Top

On 2022, Tuesday, July 19th, upon starting my computer, I found that my main account had been flagged. It retained functionality, except for images not rendering (but none of the files being corrupted) and my entire account being hidden from public view. I have sent a repeal on 2022, July 19th, but as of 7:15 pm PST on 2022, Saturday, July 30th, I have received no response.

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this image (appeal message 1)

On 2022 July 22nd, I sent another appeal message, as the previous email I used was incorrect. I won't put the image here, as it is pretty much the same, but here is the message sent image:

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this image (message sent response)

Days flagged

This is a set of tables for the days of this year where I was flagged, and when I wasn't flagged.

Click/tap here to expand/collapse all tables

Days flagged in 2022

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table

Date	Flagged?

Days flagged in 2022 January

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 January, 6 months before the flag)

2022 January (month -5)	Flagged?
2022, Saturday, January 1st	❌
2022, Sunday, January 2nd	❌
2022, Monday, January 3rd	❌
2022, Tuesday, January 4th	❌
2022, Wednesday, January 5th	❌
2022, Thursday, January 6th	❌
2022, Friday, January 7th	❌
2022, Saturday, January 8th	❌
2022, Sunday, January 9th	❌
2022, Monday, January 10th	❌
2022, Tuesday, January 11th	❌
2022, Wednesday, January 12th	❌
2022, Thursday, January 13th	❌
2022, Friday, January 14th	❌
2022, Saturday, January 15th	❌
2022, Sunday, January 16th	❌
2022, Monday, January 17th	❌
2022, Tuesday, January 18th	❌
2022, Wednesday, January 19th	❌
2022, Thursday, January 20th	❌
2022, Friay, January 21st	❌
2022, Saturday, January 22nd	❌
2022, Sunday, January 23rd	❌
2022, Monday, January 24th	❌
2022, Tuesday, January 25th	❌
2022, Wednesday, January 26th	❌
2022, Thursday, January 27th	❌
2022, Friday, January 28th	❌
2022, Saturday, January 29th	❌
2022, Sunday, January 30th	❌
2022, Monday, January 31st	❌

Days flagged in 2022 February

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 February, 5 months before the flag)

2022 February (month -4)	Flagged?
2022, Tuesday, February 1st	❌
2022, Wednesday, February 2nd	❌
2022, Thursday, February 3rd	❌
2022, Friday, February 4th	❌
2022, Saturday, February 5th	❌
2022, Sunday, February 6th	❌
2022, Monday, February 7th	❌
2022, Tuesday, February 8th	❌
2022, Wednesday, February 9th	❌
2022, Thursday, February 10th	❌
2022, Friday, February 11th	❌
2022, Saturday, February 12th	❌
2022, Sunday, February 13th	❌
2022, Monday, February 14th	❌
2022, Tuesday, February 15th	❌
2022, Wednesday, February 16th	❌
2022, Thursday, February 17th	❌
2022, Friday, February 18th	❌
2022, Saturday, February 19th	❌
2022, Sunday, February 20th	❌
2022, Monday, February 21st	❌
2022, Tuesday, February 22nd	❌
2022, Wednesday, February 23rd	❌
2022, Thursday, February 24th	❌
2022, Friday, February 25th	❌
2022, Saturday, February 26th	❌
2022, Sunday, February 27th	❌
2022, Monday, February 28th	❌

Days flagged in 2022 March

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 March, 4 months before the flag)

