pluralban

Pluralban is a moderation policy used by some online communities to ban all accounts associated with a single user after evidence of abuse or rule violations. It is designed to address ban evasion, sockpuppetry, brigading, and coordinated spam by individuals who create new accounts to bypass a previous ban.

Detection and scope: Pluralban relies on cross-account associations such as shared IP addresses, device fingerprints, payment methods, email domains, or patterns of behavior (e.g., similar posting times, content similarities). Some platforms also rely on internal linkage through staff notes, linked accounts, or explicit user reports to identify connected accounts. When a user is identified as linked to a previously banned account, new account creation or continued activity can trigger an automatic or manual ban on all linked accounts. In some implementations, administrators may apply pluralban to a subset of the user's accounts or to the entire user network.

Procedures: Typical processes include a review by moderators, an appeals mechanism, and a transparency policy about methods and data usage. Appeals may allow a user to present evidence of mistaken linkage or legitimate separation of identities.

Impact: Supporters argue it reduces abuse and preserves community health; critics warn it risks false positives and privacy concerns, and can affect legitimate users sharing networks (families, workplaces) or those behind dynamic IPs.

See also: ban evasion, sockpuppet, IP ban, account linking, moderation transparency.