ✔️
2022, Friday, July 22nd (day 4) ✔️
2022, Saturday, July 23rd (day 5) ✔️
2022, Sunday, July 24th (day 6) ✔️
2022, Monday, July 25th (day 7) ✔️
2022, Tuesday, July 26th (day 8) ✔️
2022, Wednesday, July 27th (day 9) ✔️
2022, Thursday, July 28th (day 10) ✔️
2022, Friday, July 29th (day 11) ✔️
2022, Saturday, July 30th (day 12) ✔️
2022, Sunday, July 31st (day 13) ✔️

Days flagged in 2022 August

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022, August)

2022 August (Month 2) Flagged?
2022, Monday, August 1st (day 14) ✔️
2022, Tuesday, August 2nd (day 15) ✔️
2022, Wednesday, August 3rd (day 16) ✔️
2022, Thursday, August 4th (day 17) ✔️
2022, Friday, August 5th (day 18) ✔️
2022, Saturday, August 6th (day 19) ✔️
2022, Sunday, August 7th TBD
2022, Monday, August 8th TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 9th TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 10th TBD
2022, Thursday, August 11th TBD
2022, Friday, August 12th TBD
2022, Saturday, August 13th TBD
2022, Sunday, August 14th TBD
2022, Monday, August 15th TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 16th TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 17th TBD
2022, Thursday, August 18th TBD
2022, Friday, August 19th TBD
2022, Saturday, August 20th TBD
2022, Sunday, August 21st TBD
2022, Monday, August 22nd TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 23rd TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 24th TBD
2022, Thursday, August 25th TBD
2022, Friday, August 26th TBD
2022, Saturday, August 27th TBD
2022, Sunday, August 28th TBD
2022, Monday, August 29th TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 30th TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 31st TBD

Days flagged in 2022 September

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022, September)

2022 September (Month 3) Flagged?
2022, Thursday, September 1st TBD
2022, Friday, September 2nd TBD
2022, Saturday, September 3rd TBD
2022, Sunday, September 4th TBD
2022, Monday, September 5th TBD
2022, Tuesday, September 6th TBD
2022, Wednesday, September 7th TBD
2022, Thursday, September 8th TBD
2022, Friday, September 9th TBD
2022, Saturday, September 10th TBD
2022, Sunday, September 11th TBD
2022, Monday, September 12th TBD
2022, Tuesday, September 13th TBD
2022, Wednesday, September 14th TBD
2022, Thursday, September 15th TBD
2022, Friday, September 16th TBD
2022, Saturday, September 17th TBD
2022, Sunday, September 18th TBD
2022, Monday, September 19th TBD
2022, Tuesday, September 20th TBD
2022, Wednesday, September 21st TBD
2022, Thursday, September 22nd TBD
2022, Friday, September 23rd TBD
2022, Saturday, September 24th TBD
2022, Sunday, September 25th TBD
2022, Monday, September 26th TBD
2022, Tuesday, September 27th TBD
2022, Wednesday, September 28th TBD
2022, Thursday, September 29th TBD
2022, Friday, September 30th TBD

Days flagged in 2022 October

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022, October)

2022 October (Month 4) Flagged?
2022, Saturday, October 1st TBD
2022, Sunday, October 2nd TBD
2022, Monday, October 3rd TBD
2022, Tuesday, October 4th TBD
2022, Wednesday, October 5th TBD
2022, Thursday, October 6th TBD
2022, Friday, October 7th TBD
2022, Saturday, October 8th TBD
2022, Sunday, October 9th TBD
2022, Monday, October 10th TBD
2022, Tuesday, October 11th TBD
2022, Wednesday, October 12th TBD
2022, Thursday, October 13th TBD
2022, Friday, October 14th TBD
2022, Saturday, October 15th TBD
2022, Sunday, October 16th TBD
2022, Monday, October 17th TBD
2022, Tuesday, October 18th TBD
2022, Wednesday, October 19th TBD
2022, Thursday, October 20th TBD
2022, Friday, October 21st TBD
2022, Saturday, October 22nd TBD
2022, Sunday, October 23rd TBD
2022, Monday, October 24th TBD
2022, Tuesday, October 25th TBD
2022, Wednesday, October 26th TBD
2022, Thursday, October 27th TBD
2022, Friday, October 28th TBD
2022, Saturday, October 29th TBD
2022, Sunday, October 30th TBD
2022, Monday, October 31st TBD