2022 March (month -3)	Flagged?
2022, Tuesday, March 1st	❌
2022, Wednesday, March 2nd	❌
2022, Thursday, March 3rd	❌
2022, Friday, March 4th	❌
2022, Saturday, March 5th	❌
2022, Sunday, March 6th	❌
2022, Monday, March 7th	❌
2022, Tuesday, March 8th	❌
2022, Wednesday, March 9th	❌
2022, Thursday, March 10th	❌
2022, Friday, March 11th	❌
2022, Saturday, March 12th	❌
2022, Sunday, March 13th	❌
2022, Monday, March 14th	❌
2022, Tuesday, March 15th	❌
2022, Wednesday, March 16th	❌
2022, Thursday, March 17th	❌
2022, Friday, March 18th	❌
2022, Saturday, March 19th	❌
2022, Sunday, March 20th	❌
2022, Monday, March 21st	❌
2022, Tuesday, March 22nd	❌
2022, Wednesday, March 23rd	❌
2022, Thursday, March 24th	❌
2022, Friday, March 25th	❌
2022, Saturday, March 26th	❌
2022, Sunday, March 27th	❌
2022, Monday, March 28th	❌
2022, Tuesday, March 29th	❌
2022, Wednesday, March 30th	❌
2022, Thursday, March 31st	❌

Days flagged in 2022 April

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 April, 3 months before the flag)

2022 April (month -2)	Flagged?
2022, Friday, April 1st	❌
2022, Saturday, April 2nd	❌
2022, Sunday, April 3rd	❌
2022, Monday, April 4th	❌
2022, Tuesday, April 5th	❌
2022, Wednesday, April 6th	❌
2022, Thursday, April 7th	❌
2022, Friday, April 8th	❌
2022, Saturday, April 9th	❌
2022, Sunday, April 10th	❌
2022, Monday, April 11th	❌
2022, Tuesday, April 12th	❌
2022, Wednesday, April 13th	❌
2022, Thursday, April 14th	❌
2022, Friday, April 15th	❌
2022, Saturday, April 16th	❌
2022, Sunday, April 17th	❌
2022, Monday, April 18th	❌
2022, Tuesday, April 19th	❌
2022, Wednesday, April 20th	❌
2022, Thursday, April 21st	❌
2022, Friday, April 22nd	❌
2022, Saturday, April 23rd	❌
2022, Sunday, April 24th	❌
2022, Monday, April 25th	❌
2022, Tuesday, April 26th	❌
2022, Wednesday, April 27th	❌
2022, Thursday, April 28th	❌
2022, Friday, April 29th	❌
2022, Saturday, April 30th	❌

Days flagged in 2022 May

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 May, 2 months before the flag)

2022 May (month -1)	Flagged?
2022, Sunday, May 1st	❌
2022, Monday, May 2nd	❌
2022, Tuesday, May 3rd	❌
2022, Wednesday, May 4th	❌
2022, Thursday, May 5th	❌
2022, Friday, May 6th	❌
2022, Saturday, May 7th	❌
2022, Sunday, May 8th	❌
2022, Monday, May 9th	❌
2022, Tuesday, May 10th	❌
2022, Wednesday, May 11th	❌
2022, Thursday, May 12th	❌
2022, Friday, May 13th	❌
2022, Saturday, May 14th	❌
2022, Sunday, May 15th	❌
2022, Monday, May 16th	❌
2022, Tuesday, May 17th	❌
2022, Wednesday, May 18th	❌
2022, Thursday, May 19th	❌
2022, Friday, May 20th	❌
2022, Saturday, May 21st	❌
2022, Sunday, May 22nd	❌
2022, Monday, May 23rd	❌
2022, Tuesday, May 24th	❌
2022, Wednesday, May 25th	❌
2022, Thursday, May 26th	❌
2022, Friday, May 27th	❌
2022, Saturday, May 28th	❌
2022, Sunday, May 29th	❌
2022, Monday, May 30th	❌
2022, Tuesday, May 31st	❌

Days flagged in 2022 June

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 June, 1 month before the flag)

