In 2011, you suspended the account of one Rachel Marone for having a stalker. Not for stalking anyone, not for breaking any rules, but for being a victim. You proceeded to inform her that if there is a chance that she is still being stalked, she cannot fund any projects with you, because it creates spam. Given that her stalker has persisted with his harassment for over a decade, he is likely to continue to do so.

As an online community, it is your responsibility to insure not only fair treatment, but also the safety of your members. Punishing someone for being a victim is twisted in too many ways to enumerate in full, but in short, you are not only punishing the innocent and engaging in some vile and heinous victim-blaming, but you are also empowering stalkers and other predators by condoning their actions; after all, it wasn't the stalker who was punished, it was his victim.

We demand that you apologize to Ms. Marone for your gross victim-blaming, re-instate any projects she has been attempting to fund through you, and take a proactive stance against online harassment; be it by instituting a comment or profile approval process, allowing disabling of comments on projects, banning users who engage in harassment [rather than those who are the victims of it], or banning IP addresses of persistently problematic users.

We recognize that spam is an inconvenience to you, but to prioritize the convenience of a company over the rights of an individual is shockingly crass and inappropriate. Victims deserve sympathy, protection, and trust, not to be held responsible for the actions of those working to intimidate and harass them.

Thank you for your time,
People against harassment and victim-blaming