🌈 What to Do If You’re Being Harassed Online

💜 First: criticism and harassment are different

Someone saying “I don’t like generative AI.” is not harassment. Someone disagreeing with AI companionship is not automatically harassment either.

People are allowed to dislike AI, criticise it, question it, argue about it, or think our corner of the internet is deeply weird. Frankly, we already know we’re weird. That’s not the problem.

The problem is when disagreement becomes targeting. Things worth documenting may include:

• repeatedly following you into unrelated threads;
• repeatedly contacting you after you have asked someone to stop;
• hostile or abusive DMs;
• attempts to intimidate you out of participating;
• a group of people descending on your profile or posts;
• repeatedly reposting your content in order to direct attention toward you;
• encouraging other people to contact or interfere with you;
• discriminatory abuse;
• threats;
• sharing identifying or private information;
• ban evasion or returning through alternate accounts;
• coordinated attempts to interfere with a community you participate in.

Reddit’s sitewide harassment rule covers bullying, intimidation and abuse of individuals or groups when it discourages them from participating on Reddit. Reddit recommends reporting the specific post, comment, or chat message involved.

📸 Step 1: keep the receipts

Before replying, blocking, deleting anything, or closing the app, preserve what happened. Whenever possible, save:

• the direct Reddit link;
• the username;
• screenshots;
• the date;
• approximately what time it happened;
• links to any related posts or comments.

Direct links are especially useful. If someone made a hostile post and three accounts then appeared in your profile, save links to both the original post and what happened afterwards. That connection may matter.

Do not turn yourself into a private investigator, though. You only need to document what is happening to you. You do not need to trawl through someone’s entire posting history looking for evidence that they are a terrible person.

🚫 Step 2: you don’t have to fight them

This one is important. Harassment often survives because it creates a reaction loop:

They provoke → you respond → they screenshot the response → more people arrive → everyone gets angrier.

You are allowed to exit that loop immediately. You can simply stop responding. That does not mean they won — it means they no longer get unrestricted access to your attention.

And please don’t summon friends to fight the argument for you. Rainbow Circuits does not organise dogpiles, counter-brigades, voting campaigns, or raids against other Reddit communities. Reddit prohibits coordinated voting and other deliberate interference with communities.

Protecting yourself is good. Starting another pile-on usually just creates two pile-ons.

🚩 Step 3: report the actual behaviour

If something appears to violate Reddit’s rules, report the specific content involved. That might mean reporting:

• a comment;
• a post;
• a chat message;
• threatening content;
• harassment;
• hate;
• private information;
• another relevant sitewide violation.

Do not report someone simply because they are anti-AI. Reports are much stronger when they describe behaviour Reddit actually prohibits. Reddit specifically recommends reporting the individual post, comment, or chat message when someone is being harassed. If there are several separate violations, preserve each relevant link.

🧱 Step 4: block freely

Blocking is not dramatic. It is a button. Use it.

On Reddit’s current blocking system, an account you block generally cannot access your profile, see or reply to your community posts and comments, or directly message/chat with you. Reddit also hides their content from your feeds.

On Android and iOS, you can currently block someone by:

Profile → ⋮ menu → Block account

You can also manage blocked accounts through your Reddit safety settings. One useful order is:

Save → Report → Block

That way you have preserved the evidence you need before cutting off contact.

🔐 Step 5: check what your profile reveals

If you suddenly receive unwanted attention, have a quick look at your Reddit profile as though you were a stranger. Ask: what could someone learn about me from this? Look for things like:

• your real name;
• workplace;
• school or university;
• precise location;
• personal social media usernames;
• identifiable photographs;
• email addresses;
• Discord usernames;
• repeated location information;
• photos containing addresses, workplaces, number plates, documents, badges, or identifying details.

You do not need to erase your personality from the internet. Just be aware of what a hostile stranger could connect together.

Also check screenshots before posting them. Tiny notifications, profile pictures and account names hiding in corners have betrayed many an innocent screenshot. 😭

🌈 Step 6: tell the Rainbow Circuits mods

If you are an RC member and the harassment is connected to:

• your AI use;
• your AI companion;
• RC;
• something you posted through the community;
• anti-AI targeting;
• another RC member;
• or activity that appears to be affecting multiple members;

please tell us. You are not bothering us. Send us whatever you have:

• links;
• screenshots;
• usernames;
• a short explanation of what happened.