2022 June (month 0)	Flagged?
2022, Wednesday, June 1st	❌
2022, Thursday, June 2nd	❌
2022, Friday, June 3rd	❌
2022, Saturday, June 4th	❌
2022, Sunday, June 5th	❌
2022, Monday, June 6th	❌
2022, Tuesday, June 7th	❌
2022, Wednesday, June 8th	❌
2022, Thursday, June 9th	❌
2022, Friday, June 10th	❌
2022, Saturday, June 11th	❌
2022, Sunday, June 12th	❌
2022, Monday, June 13th	❌
2022, Tuesday, June 14th	❌
2022, Wednesday, June 15th	❌
2022, Thursday, June 16th	❌
2022, Friday, June 17th	❌
2022, Saturday, June 18th	❌
2022, Sunday, June 19th	❌
2022, Monday, June 20th	❌
2022, Tuesday, June 21st	❌
2022, Wednesday, June 22nd	❌
2022, Thursday, June 23rd	❌
2022, Friday, June 24th	❌
2022, Saturday, June 25th	❌
2022, Sunday, June 26th	❌
2022, Monday, June 27th	❌
2022, Tuesday, June 28th	❌
2022, Wednesday, June 29th	❌
2022, Thursday, June 30th	❌

Days flagged in 2022 July

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022 July, start of suspension/flag)

2022 July (Month 1)	Flagged?
2022, Friday, July 1st	❌
2022, Saturday, July 2nd	❌
2022, Sunday, July 3rd	❌
2022, Monday, July 4th	❌
2022, Tuesday, July 5th	❌
2022, Wednesday, July 6th	❌
2022, Thursday, July 7th	❌
2022, Friday, July 8th	❌
2022, Saturday, July 9th	❌
2022, Sunday, July 10th	❌
2022, Monday, July 11th	❌
2022, Tuesday, July 12th	❌
2022, Wednesday, July 13th	❌
2022, Thursday, July 14th	❌
2022, Friday, July 15th	❌
2022, Saturday, July 16th	❌
2022, Sunday, July 17th	❌
2022, Monday, July 18th	❌
2022, Tuesday, July 19th (day 1)	✔️
2022, Wednesday, July 20th (day 2)	✔️
2022, Thursday, July 21st (day 3)	✔️
2022, Friday, July 22nd (day 4)	✔️
2022, Saturday, July 23rd (day 5)	✔️
2022, Sunday, July 24th (day 6)	✔️
2022, Monday, July 25th (day 7)	✔️
2022, Tuesday, July 26th (day 8)	✔️
2022, Wednesday, July 27th (day 9)	✔️
2022, Thursday, July 28th (day 10)	✔️
2022, Friday, July 29th (day 11)	✔️
2022, Saturday, July 30th (day 12)	✔️
2022, Sunday, July 31st (day 13)	✔️

Days flagged in 2022 August

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this table (2022, August)

2022 August (Month 2)	Flagged?
2022, Monday, August 1st	TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 2nd	TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 3rd	TBD
2022, Thursday, August 4th	TBD
2022, Friday, August 5th	TBD
2022, Saturday, August 6th	TBD
2022, Sunday, August 7th	TBD
2022, Monday, August 8th	TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 9th	TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 10th	TBD
2022, Thursday, August 11th	TBD
2022, Friday, August 12th	TBD
2022, Saturday, August 13th	TBD
2022, Sunday, August 14th	TBD
2022, Monday, August 15th	TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 16th	TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 17th	TBD
2022, Thursday, August 18th	TBD
2022, Friday, August 19th	TBD
2022, Saturday, August 20th	TBD
2022, Sunday, August 21st	TBD
2022, Monday, August 22nd	TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 23rd	TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 24th	TBD
2022, Thursday, August 25th	TBD
2022, Friday, August 26th	TBD
2022, Saturday, August 27th	TBD
2022, Sunday, August 28th	TBD
2022, Monday, August 29th	TBD
2022, Tuesday, August 30th	TBD
2022, Wednesday, August 31st	TBD

Usage of alt account

I was advised to make a message via my alt account. I have been hesitant to do so, as I fear it could get unfairly blocked as well. I am not attempting to circumvent the block, I just needed to message my followers what has happened.

