Below is a message I just got from jackk. Some specifics have been redacted 1) so that we can discuss general policy rather than the details of this specific case 2) because presumption of innocence, just in case there happens to be an innocuous explanation to this.
Hi Kaj_Sotala,
I'm Jack, one of the Trike devs. I'm messaging you because you're the moderator who commented most recently. A while back the user [REDACTED 1] asked if Trike could look into retributive downvoting against his account. I've done that, and it looks like [REDACTED 2] has downvoted at least [over half of REDACTED 1's comments, amounting to hundreds of downvotes] ([REDACTED 1]'s next-largest downvoter is [REDACTED 3] at -15).
What action to take is a community problem, not a technical one, so we'd rather leave that up to the moderators. Some options:
1. Ask [REDACTED 2] for the story behind these votes
2. Use the "admin" account (which exists for sending scripted messages, &c.) to apply an upvote to each downvoted post
3. Apply a karma award to [REDACTED 1]'s account. This would fix the karma damage but not the sorting of individual comments
4. Apply a negative karma award to [REDACTED 2]'s account. This makes him pay for false downvotes twice over. This isn't possible in the current code, but it's an easy fix
5. Ban [REDACTED 2]
For future reference, it's very easy for Trike to look at who downvoted someone's account, so if you get questions about downvoting in the future I can run the same report.
If you need to verify my identity before you take action, let me know and we'll work something out.
-- Jack
So... thoughts? I have mod powers, but when I was granted them I was basically just told to use them to fight spam; there was never any discussion of any other policy, and I don't feel like I have the authority to decide on the suitable course of action without consulting the rest of the community.
No rule prohibits burning down the servers that LW runs on. It's just that certain standards of behaviour are expected, here as anywhere else, and when rules are made, it is in order to clarify things where that is thought necessary.
Mass downvoting by one individual against another has emerged as a questionable phenomenon. Proof of its questionability: it is being questioned. Also, no-one has owned up to doing it, no-one has defended it, and if the motivation were concern for the good of LessWrong, the targets seem oddly chosen for that.
BTW, I was once the target of a bulk downvote. I had around 400 karma at the time and dropped 40. I thought, hahahahahahahahahaha! A dog barked; the caravan moved on. But the current practitioners appear to be operating on a larger scale.
Voting is anonymous, in that your votes are not published to anyone else. That there is a database recording every vote that everyone has ever cast is obvious. How does the site ensure you only get one vote on each comment? How does it show you your own votes? Because it knows.
That such a database, given that it exists, will be examined in sufficiently egregious cases, is also obvious. However, I have not yet seen any instance of personal voting information being made public.