Is there any constitutional lawywers willing to back YA users?

Question

YA regularly deletes questions and or answers by saying they violate community guidelines. Fact is, I have seen many deleted that, in fact, did not violate any guidelines whatsoever. We have no recourse except to appeal to the bot program that deleted the question or answer and get an automated response. Questions and answers get deleted because they get reported, much the same way the nazis did in pre wwII Germany. The US constitution gives citizens the right to face their accusers, YA does not give us that right, therefore are violating the constitution in the country in which they operate, provided California is still in the USA. Any of you constitutional lawyers want to take YA to task and give our citizens their constitutional right to know who is falsely reporting, as well as who are reporting justly. There are some who have been and are still being targeted maliciously for their views, opinions, religion, and national origin. This is not what made out country great.

Will anyone step up and take this challenge?

For clarity, I have never had a deletion, but have been witness to many which have not violated any rules of YA terms and conditions. Many timess the reportings are against the same person. It seems like a vendetta of sorts. I don't like it, it isn't right for 1 person to have the power to report, and no amount of appeals change anything. I just want to know why. And thank you Dondi, I may be wrong, but our constitution is what runs our country and I feel everyone, private company or not is bound by what it says. If not, we could all be fired from our jobs for voting for someone our boss doesn't like. After all, he's a private company.

Barry C, I am neither a dumb blonde or a silly girl. I am not trying to find someone to sue yahoo for money or any other tanglible asset. As I said, I only want to be able to know why something is deleted, and if reported, I think I have the right to know who reported it and why. There is a lot of wrongful reporting going on, and if it going to stop, then there needs to be some sort of reconning. But, don't ever make the mistake of calling me a silly girl again, I am not, and if I deem it to be offensive or insulting, I might just report it myself. But that isn't my style.

Answer 1

I hope someone will take up your call. Private company or not, they are not above the law, and are still required to do things in a legal manner. If they are violating the constitution, then they must be violating some law or another. Probably doesn't matter though, the only ones that would go up against them would be a shyster wanting money or the alcu, and if you aren't a minority, they probably won't talk to you. Good luck in your endeavor. I have had only one deletion, and it was also unwarranted. I simply answered a question about the name of a german song, and someone reported it. Probably thought it was profanity or something. There is no accounting for people and their opinions.

Answer 2

Sure, you go ahead and hire a lawyer, because such lawyers aren't cheap. Or do you wnat someone else to spend money on it because you are not wiling to stand up for what you think is important?

But you couldn't even give a single example of the complaint you are making!

Oh you are just bloviating?

Read on for some inside truth!

Silly girl, don't you know that the bans are automated, and are rapidly improving, in the much the same way that spam is blocked?

As people report violations, then the reported concepts are searched for patterns, and then the patterns can be found without reports.

That is the reserach and data collection stage Yahoo is at now.

That is what they have done with their search engines, with their spam protectin in mail, with their software for managing inbound customer support email (including YA complaints we are talking about) and probably much more.

I know about the last one because I was manager of the company whose software they have been using since ~1999 for that purpose. I know (or knew..) the details of the algorithms used to identify and learn the patterns.

I also know -from realizing they were still using the same software - that real people do review the responses, but there are so many you may have to go through the loop a few times.

If you are not willing to do that, then. well, that weeds out the people who don't think their complaint is as important as those who do follow up, and the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

If you don't like it, you are free to not use Yahoo or any section of it. The complaint page tells you what I just told you in a different way. Reads it and understand it.

Private companies are not subject to restrictions on censorship.

And just so you know, ebay and paypal both, among lots of others, use the same software fro responding to customer email - it is not a bot, merely a way to evaluate and prioritize the > 1million emails a day they get :)

Answer 3

The only lawyers who would take up this kind case would be those who are unscrupulous enough to make money off people who can't seem to understand that Y/A is a private site and that all users agree to the terms of service when they sign up. You also have the right to appeal any reported violation. Not to mention their are hundreds of other political websites where you can swear and insult all you want. There is no lawyer in the US who would take such a case on contingency.

The constitution applies only to laws passed by the federal, state and local governments, not to a private website!

PS I have managed to answer 20,000 + questions mostly in politics and I have been reported about five times times and never since I cut out the insults, nonanswers or answering troll's questions -- and I have very strong opinions.

Answer 4

Quote: YA regularly deletes questions and or answers by saying they violate community guidelines

uh....Yahoo is a private company and this website is private propery where you are a guest and subject to THEIR operating T/S. They have the legal right to do pretty much anything they wish with your posts as long as they demonstrate no discriminatory practices.


Get over it.