Design determines the cost of harassment
Aliases: abuse friction · safety by design · harassment cost
What it is
The cost of harassment is the time, resource, visibility risk, and consequence design requires of an attacker to find targets, repeat contact, spread content, and evade restriction. Design does not determine malice but determines how easily it scales and how much defensive burden targets bear.
Why it happens
One-click messaging, unlimited mentions, public defaults, and frictionless new accounts lower attack scale cost; algorithmic amplification increases reward. Rate limits, audience controls, identity friction, and timely consequence raise repeat-harm cost. If blocking, evidence, and reporting cost sit only with targets, the system rewards attackers.
Studying it
- Paradigms: threat-model and red-team attack paths; analyse contact, spread, evasion, and protection use.
- Variables: contact rate, account recreation, spread, report, protection time, recurrence, and wrongful action.
- Methodological caution: single-attacker metrics miss coordinated pile-ons; defence friction can harm legitimate newcomers.
Where it stops holding
More friction affects legal participation, privacy, and access. Escalate by risk, relationship, and conduct while retaining appeal.
Applying it
- Limit unknown contact, mass mention, and rapid recreation by default; offer audience and rate controls.
- Integrate evidence, block, and report in one action.
- Apply progressive reviewable restrictions to repeat violation and protect bystanders from spread.
- Verification: simulate an attack chain and compare attacker cost to expand reach with target cost to stop contact.