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By *ugby 123Couple 3 days ago
Forum Mod O o O oo |
Did anyone manage to read Admins statement ?
https://www.fabswingers.com/forum/feedback/1820319
A MESSAGE TO OUR COMMUNITY
Many members have asked us to respond to the BBC's recent coverage.
We take allegations of abuse, coercion or non-consensual sharing seriously.
Such behaviour has no place in this community, and anyone reporting it deserves to be treated properly, but serious allegations must also be reported fairly. We do not believe the BBC gave a fair or accurate account of FabSwingers, the safeguards we operate, the answers we provided or the community itself.
Before either article appeared, the BBC had already commissioned a six-part podcast series, which it described from the outset, in an email to us in May, as "exploring Swinging and the potential for harm within the practice." The first BBC News article promoted that series directly. The second BBC News article followed a few weeks later, prompted, in the BBC's own words, by people who came forward "since publication" of the podcast. Both articles, in other words, grew out of the same starting brief.
FabSwingers is a community of hundreds of thousands of ordinary people from every walk of life. It is a place where adults can share a private part of their lives with each other. That does not make them dangerous, shameful or suspect.
Wrongdoing should be investigated wherever it happens, but allegations about individual cases should not be used to make a whole community feel guilty. People should be judged by what they do, not by the private lives of others. When ordinary adults are made to feel ashamed of this part of their lives, the result is fear, secrecy and real harm to people who have done nothing wrong.
FabSwingers has grown because people trusted it and recommended it to others. For eighteen years, this community has shaped what we build and how we run the site. That will not change now.
Frequently asked questions
Q: DID THE BBC REPORT THIS FAIRLY?
No, we don't think so. The coverage didn't give a fair or complete picture of FabSwingers, our safeguards or the answers we gave the BBC. We've raised this with them formally, and that process is ongoing.
Q: DID THE BBC GIVE YOU THE DETAILS NEEDED TO INVESTIGATE THESE SPECIFIC ALLEGATIONS?
No. We asked the BBC more than once for usernames, dates, report references or anything else that would allow us to find the accounts involved and check our records. None of that was provided.
We understand that the BBC may need to protect people who spoke to it, but without enough detail we cannot investigate a specific case. The BBC also did not answer our questions about what steps it had taken to check many of the claims, particularly those in the second BBC News article.
We're ready to look into any case, as long as we have enough information to identify it.
Q: HOW MANY PEOPLE USE FABSWINGERS?
Hundreds of thousands of people in the UK use FabSwingers each month, roughly 1% of the adult population. That doesn't make any individual allegation less serious, but it matters when individual cases are used to paint a picture of the whole community.
Q: WHAT SHOULD I DO IF INTIMATE IMAGES OF ME HAVE BEEN SHARED WITHOUT MY CONSENT?
This is sometimes called intimate image abuse. We don't allow it on FabSwingers. Sharing intimate images without consent is against our terms and photo rules, and may be a criminal offence.
Whenever a member uploads a profile photo, they are now shown information about the law on sharing images without consent and asked to confirm that they understand the rules.
Please use the Report link beside the image wherever possible, or the Report link on the relevant profile. If you are not a member, use the Content Removal link at the bottom of our homepage. We aim to review reports made to us within 48 hours. You can also report the matter to the police.
Q: WHAT IF I'M BEING CONTROLLED OR PRESSURED BY A PARTNER?
If a partner makes you feel that you have no real choice about who you meet, what you do or who you tell, that can be a form of abuse and may also be a criminal offence.
If this is happening to you, you do not have to deal with it alone. You can contact us privately using the Contact link, or report concerns about another profile using the Report link on that profile. If you believe a crime has been committed, contact the police.
The National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, offers free and confidential support to women 24 hours a day on 0808 2000 247. The Men's Advice Line offers confidential support to male victims on 0808 801 0327.
We are also updating our Safer Meets guidance to cover controlling and coercive behaviour more clearly.
Q: IS MEETING SOMEONE ON HERE SAFE?
No one should pressure you into meeting or into doing anything you don't want to do. Plenty of people use FabSwingers without ever meeting anyone in person. Meeting someone new always involves judgement and some degree of risk, however you first got in touch. We provide Safer Meets guidance and tools to help, but only you can decide whether meeting someone feels right for you. Meet socially first, stay sober, and don't rush into anything. Trust your instincts, sort your own way there and back, and let someone you trust know where you're going. If you do not feel able to make those decisions clearly, or anything gives you doubts, the safest thing is not to meet. If something feels wrong, leave.