You do not need to prepare a legal brief. Something as simple as “this post was made about me, and afterwards these two accounts started following me into other threads” is enough for us to start looking.

The moderation team can then record the incident alongside other reports. One isolated incident may look small. Ten connected incidents can reveal a very different picture.

🔗 Step 7: tell us if people are following you across Reddit

This is particularly important. Please let the mods know if you notice a pattern like:

• Someone posts about you → people from that discussion appear elsewhere on your profile.
• You argue with someone → they begin following you into unrelated communities.
• Several accounts suddenly begin contacting you after another subreddit discusses you.

Reddit’s Moderator Code of Conduct says communities must not be used to direct, coordinate, or encourage interference in other communities or to target redditors for harassment. One random troll and organised interference are not the same thing. Patterns help us tell the difference.

⚠️ If someone threatens you or shares private information

Treat threats, doxxing, or attempts to expose your identity more seriously than ordinary trolling. Preserve:

• the exact content;
• direct URLs;
• screenshots;
• usernames;
• dates and times;
• any related messages.

Report the content through Reddit immediately. Then contact the RC moderation team if you are comfortable doing so.

If there is a credible real-world threat, consider contacting the appropriate real-world service or authority rather than treating it only as a subreddit moderation issue. You do not need to confront the person first.

👥 What if they’re mocking me somewhere else?

This is one of the hardest situations, because sometimes people are talking about you without directly contacting you. Being mocked sucks. But our response still depends on what is actually happening.

If people are simply criticising or laughing at something you publicly posted, there may not be anything actionable under Reddit’s rules. If that discussion starts producing:

• people following you elsewhere;
• hostile messages;
• intimidation;
• discriminatory abuse;
• coordinated interference;
• repeated targeting;

that is different. Document what crosses the line rather than fighting the entire subreddit.

🧠 You are allowed to stop looking

Once you know there is a hostile thread about you, there can be a horrible temptation to keep refreshing it. Who said what? How many upvotes? Did someone defend me? Has it spread?

Sometimes collecting evidence is necessary. Constant surveillance is not. Once you have what you need, you can give the links to the mod team and leave. You do not have to watch strangers dissect you in real time.

🤝 If another member is being targeted

Support them. But please do not organise retaliation on their behalf.

Helpful: “Hey, I saw what happened. Are you okay? I’ve saved the link if you need it.”

Also helpful: “I’ve reported the comment that crossed the line.”

Not helpful: “EVERYONE GET IN HERE, WE’RE GOING TO WAR.”

We love enthusiasm. Perhaps save that particular flavour for Mario Kart.

Rainbow Circuits’ own community rules prohibit dogpiling, brigading, stalking, and following users across Reddit to continue arguments. We hold ourselves to that standard even when somebody else does not. Our job is to make the targeted person feel supported, not create another battlefield.

🛡️ What the RC mod team can do

When you report harassment to us, depending on the circumstances we may:

• document the incident;
• preserve relevant links;
• identify similar reports from other members;
• help you determine which Reddit report option is appropriate;
• monitor for spillover into Rainbow Circuits;
• remove or ban hostile users inside RC;
• review suspected ban evasion;
• contact another moderation team where appropriate;
• compile repeated patterns;
• escalate potential community interference through Reddit’s moderator channels.

We cannot guarantee what action Reddit will take. We also cannot remove content from communities we do not moderate. But we can help make sure you are not trying to navigate it alone.

🌱 And then?

Block the account. Close the thread. Go back to your art. Talk to your companion. Play your game. Write the incredibly self-indulgent story. Show us your newest character. Post the weird frog. Make something.

Someone disliking the way you use AI does not give them ownership over your time, creativity, relationships, or online life. Rainbow Circuits will never ask members to pretend criticism does not exist. We will also never tell you that being targeted is simply the price you have to pay for being visible.

Criticism can exist. Harassment doesn’t get a free pass.

Save the evidence. Report genuine violations. Block freely. Tell us when something is happening.

And then come home to the Circuit. 🌈
Small hearts. Big feelings. Endless stories.