The Internet Is Not a Lawless Space

How it got this far

It started the way it always starts. A bit of sniping under a post. One condescending comment. Then two. Then ten. Nobody pushes back, so the tone gets louder — because louder apparently works.

At some point it wasn't comments anymore, it was messages in our inboxes. And at some point it wasn't abuse anymore, it was threats — explicit, specific, aimed at our lives. Repeatedly. Across several channels.

That's where every discussion ends. We documented everything, preserved it, and filed criminal complaints. This isn't posturing and it isn't an empty gesture — it has already happened.

We won't be commenting on the specifics. No names, no screenshots, no details. This is not about public shaming and it is not about satisfaction. The matter now sits where it belongs and is taking its course — entirely regardless of whether anyone involved has since come to regret it.

If you thought a made-up name and a profile picture pulled off the internet would make you invisible, you were wrong. Anonymity online is a feeling. It is not a fact.

Let's talk about the tone

What actually concerns us isn't this one case. It's the climate it grew out of.

Because this tone doesn't come from nowhere. It grows wherever it's tolerated. It grows in comment sections where the insult stays up and the reply to it gets deleted. In groups where people wind each other up until sneering at human beings passes for humour. On pages that know perfectly well outrage performs better than fairness — and therefore deliver outrage.

And yes, that includes other fan pages.

We're not going to name anyone here. But everyone should ask themselves honestly how much they contribute. Anyone who routinely sharpens things up, who turns a trivial matter into a scandal, who knows their reach sets people on other people and does it anyway — that person is not a bystander. They're part of it.

Reach is responsibility. Not at some later point. At the moment you hit "publish".

The double standard

It gets particularly striking when you look at how some of these corners moderate themselves.

We're deliberately not going into detail and we're not naming names. But anyone who spends time in the relevant forums, subreddits and groups knows the pattern: you don't have to do anything bad there. Holding the wrong opinion once is enough. A calm question, a disagreement, a simple "I see that differently" — and your access is gone. No conversation, no explanation, no chance to sort it out. Banned.

And then the same people write to us about how we ought to handle criticism.

Anyone who hands out bans elsewhere for every dissenting word and then demands sweeping free speech from us might want to read that back slowly. These people don't care about free speech. They care about their speech being free, and everyone else's not.

We do it differently. Nobody gets removed here for criticising us, for disagreeing, or for disliking a post. People get removed here for insults, for incitement, for threats. The difference isn't complicated. You just have to be willing to make it.

Yes, we block too — but only when someone comes at us personally, or is transparently out for a fight from the first second. Not because we dislike the opinion. Because that kind of "conversation" was never a conversation to begin with. Nobody is debating there; they're provoking until someone loses their temper — and the only party losing anything is us: our time. Time we'd rather spend on the people who actually have something to say.

So if you do collect a block, you had to work for it. And as a rule, you know exactly how.

And then there are the reporters

A chapter of its own: the people who write to tell us they've reported us.

Sometimes matter-of-factly, sometimes with the clear implication that they've achieved something. We reply to those messages. Politely. We ask: what exactly is this about? What specifically is the problem? Let's talk about it — maybe it's a misunderstanding, maybe we actually got something wrong.

And then? Nothing. Silence. No answer, no explanation, not another word.

So please, explain it to us: what was the point?

If you have a genuine concern, talk to us. We're reachable, we read everything, and we have changed plenty of things because someone made a good argument. But if all you wanted was to send the message that you could hurt us — then at least be honest about it. Because that's exactly how it comes across.

A report is a tool against rule-breaking. It is not leverage. And anyone using it as leverage shouldn't be surprised when we read it that way.

What we'll take — and what we won't

So there's no misunderstanding.

Criticism is welcome. Tell us what you don't like. Say it clearly, say it harshly, say it in public. Disagreement isn't an attack; it's the reason this community works at all. We have no interest in a place where everyone just nods along.

An insult is not criticism. Anyone incapable of making their point without degrading someone either has no point or has no arguments. Neither is our problem.

And if you fundamentally dislike everything here: then leave. No drama, no farewell post, no explanation required. Click away, unfollow us, find something that brings you joy instead. Nobody is keeping you here, and nobody will hold it against you.

What is not an option: staying in order to poison the place.

How we'll handle this from now on

No hedging:

• Abusive comments will be deleted. Without comment.
• Repeat offenders will be banned. Permanently.
• Threats will be preserved and reported to the authorities. Every time. No warning, no telling-off, no "I didn't mean it like that".

There will be no debate about whether it was "really that bad". There will be no second chance off the back of an apology that only appears once things get serious. We've had that patience. It's gone.

To everyone reading quietly: if you see something, tell us. You don't have to get dragged into it and you don't have to argue it out. A quick heads-up is enough.

Finally

We could happily have done without all of this. It has cost time, nerves, and a piece of the joy we take in what we're actually here to do.

But silence, at this point, gets read as an invitation. So we're not staying silent.

The overwhelming majority of this community is superb — thoughtful, argumentative in the best sense, generous, often smarter than we are. You're who we do this for. And for you, we'll make sure this stays a place people are glad to be.

To everyone else: the internet is not a lawless space. It never was. And we will keep acting as though that is meant seriously — because it is.

Your Lifad World Team