this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
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People always learn something, though not always what one is trying to teach. Immediate permanent bans often teach them to make an alt and come back with the same attitude and a chip on their shoulder. Temp bans leverage their investment in their existing account to either encourage them to leave the community they're not welcome in or return with a better understanding of the rules.
Do temp bans work every time? No, definitely not. Are permanent bans trivially circumvented in a federated ecosystem with not even the barest of account verification policies? Yes, definitely... which means permabans are a much weaker response here than in other spaces with better account verification. I'd submit that escalating temp bans are a strictly superior in such an environment because investment in one's existing account is very nearly the only leverage mods have and should be maximized.
The exact behavior you describe with people circumventing permabans has already happened in my community with a temp ban. Person made multiple accounts on other instances to circumvent a temp ban for excessive self promotion of their own stuff (to the point of spam). We tried escalating temp bans and it didn't work, they just did that anyway.
I advocate for permabans for egregious violations for two reasons: acknowledgement that there's zero tolerance for truly abhorrent behavior and to decrease the bookkeeping of keeping track of multiple temp bans. An escalating temp ban system works for minor offenses where a permanent ban isn't warranted, though.
I think your suggestion strikes a good balance as outright banning toxic behavior such as racism can act as a clear signifier that actions like it are contradictory and unwanted especially in reference(context) to the community's goals and TOS