Days flagged in 2022 November

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022, November)

2022 November (Month 5) Flagged?
2022, Tuesday, November 1st TBD
2022, Wednesday, November 2nd TBD
2022, Thursday, November 3rd TBD
2022, Friday, November 4th TBD
2022, Saturday, November 5th TBD
2022, Sunday, November 6th TBD
2022, Monday, November 7th TBD
2022, Tuesday, November 8th TBD
2022, Wednesday, November 9th TBD
2022, Thursday, November 10th TBD
2022, Friday, November 11th TBD
2022, Saturday, November 12th TBD
2022, Sunday, November 13th TBD
2022, Monday, November 14th TBD
2022, Tuesday, November 15th TBD
2022, Wednesday, November 16th TBD
2022, Thursday, November 17th TBD
2022, Friday, November 18th TBD
2022, Saturday, November 19th TBD
2022, Sunday, November 20th TBD
2022, Monday, November 21st TBD
2022, Tuesday, November 22nd TBD
2022, Wednesday, November 23rd TBD
2022, Thursday, November 24th TBD
2022, Friday, November 25th TBD
2022, Saturday, November 26th TBD
2022, Sunday, November 27th TBD
2022, Monday, November 28th TBD
2022, Tuesday, November 29th TBD
2022, Wednesday, November 30th TBD

Days flagged in 2022 December

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022, December)

2022 December (Month 6) Flagged?
2022, Thursday, December 1st TBD
2022, Friday, December 2nd TBD
2022, Saturday, December 3rd TBD
2022, Sunday, December 4th TBD
2022, Monday, December 5th TBD
2022, Tuesday, December 6th TBD
2022, Wednesday, December 7th TBD
2022, Thursday, December 8th TBD
2022, Friday, December 9th TBD
2022, Saturday, December 10th TBD
2022, Sunday, December 11th TBD
2022, Monday, December 12th TBD
2022, Tuesday, December 13th TBD
2022, Wednesday, December 14th TBD
2022, Thursday, December 15th TBD
2022, Friday, December 16th TBD
2022, Saturday, December 17th TBD
2022, Sunday, December 18th TBD
2022, Monday, December 19th TBD
2022, Tuesday, December 20th TBD
2022, Wednesday, December 21st TBD
2022, Thursday, December 22nd TBD
2022, Friday, December 23rd TBD
2022, Saturday, December 24th TBD
2022, Sunday, December 25th TBD
2022, Monday, December 26th TBD
2022, Tuesday, December 27th TBD
2022, Wednesday, December 28th TBD
2022, Thursday, December 29th TBD
2022, Friday, December 30th TBD
2022, Saturday, December 31st TBD

Usage of alt account

I was advised to make a message via my alt account. I have been hesitant to do so, as I fear it could get unfairly blocked as well. I am not attempting to circumvent the block, I just needed to message my followers what has happened.

I have plans for after my main account is unflagged, to fork important projects from my main account to my alt account, so that people won't lose all access when this happens. I have already started doing common forks from my alt account, but the main part requires my main account to be up and running first.

Alt account discovery

/Organization_Flags/Seanwallawalla-software/2022July19th/Banner/DarkMode/Seanwallawalla-Software_FlaggedBanner_DarkMode.png /Organization_Flags/Seanwallawalla-software/2022July19th/Banner/LightMode/Tritanopia/Seanwallawalla-Software_FlaggedBanner_LightMode_Tritanopia.png /Organization_Flags/Seanwallawalla-software/2022July19th/Banner/LightMode/Protanopia/Seanwallawalla-Software_FlaggedBanner_LightMode_Protanopia.png

It might be related to the flag on my main account, but my first and main GitHub organization was also flagged.

