zlacker

Again: The platform is IRC. The servers are the individual communities. There were hundreds of IRC networks. You were not blacklisted from all of IRC. You were blacklisted from a particular server. And in my personal recollection, you only got banned for something especially egregious, not like today where saying the wrong "trigger word" can get you shadowbanned, which is even more nefarious.

On top of all of this, bans were frequently appealed and overturned.

>>dimitr+(OP)
IRC isn't a "platform", but you started here:

> Every message board and chatroom (bbs, forums, irc, icq, aol, et all) on the young internet was virtually uncensored and a 100% free for all

But if your definition of "virtually uncensored" is that there are uncensored instances, then IRC, forums, etc. are just as "uncensored" as ever. There's just a lot more internet users on moderated platforms now.

>>djur+mG4
Yes. Advertisement is a helluva drug. No one's IRC server has a billion dollar marketing budget.

Also Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, et all all started off pretty uncensored and unmoderated to build the moats. Then they started cracking down once the feds and political influences kicked in.