Keeping Lichess Community Safe and Respectful

Hey everyone,

I’ve been a part of this amazing site for years now, and I truly value the discussions, support, and connections we’ve built here. This community is a fantastic space , and I think we all want to keep it that way. That’s why I wanted to start a conversation about something that’s been on my mind lately: the importance of maintaining a safe and respectful environment for everyone.

I’ve noticed instances where disrespectful comments or personal attacks have slipped through, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s felt uncomfortable at times. In fact, I recently reported an incident of such behavior, but unfortunately, no action seems to have been taken. Whether it’s an insult directed at someone or even comments that cross personal boundaries (like involving family), this kind of behavior can really impact how safe we feel here. I believe a community thrives when everyone feels respected,
Do we want to see anyone step away because of negative experiences?

So, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Have you encountered or witnessed disrespectful behavior here? How did it make you feel? If you’ve reported issues, did you feel the response was adequate?

I’m hopeful that by talking about this openly, Make Lichess an even better place for all of us. Thanks for reading.
Empheror

every body got their own lives, we dont really know what ppl are going through, i would just block and move on with chess, i would expect others to do the same to me, at the end of the day, if we can laugh at anything positive negative whatever, then we are actually safe dont you think, i think we would be a better person and come out harder better, faster and stronger player

some people complain moderation is too harsh, some people complain there's not enough moderation. It's not possible to make everyone happy. But, I am happy because...

firstly, I feel safe from physical harm. Maybe I'm naive but I don't think the average person on here would be able to identify me. I'm sure some people (with particular types of skills) could.

If someone says something to me that I feel breaks the tos, I report because I believe they broke the tos, I don't report because I want the commenter banned. I don't care if they get banned or not. That's not my problem and that's not why I report.

I try not to be offended by some text some stranger who doesn't know me and i them types. It's so cheap and easy to type, being offended by that is giving some random person a lot of power very cheaply. I try not to give them the power.

These day the only twinge of bad feelings from text I get is if I blunder and someone types lol. but, that's my problem, my issue, my weakness. I created those bad feelings, I blame me, not them. I have reported people for lolling at a blunder in the past, I didn't care what happened after I reported.

In fact, I recently reported an incident of such behavior, but unfortunately, no action seems to have been taken.

I'm not sure you could tell if action was taken or not. I think people can have their chat shadow banned without a red flag on their account.

Whether it’s an insult directed at someone or even comments that cross personal boundaries (like involving family), this kind of behavior can really impact how safe we feel here.

I think if you don't feel safe at times, you could try to have a private chat with a moderator through the published channels, as well as report and block. I think we should all feel safe and I believe the people that run lichess also think that.

I think feeling disrespected is different to feeling safe. My philosophy is not to feel disrespected and if I do I blame me not them, and then report, block and forget about it.

just my current opinion and philosophy. I think it's good for me, don't know if it's good for others.

You think blocking is an effective solution, but I want to explain that while blocking prevents direct messages, it does not stop the person from insulting others on public pages and Tournaments chats. I have already blocked the user who insulted me, yet he continued to send disrespectful comments about me publicly. This leads me to conclude that no action was taken by the moderators or administrators to address the issue.

@EmPheroR said in #4:

You think blocking is an effective solution, but I want to explain that while blocking prevents direct messages, it does not stop the person from insulting others on public pages and Tournaments chats. I have already blocked the user who insulted me, yet he continued to send disrespectful comments about me publicly. This leads me to conclude that no action was taken by the moderators or administrators to address the issue.

Your observations don't necessarily imply that no action was taken. The user may have been warned, which is something we don't see after reporting someone. So if the person is continuing to insult you and it's been several days at least (enough time for your report to have been handled), then you should report the person again.

The only thing you effectivly can do is to report chat messages and report users, and if possible, give a detailed reason with links etc. why you think the person should be banned.

Remember: the lichess moderation team is mostly voluntary and doesn't really want to deal with "troll" or "salty" reports. The more effort you put into reporting, the less it looks like one of these for the mod team.

I personally have quite good experiences with the moderation team. Mostly, they did take some action, and sometimes they don't, but I am in no position to question the decisions. But I never had a "Why aren't they doing anything" moment.

PROBABLY THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO is ignore such messages, report them and just don't let it get to you. It's the internet after all. Those are hopefully people you don't know in the real life, so why waste your emotions on them? ;)

Continue at the lichess feedback subforum

To clarify, I blocked the user who insulted me months ago and reported the initial incident at that time. Despite this, the disrespectful comments continued yesterday during tournament. I reported the issue again just yesterday, yet I’ve seen no visible resolution or response. This ongoing situation leads me to feel that the issue hasn’t been addressed.

it would be helpful for the moderation team to explain what they consider to be an insult or disrespectful behavior in their view. If there are specific limits to what’s acceptable, it would be great to have clarity on that. And if there are no strict boundaries, I believe the community should be informed so we can better understand the expectations and how to interact here

@EmPheroR said in #8:

To clarify, I blocked the user who insulted me months ago and reported the initial incident at that time. Despite this, the disrespectful comments continued yesterday during tournament. I reported the issue again just yesterday, yet I’ve seen no visible resolution or response. This ongoing situation leads me to feel that the issue hasn’t been addressed.

You did the right thing by reporting it again yesterday.

However:
(1) You haven't given the moderation team long enough to handle your report. It can take a few days.
(2) You probably won't see any resolution or response anyway. The only circumstances where you would get a response is if the person is banned as a result of your report. But there are other ways of handling the issue.

it would be helpful for the moderation team to explain what they consider to be an insult or disrespectful behavior in their view. If there are specific limits to what’s acceptable, it would be great to have clarity on that. And if there are no strict boundaries, I believe the community should be informed so we can better understand the expectations and how to interact here

Insulting and disrespectful behaviour is subjective of course. But you can be assured that if the behaviour is judged to be insulting and/or disrespectful and you report it, then it will be handled by the moderators.

Other people above have suggested that you just move on and forget about it after reporting. That is pretty good advice. Don't worry about whether moderators take action: they do when it's appropriate.

@Brian-E said in #9:

You did the right thing by reporting it again yesterday.

However:
(1) You haven't given the moderation team long enough to handle your report. It can take a few days.
(2) You probably won't see any resolution or response anyway. The only circumstances where you would get a response is if the person is banned as a result of your report. But there are other ways of handling the issue.

Insulting and disrespectful behaviour is subjective of course. But you can be assured that if the behaviour is judged to be insulting and/or disrespectful and you report it, then it will be handled by the moderators.

Other people above have suggested that you just move on and forget about it after reporting. That is pretty good advice. Don't worry about whether moderators take action: they do when it's appropriate.

thanks for your input and for suggesting I move on after reporting. I appreciate the perspective, my main concern isn’t about what moderators do to the person in question. I simply don’t want to see disrespectful messages directed at me or others in this community. If such comments appear again, whether it’s from the same user or someone else, it means whatever action was taken—or not taken—was ultimately useless in preventing the behavior. That’s why I feel it’s important to address how these situations are handled to ensure a safe space for everyone.