I have plans for after my main account is unflagged, to fork important projects from my main account to my alt account, so that people won't lose all access when this happens. I have already started doing common forks from my alt account, but the main part requires my main account to be up and running first.

Alt account discovery

It might be related to the flag on my main account, but my first and main GitHub organization was also flagged.

Screenshot 1	Screenshot 2

Stress

I have been under significant stress during this time period. Things are being delayed, and my future is uncertain. There are many examples of people cloning/forking my repositories, but my official projects are not publicly available at the moment. It has been extremely stressful for me. On 2022 July 22nd, I reached a bad milestone: I had never been so stressed in my life until that day, and my morale was the lowest it had ever been.

Follows during suspension

Additionally, I have received followers while my account was blocked, which I find odd.

Original follower count at start of flag/suspension	Gaining a follower during flag/suspension

On 2022, Sunday, July 31st, someone unfollowed me. I am not sure how they are able to access my profile to do this.

Odd restrictions

I am restricted from searching repository source code by language while logged in, but if I log out/go into private browsing mode, it works just fine.

Spammy

Upon going to any of my issues or pull requests, I noticed that a label Spammy is applied to all my posts. This is additionally what it says:

GitHub customer support

GitHub customer support has been exceedingly poor. The contact form is taking a very long time, I am not being told why I was flagged, I can't email GitHub (they just blocked my email address when I tried) the forum appears to be moving to GitHub discussions (which will just make it impossible for people with this problem to reach out) and I have not been able to interact with an actual person (not even a bot)

Reddit post

The Reddit post didn't go as planned. I was met with downvotes, then a snarky reply, then the post was silent until around 1:00 am, when positive posts started coming in. From what I am hearing, it is very possible to get an immediate flag after being reviewed, and that GitHubs spam detection system is having severe problems. I was given the hopeful message "they will get to you eventually" and I was again told the importance of keeping a local server, which is additional support for the idea. Although I have already been starting to become aware of how important a personal server is, this user is now the 3rd person besides me to validate it, increasing the chances that I might actually be able to get one.

I will not leave images of the Reddit post here. The link is down below in the sources.

Negative impact

The flag has had a highly negative impact on my life and my future. Several opportunities have been missed, and most of my work is now hidden, with other unofficial reproductions now being the only source, most of them are incomplete and infringing.

Thousands of projects have been affected by this. Additionally, contributions to other repositories are now no longer crediting me, and I have missed out on a lot of people discovering my projects.

Inability to use third party programs

I tried to migrate to GitLab in the meantime, and GitHub finally gave me the reason why my account was flagged:

Discussions locked

I have recently noted on 2022 July 26th that any discussion I currently have or make is automatically locked.

Codespaces workaround

I can still view image files sparsely by switching over to codespaces (shortcut: .) but not all images load here. It is better than GitHub, where none currently load.

Upload functionality diminishing

Starting on 2022 July 26th, drag and drop upload functionality has a new flaw, it is likely unrelated to the flag. Now each time I go to upload, the drag and drop is denied, and the black GitHub favicon is shown, instead of the white one. I then have to re-drop the files to upload them. This doesn't apply if I upload indirectly (clicking the upload button, rather than just dragging and dropping onto the repository when it isn't in upload mode)

Attempting to continue normally

Despite the account not being visible publicly, and several things being broken, I have continued to work somewhat normally. I can't let it derail all my progress. During the first 3 days of the flag, I did image file uploads in full, but as of 2022 July 22nd, I have finally made the decision to stop Git-image part A work, but still do Git-image part B work. I have also been rethinking how I will operate after this is over.

