Don’t believe everything you hear about Ello, the ad-free social network that is currently enjoying its fifteen minutes of fame. While its production team struggles to keep the servers online, misinformation is spreading fast and loose.
See also: What The Ell Is Ello? The Ad-Free Social Network Everyone’s Talking About
The latest hoax came in the form of a Twitter screenshot, in which a user named @tinybaby claimed he’d been banned from Ello for using the hashtag “#GamerGate.”
#GamerGate refers to a month-long rash of infighting among video game players which deals with the way women in the sphere are treated. As some gamers rush to defend women and others to disparage them, misogyny and hate speech abound.
https://twitter.com/papierhache/status/515261505135448064
Ello co-founder Todd Berger confirmed the screenshot was a fake, and that the only people Ello has banned so far have been celebrity and business impersonators.
“We don’t even have the capacity to send an email when we ban someone’s account yet,” he told Betabeat.
However, that’s not to say discussions of #GamerGate won’t eventually be bannable offenses on Ello someday. According to a post in Ello’s WTF section—a lighthearted term for its Q&A—Ello does take hate speech very seriously.
“Ello has a zero-tolerance policy for abusive behavior. This includes any form of hate, trolling, stalking, spamming, flaming, impersonating others, harming children, pornography, or any other behavior designed to hurt another person physically or emotionally.”
Called out on his hoax, @tinybaby has only this to say:
@JackSmithIV No, no, here's my comment. Just got the copy from my publicist: Blow it out your ass nerd
— tinybaby (@tinybaby) September 26, 2014
Photo by Analea Styles