Screenshot 1 Screenshot 2
/Organization_Flags/Seanwallawalla-software/2022July19th/View/Seanwallawalla-Software_OrganizationFlagged_Screenshot1_LightMode_1080p.png /Organization_Flags/Seanwallawalla-software/2022July19th/View/Seanwallawalla-Software_OrganizationFlagged_Screenshot2_LightMode_1080p.png

Stress

I have been under significant stress during this time period. Things are being delayed, and my future is uncertain. There are many examples of people cloning/forking my repositories, but my official projects are not publicly available at the moment. It has been extremely stressful for me. On 2022 July 22nd, I reached a bad milestone: I had never been so stressed in my life until that day, and my morale was the lowest it had ever been.

Follows during suspension

Additionally, I have received followers while my account was blocked, which I find odd.

Original follower count at start of flag/suspension Gaining a follower during flag/suspension
Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/Follows_DuringSuspension/PNG/483FollowersDuringSuspension.png /Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/Follows_DuringSuspension/PNG/GainingAFollowerDuringSuspension.png

On 2022, Sunday, July 31st, someone unfollowed me. I am not sure how they are able to access my profile to do this.

Achievements during suspension

Upon logging on on 2022 August 3rd, I found that I had earned the pair extraordinaire achievement for a pull request that was opened today. Apparently, any contributions on a public repository automatically credits me as a collaborator, even if it is a fork of the project I have never gone to before. I find it odd that I am earning achievements during the suspension.

Feedback during suspension

When configuring GitHub actions (as of 2022 August 2nd and onward) I am asked for feedback on how to make actions better. Normally, I respond to these, but I decided not to, regarding the flag, and the lack of response (they likely don't listen to the feedback anyway, judging on how long I have gone without any response)

Odd restrictions

I am restricted from searching repository source code by language while logged in, but if I log out/go into private browsing mode, it works just fine.

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/Can'tSearchPublicRepositories/PNG/XMBC_SCSearch_Denied_2022July19th.png

Spammy

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/Labels/Spammy/PNG/SpammyLabel.png

Upon going to any of my issues or pull requests, I noticed that a label Spammy is applied to all my posts. This is additionally what it says:

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/Labels/Spammy/Cropped/PNG/SpammyUsermark_Cropped_2022July19th.png

GitHub customer support

GitHub customer support has been exceedingly poor. The contact form is taking a very long time, I am not being told why I was flagged, I can't email GitHub (they just blocked my email address when I tried) the forum appears to be moving to GitHub discussions (which will just make it impossible for people with this problem to reach out) and I have not been able to interact with an actual person (not even a bot)

Reddit post

The Reddit post didn't go as planned. I was met with downvotes, then a snarky reply, then the post was silent until around 1:00 am, when positive posts started coming in. From what I am hearing, it is very possible to get an immediate flag after being reviewed, and that GitHubs spam detection system is having severe problems. I was given the hopeful message "they will get to you eventually" and I was again told the importance of keeping a local server, which is additional support for the idea. Although I have already been starting to become aware of how important a personal server is, this user is now the 3rd person besides me to validate it, increasing the chances that I might actually be able to get one.

I will not leave images of the Reddit post here. The link is down below in the sources.

Negative impact

The flag has had a highly negative impact on my life and my future. Several opportunities have been missed, and most of my work is now hidden, with other unofficial reproductions now being the only source, most of them are incomplete and infringing.

Thousands of projects have been affected by this. Additionally, contributions to other repositories are now no longer crediting me, and I have missed out on a lot of people discovering my projects.

Inability to use third party programs

I tried to migrate to GitLab in the meantime, and GitHub finally gave me the reason why my account was flagged:

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/No3rdPartySupport/YouAreMarkedAsSpam_Can'tConnectGitLab_2022July22nd_LightMode_1080p.png

Discussions locked

I have recently noted on 2022 July 26th that any discussion I currently have or make is automatically locked.

