# Banning Users found **repeatedly** and **intentionally** breaking Wusoup's [[About/Community Standards#Rules|community rules]] *will* be permanently banned. I know this is harsh, but Wusoup's rules are clear, individually motivated at length, and (I believe) all pretty reasonable. They're there to protect Wusoup's specific and unusual [[About/Mission|mission]] - and I think they're worth the tradeoffs. Ultimately it's up to folks to decide if they want to join a place like this or not. It's totally okay if the answer is no, but for the sake of everyone else who _does_ want to have a clean space - Wusoup's rules are enforced pretty strictly. ## Can you be banned for being downvoted? No, only for breaking the [[About/Community Standards#Rules|community rules]]. ## Can you be banned for the wrong opinion/belief? Nope. Just make sure that you've read and understood the community rules against [[About/Community Standards#3. No **aggressive** or **hateful** content|aggressive and hateful content]]. This is a community that supports (even encourages) free speech and diversity of ideas. But we also expect members to treat each other with respect. It's possible to disagree or debate without vitriol. I know that's rare today (online and elsewhere), but that's also why I think it matters. We need spaces where people can explore ideas. ## What if you're unfairly banned? Most banning on Wusoup is automatic, but I (Peter) also manually review each automated ban to confirm that it wasn't an error. The automated false-positive rate is already pretty good (<2%), but basically zero once you include the manual review. Established users will always be **explicitly warned** before being banned. If you think something's gone wrong, or you want to ask to be unbanned - just [[About/Contact|ping me]]. You can always log in and message me, even if you are banned. ## Can you be unbanned? Depends what you've been banned for. If there was an honest mistake/misunderstanding, or if you can genuinely tell me you won't break the rules again - just [[About/Contact|ping me]]. You can always log in and message me, even if you are banned. The point of banning is to protect the community, not to be punitive. Seriously, I'm not unreasonable about this - folks acting in good faith and that want to contribute to the community are super welcome. ## Can you just create another account? **No**, that in itself is [[About/Community Standards#9. Don't create **multiple accounts**|against the rules]] because it's the first thing that every trashy account does that's just here trying to spam, scam, or sext. Duplicate accounts will be detected, and you'll lose your opportunity to just [[About/Contact|ping me]] like a reasonable person and get your original account restored. ## Someone told you they were unfairly banned For user privacy reasons, I obviously can't share any details on if/why a particular account may have been banned Unfortunately that means that there's unavoidably a certain level of trust that I need to ask from everyone on this. If someone's told you that they're being unfairly persecuted, there's a couple possible explanations: 1. What they're saying is entirely accurate, and I'm deliberately/knowingly being a dick. 2. What they're saying isn't entirely accurate, and in fact they've been repeatedly and knowingly getting up to sketchy stuff and ignoring warnings. There's of course no way to rule out (1), but I'd also encourage you to consider incentives. If someone's *not* knowingly and repeatedly breaking rules - why would I be incentivized to ban them? I want the best for Wusoup, and I'd love it to grow. Banning's generally a last resort once it's clear that someone's genuinely not willing to participate in the community in good faith.