Fanfiction.net staff have failed to clamp down on bots and other scammers on the site. These bots/scammers leave fake reviews, pretending to compliment an author's work. Then comes the sales pitch for art services, such as creating a comic. They also harass legitimate users with private messages. 

Such users have profiles with no bio, and only stories in their favourites. This would not be a problem by itself, as many legitimate fanfiction.net users have profiles to collect their favourite stories. But the fake profiles often have 500 stories in favourites. When you click on the reviews of those stories, you find that they have left spam reviews for those authors. Oftentimes, they leave the same review on multiple stories. Many of the fake accounts joined very recently, too. They often have no bio-- not a problem by itself, but when combined with spam activity, it becomes clear that the account was only created to harass and defraud authors. 

The scammers leave the same reviews on multiple stories. These reviews are hyperbolic, most probably "written" by AI. It is embarrassingly obvious that the fake profiles have not read a single sentence of the story, which makes their "compliments" insulting as well as nauseating. 

Numerous fanfiction.net users on the site forums, Reddit, and Tumblr have complained for several months now. Last year, fanfiction.net devised an algorithm to weed out spam private messages, but dropped this when users complained that said algorithm was nixing legitimate messages. Since then, the site has totally failed to update fanfiction.net users about future steps. No updates on the front page. No messages on X, despite countless users replying to FictionPress' tweets, demanding a solution. 

Many fanfiction.net users report that the site administrators have a long history of being unresponsive to complaints. Multiple reports of spam activity fall upon deaf ears, it seems. Site admin, despite providing an email where you can send reports, do not reply to the vast majority of messages. This means the reporting of abuse looks like a useless option. Other sites respond to abuse reports! Likewise, you can report fake reviews. Yet those fake reviews aren't removed. Another waste of time. Users have now had to shoulder the role of moderator to make up for the perceived inaction of fanfiction.net staff. They do this by reporting any account that sends spam reviews, so that other users can block them. 

This is not their job. Site admin should be handling this!

Other writers are voting with their feet. Many have complained about fanfiction.net on Tumblr, Reddit, on the site itself, and no doubt elsewhere. Many writers tout Archive of Our Own as a far better platform, not least because site admin are responsive and spam reviews are quickly deleted.

Ff.net's failure to update users since the failed algorithm of 2024 is unacceptable. Inaction only enables the spam! Without authors, there is no site. If some staff cannot be bothered to fix the problem, then they need to get another job. If FictionPress, which has a BuyMeACoffee page, is serious about keeping this archive online, then now is the time to act.  Posts on the site forums about scammers go on for thousands of pages, yet not a word from the site. Where are the staff? What are they doing? Are they aware people are getting fed up and leaving, due to repeated inaction?

We demand the following steps be taken immediately:

1. Public acknowledgement on the site about fake reviews as well as harassing private messages, as well as on X
2. Give authors the right to delete any kind of review: this is the most effective solution that takes the least amount of disruption and cost to implement. Once scammers see their fake reviews disappearing and hear no answers to their scummy private messages, they will be powerless. Right now, they have the power because fanfiction.net isn't preventing them from starting an account, and site admins aren't getting rid of them! Other fanfiction sites like A03 permit users to delete comments. This is a basic function. Fanfiction.net users have been demanding this since 2008, and no action has been taken by fanfiction.net staff. This total disregard for the people that make this site active is an embarrassment. Do staff care how this makes them look?
3. Respond promptly to site reports about scammers, especially by answering the site forums and banning users caught spamming authors
4. Propose a long-term solution to rid the site of spammers

Fanfiction.net staff need only look at the site's reputation online to see how people take their inaction and silence. 

There is no excuse, not even the cost complaint. A03 is a non-profit and regularly holds donation runs. FictionPress has a BuyMeACoffee account to reduce reliance upon advertising. Were the site staff to show determination and become more responsive to the authors that keep them in employment, they would be rewarded with more engagment and support. 

Right now, people accuse fanfiction.net of being a lost cause, and a site that will soon die. 

Is this what staff want? 

It's time for action. 

Sign and share this petition if you agree.