/Seanpm2001_Flagged/2022/July19th/DiscussionLocked/PNG/Can'tVoteOnLockedDiscussions_DiscussionLocked.png

Codespaces workaround

I can still view image files sparsely by switching over to codespaces (shortcut: .) but not all images load here. It is better than GitHub, where none currently load.

Upload functionality diminishing

Starting on 2022 July 26th, drag and drop upload functionality has a new flaw, it is likely unrelated to the flag. Now each time I go to upload, the drag and drop is denied, and the black GitHub favicon is shown, instead of the white one. I then have to re-drop the files to upload them. This doesn't apply if I upload indirectly (clicking the upload button, rather than just dragging and dropping onto the repository when it isn't in upload mode)

Attempting to continue normally

Despite the account not being visible publicly, and several things being broken, I have continued to work somewhat normally. I can't let it derail all my progress. During the first 3 days of the flag, I did image file uploads in full, but as of 2022 July 22nd, I have finally made the decision to stop Git-image part A work, but still do Git-image part B work. I have also been rethinking how I will operate after this is over.

Finally, a response

On 2022, Thursday, August 4th at 12:26 am, I finally received a response from GitHub support, reinstating the suspension until I delete all of my organizations. This is very very hard on me. It is a huge chunk of my life gone (500-2000+ hours) and it feels like they will bully me into getting rid of other work too.

Despite the issue not being my Git-image part A work, I am still not going to resume the project. I really don't believe that I was domain squatting, but I can't go against them.

I plan on reinstating all organizations on my private server once I get it running.

Update 1

I am now stuck in a loop starting 2022, Thursday August 4th. I was told in the response to delete my organizations:

/Email7_Redacted_HighCompression.png

but when I go to delete them manually, it shows this, telling me to contact them to delete the organizations.

Organizations_Locked_LightMode.png

So I did, and wrote this really long message, a very, very hard decision for me

Then a few hours later, I come back to find that they refused to do the one thing that would fix the problems on both ends.

Ticket1731581_afterArchival_LightMode.png

I am completely stumped, what do I do?

Update 2

On 2022, Friday, August 5th, I looked back into the organization pages, and found that the option to delete the organization wasn't græyed out now, so later in the night, I began deleting organizations. I have 2 backup plans to restore them in the future.

I deleted 140 organizations (14% of my organizations) tonight, just the ones without forks. More work will be done to preserve the remaining 860 before I delete them, and it is going to take at least 1 week.

What was done and what should have been done

What GitHub did

  1. GitHub flagged my account and restricted personal view of my own content for both me and others (and also did unnecessary restrictions that can be circumvented by logging out/browsing in private browsing mode)

  2. GitHub let a machine be the sole judge of the decision and didn't bother to have a human check first

  3. GitHub gave virtually no information on why I was flagged

  4. Despite giving no response for 15 days and counting, the decision was not reversed

  5. No error logs were made

  6. GitHub shut down their forum a few days later, and moved it to GitHub discussions, making it impossible for flagged users to communicate their problem directly

  7. GitHub did little to give users a voice, and made it harder by not listening

  8. GitHub prevented use of third party services during the account flag

What I would do differently

I have learned a lot about what not to do when flagging/blocking/suspending a user from a platform, and I came up with some guidelines last night (2022, Sunday, July 24th, draft V2):

Running an online service

Avoiding GitHubs 2022 July 19th mistake
Basic guidelines
  1. If a user is flagged/blocked/suspended, they will still be able to access all content in their account (same as GitHub)

  2. A user will be reviewed by a machine first. They will not be blocked yet. A human will then review

  3. If/when a problem is detected, a detailed error log will be given

  1. The error log will have 2 formats: simple and advanced. The simple view will tell of the general problem (with more context than GitHub) and the advanced view will tell you of each individual problem, and how to fix it (along with an auto-fix icon, a button to download the log with a dropdown for simple..log, advanced..log, and all..log, and a button for sending an appeal)
  1. If no response is given from the appeal within 12 hours, the user will automatically be unblocked, their content will be publicly reinstated, and the user will be granted immunity for a set amount of time.

