Banetype

Banetype is a term used in discussions of platform moderation and policy design to denote a category of sanctions or prohibitions applied to users or objects within a system. It is not a recognized scientific term; rather, it is a neologism used by researchers and practitioners to analyze and compare moderation tools.

Concept and typology: Banetypes describe how sanctions differ in enforceability, scope, and reversibility. Common examples include hard bans (permanent account removal), soft bans (restrictions on certain actions or capabilities without account deletion), feature bans (disable specific features), geographic bans (block access by location), and IP bans (block network address). Behaviorally, banetypes can be classified by visibility (private vs public), scope (global vs local), and reversibility (temporary vs permanent).

Applications: In platform policy design and security research, analysts use banetype frameworks to forecast user response, deter prohibited conduct, and evaluate moderation costs.

Limitations and critique: The lack of standardization means different authors may define categories differently; concerns about fairness and accuracy in enforcement.

See also: Sanctions, Moderation, Content policy, Deterrence, Compliance.