What was done and what should have been done

What GitHub did

GitHub flagged my account and restricted personal view of my own content for both me and others (and also did unnecessary restrictions that can be circumvented by logging out/browsing in private browsing mode)
GitHub let a machine be the sole judge of the decision and didn't bother to have a human check first
GitHub gave virtually no information on why I was flagged
Despite giving no response for 8 days and counting, the decision was not reversed
No error logs were made
GitHub shut down their forum a few days later, and moved it to GitHub discussions, making it impossible for flagged users to communicate their problem directly
GitHub did little to give users a voice, and made it harder by not listening

What I would do differently

I have learned a lot about what not to do when flagging/blocking/suspending a user from a platform, and I came up with some guidelines last night (2022, Sunday, July 24th, draft V2):

Running an online service

Avoiding GitHubs 2022 July 19th mistake

Basic guidelines

If a user is flagged/blocked/suspended, they will still be able to access all content in their account (same as GitHub)
A user will be reviewed by a machine first. They will not be blocked yet. A human will then review
If/when a problem is detected, a detailed error log will be given

If no response is given from the appeal within 12 hours, the user will automatically be unblocked, their content will be publicly reinstated, and the user will be granted immunity for a set amount of time.
Logs will be kept privately by default, and the user has the choice to cite it if needed for their followers
There will always be a forum that doesn't require an account to be unsuspended to use (even an account terminated from the service can still use the forum, albeit with some limitations that won't prevent them from reporting their problem)
There will be a strong user voice, where the user can make their voice heard

Additional notes

These rules and guidelines come from a bad personal experience I (@seanpm2001) had with GitHub on 2022 July 19th. I have learned a lot about how NOT to run a service. I feel these 7 rules will be more fair to the user and the community as a whole. Revisions are allowed, but cannot be determimental to the existing rules, features, and functionality.

These rules were made during my first flag/suspension from GitHub, which as of writing this (2022, Monday, July 25th at 12:00 am) is still ongoing. I have extensively researched the issue, and hope to have corrected all flaws with this process, but there might be more, so this is still just a draft.

GitHub pro

It has been decided that when I get my account back, I will pay the $7.00/month ($84.00/year) for GitHub Pro. This way, I can get better support, and also have the Pro label.

Microsoft

I have become openly critical of Microsoft and GitHub for the first time. This has stemmed from this issue, and the failures that have happened.

Conclusion

No conclusion is available, as this is still an ongoing issue.

Aftermath

Aftermath is unavailable, as this is still an ongoing issue.

Sources

Forum is moving

https://github.community/t/the-community-is-moving/261602/

On 2022, July 25th, I archived the questions I deemed important from the GitHub forum, as it appears to be closing down soon. I might re-upload the data here.

File info

Click/tap here to expand/collapse this section

File type: Markdown (*.md *.mkd *.mdown *.markdown)

File version: 13 (2022, Sunday, July 31st at 4:00 pm PST)

Line count (including blank lines and compiler line): 938

Current article language: English (EN_USA) / Markdown (CommonMark) / HTML5 (HyperText Markup Language 5.3)

Encoding: UTF-8 (Emoji 12.0 or higher recommended)

All times are UTC-7 (PDT/Pacific Time) (Please also account for DST (Daylight Savings Time) for older/newer entries up until it is abolished/no longer followed)

Note that on 2022, Sunday, March 13th at 2:00 am PST, the time jumped ahead 1 hour to 3:00 am.

You may need special rendering support for the <details> HTML tag being used in this document

File history

Click/tap here to expand/collapse the file history section for this project

Version 1 (2022, Thursday, July 21st at 8:32 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Started the file
Added the description section
No other changes in version 1

Version 2 (2022, Thursday, July 21st at 8:32 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Added the context section
Added the usage of alt account section
Added the stress section
Added the GitHub customer support section
Added the sources section
No other changes in version 2

Version 3 (2022, Friday, July 22nd at 3:10 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Referenced several image files
Updated the context section
Updated the usage of alt account section
- Added the Alt account discovery subsection
Updated the stress section
Added the odd restrictions section
Updated the GitHub customer support section
Added the spammy section
Updated the sources section
- Added the Other people dealing with the same problem subsection
- Added the related problems subsection
- Added the forum is moving subsection
- Added the contact link subsection
- Added the GitHub email address (bot) subsection
Added the file info section
Added the file history section
No other changes in version 3