  2. Logs will be kept privately by default, and the user has the choice to cite it if needed for their followers

  3. There will always be a forum that doesn't require an account to be unsuspended to use (even an account terminated from the service can still use the forum, albeit with some limitations that won't prevent them from reporting their problem)

  4. There will be a strong user voice, where the user can make their voice heard

  5. Third party services will still be usable to flagged/suspended users, as they are a vital lifeline for transitioning

Additional notes

These rules and guidelines come from a bad personal experience I (@seanpm2001) had with GitHub on 2022 July 19th. I have learned a lot about how NOT to run a service. I feel these 7 rules will be more fair to the user and the community as a whole. Revisions are allowed, but cannot be determimental to the existing rules, features, and functionality.

These rules were made during my first flag/suspension from GitHub, which as of writing this (2022, Monday, July 25th at 12:00 am) is still ongoing. I have extensively researched the issue, and hope to have corrected all flaws with this process, but there might be more, so this is still just a draft.

GitHub pro

It has been decided that when I get my account back, I will pay the $7.00/month ($84.00/year) for GitHub Pro. This way, I can get better support, and also have the Pro label.

Microsoft

I have become openly critical of Microsoft and GitHub for the first time. This has stemmed from this issue, and the failures that have happened.

Conclusion

No conclusion is available, as this is still an ongoing issue.

Aftermath

Aftermath is unavailable, as this is still an ongoing issue.

Sources

Other people dealing with the same problem

https://github.community/t/flagged-account-aware-of-221-thread-2-questions/1785

https://github.community/t/my-account-is-flagged/282

https://github.community/t/why-is-my-account-flagged-as-spam/1333

Related problems

https://github.community/t/github-us-trade-law-sanctions-appeal-is-bugged/199102/

Forum is moving

https://github.community/t/the-community-is-moving/261602/

On 2022, July 25th, I archived the questions I deemed important from the GitHub forum, as it appears to be closing down soon. I might re-upload the data here.

Reddit post

On r/github: https://www.reddit.com/r/github/comments/wbfdf1/github_account_flagged_for_11_days_and_counting/

Crosspost on r/seanpm2001: https://www.reddit.com/r/seanpm2001/comments/wbfes4/github_account_flagged_for_11_days_and_counting/

The contact link

https://github.com/contact

GitHub email address

mailto:support@github.com


File info

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this section

File type: Markdown (*.md *.mkd *.mdown *.markdown)

File version: 19 (2022, Saturday, August 6th a 6:06 pm PST)

Line count (including blank lines and compiler line): 1,268

Current article language: English (EN_USA) / Markdown (CommonMark) / HTML5 (HyperText Markup Language 5.3)

Encoding: UTF-8 (Emoji 12.0 or higher recommended)

All times are UTC-7 (PDT/Pacific Time) (Please also account for DST (Daylight Savings Time) for older/newer entries up until it is abolished/no longer followed)

Note that on 2022, Sunday, March 13th at 2:00 am PST, the time jumped ahead 1 hour to 3:00 am.

You may need special rendering support for the <details> HTML tag being used in this document


File history

Click/tap here to expand/collapse the file history section for this project

Version 1 (2022, Thursday, July 21st at 8:32 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Started the file
  • Added the description section
  • No other changes in version 1

Version 2 (2022, Thursday, July 21st at 8:32 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Added the context section
  • Added the usage of alt account section
  • Added the stress section
  • Added the GitHub customer support section
  • Added the sources section
  • No other changes in version 2

Version 3 (2022, Friday, July 22nd at 3:10 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Referenced several image files
  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the usage of alt account section
    • Added the Alt account discovery subsection
  • Updated the stress section
  • Added the odd restrictions section
  • Updated the GitHub customer support section
  • Added the spammy section
  • Updated the sources section
    • Added the Other people dealing with the same problem subsection
    • Added the related problems subsection
    • Added the forum is moving subsection
    • Added the contact link subsection
    • Added the GitHub email address (bot) subsection
  • Added the file info section
  • Added the file history section
  • No other changes in version 3

