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X permanently banned my 15-year-old account for sharing my own open-source lib

rrifmj about 10 hours ago 8 comments

DE version is available. Content is displayed in original English for accuracy.

On July 8 I posted about an open-source library I wrote — helix-noise, a divergence-free 3D noise function that returns velocity instead of a value, so you can advect millions of particles with no simulation step (MIT, demos: https://rifmj.github.io/helix-noise).

The post itself was fine. Then I replied to it with the GitHub link and three hashtags (#creativecoding #threejs #webgl). Shortly after, my account (@dzhumagulov, registered 2011, no prior violations) was permanently suspended for violating the X Rules — moved to read-only, can't post, like, or create new accounts.

I appealed through the official form: explained it's my own MIT-licensed project, no monetization, posted once. The rejection came back from their automated system, and the template literally didn't name the violation — the "specifically:" section was empty. It just says the decision stands and I should "remedy the violations," without saying what they are.

So the current state: banned by one automated system, appeal denied by another, and no human has told me what rule I broke. As far as I can tell, "external link + hashtags in a reply" simply pattern-matches to spam.

I get that spam detection at X's scale is hard. But sharing your own open-source work is about the most normal developer behavior there is, and there's apparently no path to reach a human reviewer. Curious if others have hit this and whether anything short of going viral actually works.

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Discussion (8 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

kentichabout 4 hours ago
My 9 y/o account on Reddit was shadow banned because I shared a URL of my app in subs specifically aimed at sharing apps/side-projects. No warning, no explanation. It was just an execution-style ban. It seems that the social media giants want the audience to feel as if a sword of damocleis is constantly hanging over them. One step out of the line that no one says you nothing about, and you are executed.
jimrandomhabout 3 hours ago
If that's all you'd posted recently, the problem is not likely to be the content you posted. The most likely thing that happened is that you shared an IP address (eg a VPN exit node, or a device with malware on your wifi network) with someone who was banned for good reasons, and got caught in the crossfire.
yogibear678142about 6 hours ago
Posting a link could be considered aggressive behavior. I feel much safer knowing AI is the new judge, jury, and executioner of the public square of the internet.
foxyvabout 8 hours ago
Welcome to the Kafkaesque world of automated enforcement.

> "The Trial" by Franz Kafka is a novel written in 1914 and 1915. It follows Josef K., a bank clerk who is arrested and prosecuted by a mysterious, unreachable authority. Neither he nor the reader ever learns what crime he has committed. As Josef navigates an absurd legal system filled with bizarre encounters and inexplicable procedures, his case consumes his life while remaining perpetually unresolved. The novel, never completed by Kafka, was published posthumously in 1925.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7849

nchmyabout 3 hours ago
Sorry to hear it. But perhaps your life will be better off without Xitter?
AlexRendersabout 9 hours ago
F. odd. half the posts on X are aggressive marketing. perplexing.
pannyabout 10 hours ago
I guess you're just going to have to wait for a new owner to unban you like Dr. Malone had to do.
verdvermabout 4 hours ago
SpaceX is the most likely buyer

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, I'm sure we Won't Get Fooled Again

https://youtu.be/UDfAdHBtK_Q?is=xuJyiM6-D-GrqIa7