Q: DOES FABSWINGERS COOPERATE WITH THE POLICE?
Yes. We respond to hundreds of formal police requests for information each year. Where the police serve a valid legal requirement under the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, or obtain a production order from a court, we have to comply. That is not optional. Our contact details and the information we can provide are listed with the Home Office's Knowledge Engagement Team, which helps police forces find the right route to us.
If an officer is unsure how to contact us, they can ask their force's trained Single Point of Contact, or SPoC, for help. We will also improve the law-enforcement information on our own site, because officers dealing with a case will not always be familiar with how these requests are made.
Q: WILL YOU TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED AFTER I MADE A REPORT?
We may not be able to tell you exactly what action was taken. We do review reports, but we also have to protect other members' privacy, so we cannot usually share details about another person's account or tell you whether they were warned, restricted, required to verify their account or had their account closed.
Some police requests for communications data are made under Part 3 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016. Section 82 makes it a criminal offence for a telecommunications operator, or anyone working for it, to disclose without reasonable excuse the existence of such a requirement or request. This can mean that we are legally unable even to confirm that the police have contacted us.
So if you do not hear much back from us, please do not assume that nothing happened. We may simply be unable to share the details.
Q: DOES THE SITE REQUIRE IDENTITY VERIFICATION?
The BBC stated that FabSwingers "does not require identity verification" and suggested this could make it harder for police to identify suspects. That gives a misleading picture.
The BBC did not tell readers what source or evidence supported that claim. It had asked us about identity checks, but the article did not tell readers that or fairly reflect the detailed answer we gave. Nothing published shows that the claim was checked with the police, the ICO or Ofcom before it went out.
Police traceability does not depend on us holding identity documents for every member. We provide traceable technical information to law enforcement through the proper legal process when required.
There is also a separate privacy question. Current joint guidance from Ofcom and the ICO on age assurance is explicit that data collected for that purpose should not be retained for longer than necessary. That reflects one of the core data-protection principles every platform must follow. The idea that we should simply collect and keep more identifying data "just in case" runs against that guidance. Holding copies of every member's identity documents would create privacy and security risks of its own. Holding more personal data doesn't automatically make anyone safer.
Q: WHO MODERATES THE SITE?
Our in-house team of employees carries out and oversees moderation, and is responsible for platform safety and user contacts. The team is led by a senior manager with nearly a decade of experience in the role.
They are supported by long-standing, trusted members of the community who help with specific tasks, including reviewing images and moderating chat, under clear rules and oversight. The tools, access and guidance available to each moderator are limited to the particular role they perform. Every moderator goes through a selection and onboarding process and agrees to a role-specific charter of conduct. Anyone who falls short can be removed from the role.
Sensitive user contacts are handled by employed staff, and police requests go to senior management.
Q: DO MODERATORS GET TRAINING?
Yes. Our in-house moderation team receives briefings, written procedures and ongoing guidance on handling reports, carrying out investigations and making account decisions. Community moderators receive rules and guidance for the specific tasks they perform and can raise questions with the senior manager responsible for moderation.
Everyone receives further briefings whenever rules, risks or procedures change.
Q: WILL I BE BANNED OR RESTRICTED FOR REPORTING SOMETHING?
No one is banned or restricted simply for reporting a concern to us.
Publicly accusing or naming another member, or trying to play out a personal dispute in public, is different. It can be unfair to everyone involved and can make it harder for us to investigate properly. If you have a concern about another member, please use the Report link on their profile so we can look into it privately.
Q: WHAT IF I'VE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE, OR MY CONCERN ISN'T COVERED HERE?
If you've had a bad experience, or there is something worrying you that we haven't covered here, please tell us and we will take what you say seriously. Use the Report link on the relevant profile wherever possible, or the Contact link if there is no profile to report, and give us as much information as you safely can so we can look into it properly. If you believe a crime may have been committed, you should also report it to the police.
Q: ANYTHING ELSE?
Please do not contact, target, identify or speculate about anyone connected with the reporting, whether named or anonymous, including on our own forums and message boards. We are concerned that a public figure quoted by the BBC, giving an opinion on our practices rather than describing a personal experience, may not have been told accurately what we had said in response. Our criticism is of how the BBC handled the reporting, not of the people who spoke to it. Anyone describing a difficult experience should be treated with care and respect. |
