When Private Messages Are Used to Harass People

When people think about the kind of requests an IRC network may receive from law enforcement, they often imagine cyberattacks, fraud, or other highly technical incidents.

Our recent experience has been quite different.

The last four requests for data received by SimosNap from Italian law enforcement agencies all involved the same type of abuse: users exploiting private messages to share a victim's phone number with the intention of flooding them with unwanted calls, messages, and other forms of contact.

At first glance, some people might dismiss this as a tasteless prank. In reality, when done with the intent to harass or intimidate someone, it can have serious consequences for the victim and may constitute a criminal offense.

As the operators of SimosNap, we have a dual responsibility. On one hand, we are committed to protecting our users' privacy. On the other, we fully cooperate with law enforcement whenever we receive requests made in accordance with the law.

There is one important point that is often misunderstood.

Private messages are not monitored by the SimosNap staff. We do not know what two users say to each other during a private conversation, and there is no one watching what happens "behind the scenes." This is not only a matter of privacy policy—it is also how the IRC protocol is designed. IRC does not provide a system for proactively moderating private conversations.

As a result, in most cases we only become aware of this type of abuse when one of the people involved reports it.

This is why user reports are so important.

A timely report is not only valuable for a possible future investigation. It also allows us to react while the abuse is still taking place. A well-documented report helps us understand what is happening, identify recurring patterns, improve our anti-spam filters when appropriate, and deploy additional countermeasures to reduce the impact of the abuse.

One recent case clearly demonstrated this.

A user submitted an extremely detailed report, documenting exactly what was happening. Thanks to the information provided, we were able to respond quickly, mitigate the ongoing abuse through our protection systems, and preserve the evidence needed to reconstruct the events.

Later, when Italian law enforcement requested the data available as part of their investigation, we were able to provide information that proved useful to investigators.

Without that report, it would have been far more difficult both to limit the abuse while it was still ongoing and to accurately reconstruct what had happened.

Many people believe that simply blocking the abusive user is enough. In some situations, that may be sufficient. However, when personal information is being shared, repeated harassment begins, or someone becomes the target of a coordinated campaign, taking a few extra minutes to document what happened can make a significant difference.

A screenshot, an accurate timestamp, the nickname involved, and a clear description of the incident can all become valuable pieces of information.

We cannot know what happens in private conversations unless someone tells us. But when we receive a detailed report, we can do our part: limit the abuse, preserve relevant evidence, and, when legally required, cooperate with the judicial authorities by providing all the data that we are permitted to disclose.

After more than twenty years of operating an IRC network, we have learned that the security of a community does not depend only on technology or moderation tools. It also depends on the responsibility and cooperation of its users.

Every well-prepared report can help protect other users, reduce the impact of ongoing abuse, and, in the most serious cases, become an important piece of a law enforcement investigation.

Privacy will always remain one of SimosNap's core values. But privacy should never be mistaken for impunity by those who use communication platforms to harass or harm others.