Hi there everyone.
NOTE: Please don’t use this statement as an opportunity or reason to call out or harass anyone. That is not the point of this. Do not dogpile this user or go to them and try to stick up for me. Please just show me your support in this matter here on this post. Don’t DM the user. Don’t @mention them. Don’t treat them any differently to any other user. If you don’t have anything nice to say to them, just don’t say anything at all. I will take care of everything else with a lawyer.
I did not want to have to make this statement. It has been a long time since I have needed to make a serious statement like this. I hate doing it and I’m sure most of you don’t like to read it. After all, I get all stern and tag the @Announcements tag like you’re all in trouble. In reality, most of the people on the Forum are lovely and follow all the rules.
I also didn’t want to have to do this because we’re trying really hard to revive the Forums right now and I wanted to keep positive. My mental health has been picking up and I really want to make sure it doesn’t dip, because that has an unfair effect on the Forums. I have been trying to be more aware of it, which is one of the reasons why I had to take a break from here.
However, I have to make this statement and I am very sorry for it.
The Issue
Two years ago (February 2020), we had a user who joined our Forums. She had issues with other members of the Forums, who very openly asked her to stop contacting them on the Welcome to the Forums thread. We had issues as @moderators, as this user then continually contacted us and flagged posts from other users that did not break our rules. Some of the mods have kindly agreed to share their stories on this, so please scroll down to the replies for their side of the story.
After this, she made a rival forum and attempted to post links to it onto our Forums, which is against our guidelines. We do not allow this and we are very clear with this rule.
Then, she contacted @anon68003072 and myself multiple times about bullying on the Forums, but was unable to provide us with any evidence other than the aforementioned users asking her to stop talking to them. Of course, we cannot take action against people without sufficient evidence, as this would be unfair and unethical. So, we were very polite when explaining that we would need more proof and that she should flag posts if and only if they break our rules. El can explain more on this.
El can tell you all the different ways in which she attempted to contact the Forums to lodge these unwarranted complaints from years ago, including through Instagram and email.
Since then, we have seen yet another rival forum. I’m sure a @ForumStaff member can provide proof of this. It calls out me as a “crybaby” and saying that neither I nor my staff can be trusted.
Now, this is where things get serious.
This person has now lodged a complaint with the server provider of the forums claiming that we are harassing her and asking for the whole Forum to be shut down on this basis. I will provide proof of this below, with details redacted for privacy’s sake.
This screenshot provides proof that two members alleged to be the same person were in fact the same, as it refers to one member with the name of the other.
It is asking for the forum to be deleted in its entirety because of a disagreement that this user has had with members who are not even active here anymore two years ago.
This user is not banned on the Forums and they are free to use their account, mind you.
This is not something I will tolerate.
What I Will Do
I will be seeking legal action against this person. I am currently putting together all evidence that they have spread lies about me and ShanniiWrites and that they have harassed staff members and users alike. I will then be taking these to a lawyer and I am not afraid to sue.
I hope this person stops, as I do not want to have to go this far. If you are reading this, user: please stop. You are in the wrong. I understand that you are upset with what happened, but you are taking this too far and I will be forced to protect the Forums.
They offer a safe place for many people and have taken over two years to get to what they are now. I do not want to take legal action and this will be a last resort.
All I ask is for you to stop attacking me, my staff members, my users and my forums. That’s all. I don’t even want you to take down anything you have currently done. I don’t want you to stop using the Forums if you like them. I just want you to stop with this harassing behaviour.
Of course, my mental health is very tentative at the moment. I am on antidepressants and have been diagnosed with both depression and anxiety. Your actions right now are having a lot of mental distress on me, which is causing me to suffer at my job. Please stop.
Thank you all for reading.