Version 3 (2022, Friday, July 22nd at 3:10 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Referenced several image files
  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the usage of alt account section
    • Added the Alt account discovery subsection
  • Updated the stress section
  • Added the odd restrictions section
  • Updated the GitHub customer support section
  • Added the spammy section
  • Updated the sources section
    • Added the Other people dealing with the same problem subsection
    • Added the related problems subsection
    • Added the forum is moving subsection
    • Added the contact link subsection
    • Added the GitHub email address (bot) subsection
  • Added the file info section
  • Added the file history section
  • No other changes in version 3

Version 4 (2022, Saturday, July 23rd at 4:46 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Referenced some new image files
  • Updated the context section
  • Added the Negative impact section
  • Added the Inability to use third party programs section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 4

Version 5 (2022, Saturday, July 23rd at 9:00 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Referenced some new image files
  • Updated the stress section
  • Added the Attempting to continue normally section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 5

Version 6 (2022, Sunday, July 24th at 4:40 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the usage of alt account section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 6

Version 7 (2022, Monday, July 25th at 5:00 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Added the What I would do differently section
  • Added the GitHub Pro section
  • Updated the Forum is moving section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 7

Version 8 (2022, Tuesday, July 26th at 6:47 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Added the What GitHub did section
  • Added the Conclusion section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 8

Version 9 (2022, Wednesday, July 27th at 6:47 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Separated the What GitHub did and what I would do differently sections into the what was done, and what should have been done section
  • Added the GitHub codespaces workaround section
  • Added the upload functionality diminishing section
  • Added the Reddit post subsection into the sources section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 9

Version 10 (2022, Thursday, July 28th at 7:00 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Added the discussions locked section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 10

Version 11 (2022, Friday, July 29th at 1:58 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the Reddit post:source subsection
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 11

Version 12 (2022, Saturday, July 30th at 7:15 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the Reddit post:source subsection
  • Added the Reddit post section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 12

Version 13 (2022, Sunday, July 31st at 4:00 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the stress section
  • Added the days flagged section
    • Added a 2022 January table
    • Added a 2022 February table
    • Added a 2022 March table
    • Added a 2022 April table
    • Added a 2022 May table
    • Added a 2022 June table
    • Updated a 2022 July table
    • Updated a 2022 August table
  • Added the follows during suspension section
  • Added the index section
  • Updated the GitHub email address (bot) section
  • Updated the what was done and what could have been done differently section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • Added the footer
  • No other changes in version 13

Version 14 (2022, Monday, August 1st at 2:10 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the index
  • Updated the days flagged section
    • Updated the 2022 August table
    • Added the 2022 September table
    • Added the 2022 October table
    • Added the 2022 November table
    • Added the 2022 December table
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 14

Version 15 (2022, Tuesday, August 2nd at 4:03 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the days flagged section
    • Updated the 2022 August table
  • Updated the What GitHub did section
  • Updated the What I would do differently section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 15

Version 16 (2022, Wednesday, August 3rd at 5:45 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the index
  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the days flagged section
    • Updated the 2022 August table
  • Added the Achievements during suspension section
  • Added the feedback during suspension section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 16

Version 17 (2022, Thursday, August 4th at 8:15 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the index
  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the days flagged section
    • Updated the 2022 August table
  • Added the Finally, a response section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 17

Version 18 (2022, Friday, August 5th at 3:17 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the index
  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the days flagged section
    • Updated the 2022 August table
  • Added the Update 1 subsection to the finally, a response section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 18

Version 19 (2022, Saturday, August 6th at 6:06 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Changes:

  • Updated the index
  • Updated the context section
  • Updated the days flagged section
    • Updated the 2022 August table
  • Added the Update 2 subsection to the finally, a response section
  • Updated the file info section
  • Updated the file history section
  • No other changes in version 19

Footer

You have reached the end of this file.

( Back to top | Exit to GitHub | Exit to GistHub | Exit to Bing | Exit to DuckDuckGo | Exit to DuckDuckGo (safe browsing) | Exit to Ecosia | Exit to Swisscows )