Filing an abuse report

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• When to file an abuse report
• How to file an abuse report
• Notes and Tips

When to file an abuse report

Abuse occurs when someone violates the Second Life Terms of Service (ToS) or the Community Standards (CS). Every Resident agrees to abide by these rules upon joining Second Life. Some special areas, such as Infohubs, have additional restrictions called the Welcome Area Guidelines.

Whenever you see one of these rules being broken and you believe it to be intentional or malicious, everyone present at the scene should file an abuse report. If there are multiple incidents, file multiple reports.

File reports on any abuse you witness in addition to abuse that targets you personally. Not every Resident is aware of the abuse-reporting system or remembers to use it, so please help out your fellow Residents! Reports from multiple people underscore the seriousness of an incident.

How to file an abuse report

To file an abuse report, do any of the following:

• File a report by typing in Report Abuse with our chat bot, Boxy 5000, at https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/home.
• Choose Help > Report Abuse from the menus at the top of your Viewer window.
• To directly report another Resident, right-click their avatar and choose Report 
• To directly report an object, right-click the object and select Manage > Report Abuse.

The REPORT ABUSE window opens, displaying a snapshot of what is onscreen at that moment and the relevant identifying information if you selected an avatar or object.

1. If the snapshot helps clarify the issue, check Use this screenshot. Screenshots can be very helpful visual evidence; include them whenever appropriate.
2. If the report is about an avatar or object , click the button to fill in the relevant information automatically.
3. Click Select category and choose a category. If you don't see a category for the particular incident you're reporting, use Select Category > Other and explain in the Details field.
4. The Location of Abuse field is filled in automatically with your current location. Change to specify a different location.
5. In the Summary field, write a concise, one-line summary, much like an email subject line. Be brief yet precise.
6. Use the Details field to give as much pertinent information as possible to help Linden Lab assess the incident.
7. Click Report Abuse to submit the abuse report

Notes and Tips

More tips:

• If you're being pushed or thrown around by scripts, right-click on an object and choose Sit Here. This stops you from being moved.
• On combat/damage-enabled land, shooting someone with a weapon is not abuse. Look for a little red heart in the menu bar, which indicates your health. If you can see it, you're in a valid combat zone, and weapons fire is permitted. Your avatar can't die permanently: even if you lose all your health, you will simply be teleported back to your home location. Using weapons on non-combat land is usually abuse unless the landowner has clearly allowed it, for example in a role-playing game.
• If a friendship has gone sour, block the person and remove him or her from your friends list. This will also remove any permissions you may have granted them, like the ability to track you on the map.
• If someone is harrassing you through voice, the best solution is to block this person. You can file an abuse report, but it's difficult to provide concrete evidence in such situations, since there are no IM or chat transcripts. For commonsense reasons, we cannot accept recordings of voice chat made by other programs or by holding a tape recorder up to your speakers. 
  • For more information, see Blocking.
•  If you IM with, pay Linden dollars to, or give inventory to someone you have blocked, he or she is automatically un-blocked. 
• If abusive behavior is persistent, file abuse reports for each incident. The disciplinary process works only if we are made aware of ongoingly abusive behavior.

What happens when an abuse report is filed?

You receive an automated response by email. If you need to add more information after submitting a report, please submit a new report. We try to resolve abuse issues as quickly as possible, but response times vary depending on the number of backlogged abuse reports. For privacy reasons, we are unable to share the details of an investigation into an abuse report.  Once your report has been submitted, we'll take it from there.

Often all it takes to curtail an issue is an official warning. In most cases, a Resident who violates our Terms of Service and/or Community Standards is given several opportunities to rectify his or her behavior before banishment occurs. In all cases, the Resident's disciplinary record is reviewed to determine an appropriate response. Serious abuse may result in account suspensions or permanent bans. The length of a suspension is determined by the nature of the abuse, previous violations, and how many people are affected.

Don't see what you need? Check out our expanded Knowledge Base article here!