Article 72214 is misleading

In the World of Warcraft Customer Support Forum, players frequently put forth the notion that they were silenced or suspended for chat violations due to mass-reporting which triggers an automated account action. However, the moderators in the WoW CS forum have told us that all those reports are reviewed and, if the alleged violation is verified by a GM, then (and only then) a penalty is applied. Unfortunately, that message doesn’t seem to be sticking with a large segment of the playerbase.

I think part of the problem is the language in Blizzard’s own support article 72214 entitled “Account Silenced.” The first sentence of that article says, “We silence your account if you are reported multiple times for Spam or Abusive Chat.” People are interpreting that to mean that the multiple reports (automatically) trigger the silence.

And the last sentence in the article says, “The number of abusive chat reports necessary to penalize your account remains the same, regardless of past penalties.” This serves to reinforce the (mis)perception that a predetermined number of reports are directly triggering the penalty rather than the reports triggering a GM review.

I think this article may be contributing to the misunderstanding many players have regarding how the social penalty system works. Perhaps this article would be better written to clarify that account actions for social infractions (chat, advertisements, etc.) are implemented after player generated reports have been reviewed and verified by the GM staff.

#dfmb

EDIT:
Article 72214 appears to have been updated on 10/25/24, but still conveys the same information that contradicts what WoW CS Forum moderators have stated about account silences for chat violations. Please review it once more to ensure the information presented is current and accurate.