Comment 928078492 on TOS Spotlight: Harassment | Archive of Our Own

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Comment on TOS Spotlight: Harassment

AO3_Policy_and_Abuse (Official) Sat 14 Jun 2025 10:06PM UTC

In general, we consider blocking someone to be a request that the blocked user cease any attempts to directly interact with or solicit a response from them. Examples include commenting on someone's work or gifting someone a work. Both of these actions will typically generate an automatic email notification to the recipient, and are therefore considered to be an attempt at direct interaction with that person.
Creating a fanwork inspired by another person or their work is not harassment in and of itself. Depending on the circumstances, it may be appropriate and/or polite to credit the source of inspiration for such a work. However, if a user has previously requested that you cease all direct interaction with them, then gifting them your work, commenting on one of their works with a link to your new work, or using AO3's native Inspired By feature (which prompts them to approve your new work as a related work and link back to your work on their own work) would be considered an attempt at direct interaction and may result in a judgment of harassment.

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1. nonbinarywitch Sun 15 Jun 2025 03:33AM UTC
  
  “blocking someone to be a request that the blocked user cease any attempts to directly interact” – this makes sense, but will it be obvious if you’ve been blocked so as not to accidentally break that rule? I’ve never seen any indication of being blocked but I wouldn’t really know what to look for.
  (I assume that rule is just about the block button, not site skin blocking.)
  
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2. 1. AO3_Policy_and_Abuse (Official) Sun 15 Jun 2025 06:26AM UTC
    
    If you've been blocked by someone, you aren't able to comment on their works or reply to their comments. If you attempt to comment on their works, you'll be notified that you are blocked.
    When we refer to "blocking" we only mean the site block button. "Muting" someone with a site skin or with the mute button are different features. A user who has been muted has no way to know that they have been muted, and they are not required to refrain from direct interaction with the person who muted them (unless they have also been blocked).
    
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