Admin Post: Public Comment Wanted: Proposed Change to Registration Policy to Better Manage Bots

[dawn_felagund]

On a recent review of new account registrations, the moderators discovered about 20% of them have never logged into their account after it was approved. This is typically not a problem; it's not a drain on our data or resources, and most of us have registered for a website before, with best intentions of using it, and then just didn't get around to it. It is an expected part of running a website like ours.

However, there have been a few recent instances where mods have had to contact new members regarding their account, and despite multiple attempts, do not receive a response. This is often paired with suspicious activity that led the mods to initiate contact in the first place. (Double registrations within minutes of each other from the same IP are a common example.) These accounts appear legitimate in every other way: the field where we ask people to share something about their interest in Tolkien (there to weed out bots) includes something legit-sounding about Tolkien or fanfic or both, and the username or email are Tolkien-related or -adjacent.

We deal with bot registrations regularly and have for the life of this site. Typically, bots go for quantity rather than quality and are therefore easy to spot and simply delete. However, the rising capability of AI tools means we are likely to see bot registrations that are harder to detect.

As a moderator team, we are absolutely okay with people registering and then never using their accounts. But we are not okay with harboring bot registrations, especially AI-assisted bot registrations. The SWG opposes the use of AI that harms fans and creators, and once approved, these accounts do have access to site features like leaving comments, sending messages to other members, and posting their own works, which makes them a risk to our members who are real people and using the site appropriately.

Given this, the mods propose the following change to our Site Etiquette and Terms of Service:

• If six months pass and a new account is never logged into, we will contact that person using the email registered on the site to allow them to keep their account.
• If we receive a reply, we will keep the account open. There is no obligation for the member to log into the account or use it or maintain any minimum level of activity.
• If we don't hear a reply within two weeks, we will delete the account.
• Note that this applies only to new accounts that have never been logged into. Once a person logs into their account, they can keep it forever and use it as much or as little as they like.

The moderators are looking for thoughts, concerns, and alternate ideas for how to manage this situation. Please feel free to comment here, use our Discord #town-hall channel, or email us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org. We will leave the public comment period open until at least November 17.