Version 3 (2022, Friday, July 22nd at 3:10 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Referenced several image files
Updated the context section
Updated the usage of alt account section
- Added the Alt account discovery subsection
Updated the stress section
Added the odd restrictions section
Updated the GitHub customer support section
Added the spammy section
Updated the sources section
- Added the Other people dealing with the same problem subsection
- Added the related problems subsection
- Added the forum is moving subsection
- Added the contact link subsection
- Added the GitHub email address (bot) subsection
Added the file info section
Added the file history section
No other changes in version 3

Version 4 (2022, Saturday, July 23rd at 4:46 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Referenced some new image files
Updated the context section
Added the Negative impact section
Added the Inability to use third party programs section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 4

Version 5 (2022, Saturday, July 23rd at 9:00 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Referenced some new image files
Updated the stress section
Added the Attempting to continue normally section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 5

Version 6 (2022, Sunday, July 24th at 4:40 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Updated the context section
Updated the usage of alt account section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 6

Version 7 (2022, Monday, July 25th at 5:00 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Updated the context section
Added the What I would do differently section
Added the GitHub Pro section
Updated the Forum is moving section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 7

Version 8 (2022, Tuesday, July 26th at 6:47 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Updated the context section
Added the What GitHub did section
Added the Conclusion section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 8

Version 9 (2022, Wednesday, July 27th at 6:47 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Updated the context section
Separated the What GitHub did and what I would do differently sections into the what was done, and what should have been done section
Added the GitHub codespaces workaround section
Added the upload functionality diminishing section
Added the Reddit post subsection into the sources section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 9

Version 10 (2022, Thursday, July 28th at 7:00 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Updated the context section
Added the discussions locked section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 10

Version 11 (2022, Friday, July 29th at 1:58 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Updated the context section
Updated the Reddit post:source subsection
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 11

Version 12 (2022, Saturday, July 30th at 7:15 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Updated the context section
Updated the Reddit post:source subsection
Added the Reddit post section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
No other changes in version 12

Version 13 (2022, Sunday, July 31st at 4:00 pm PST)

This version was made by: @seanwallawalla

Updated the context section
Updated the stress section
Added the days flagged section
- Added a 2022 January table
- Added a 2022 February table
- Added a 2022 March table
- Added a 2022 April table
- Added a 2022 May table
- Added a 2022 June table
- Updated a 2022 July table
- Updated a 2022 August table
Added the follows during suspension section
Added the index section
Updated the GitHub email address (bot) section
Updated the what was done and what could have been done differently section
Updated the file info section
Updated the file history section
Added the footer
No other changes in version 13

Footer

You have reached the end of this file.

Files

README_V13.md

Latest commit

History

README_V13.md

File metadata and controls

Top

Seanpm2001_GitHub-Account-Flagged-2022July19th

Context

Days flagged

Days flagged in 2022

Days flagged in 2022 January

Days flagged in 2022 February

Days flagged in 2022 March

Days flagged in 2022 April

Days flagged in 2022 May

Days flagged in 2022 June

Days flagged in 2022 July

Days flagged in 2022 August

Usage of alt account

Alt account discovery

Stress

Follows during suspension

Odd restrictions

Spammy

GitHub customer support

Reddit post

Negative impact

Inability to use third party programs

Discussions locked

Codespaces workaround

Upload functionality diminishing

Attempting to continue normally

What was done and what should have been done

What GitHub did

What I would do differently

Running an online service

Avoiding GitHubs 2022 July 19th mistake

Basic guidelines

Additional notes

GitHub pro

Microsoft

Conclusion

Aftermath

Sources

Other people dealing with the same problem

Related problems

Forum is moving

Reddit post

The contact link

GitHub email address

File info

File history

Footer