shadowban

English

Alternative forms

• shadow ban, shadow-ban

Etymology

From shadow +‎ ban.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʃædoʊbæn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʃædəʊbæn/

Verb

shadowban (third-person singular simple present shadowbans, present participle shadowbanning, simple past and past participle shadowbanned)

1. (transitive, Internet) To ban a user from a community without their knowledge, allowing them to continue reading and commenting, but rendering their contributions invisible or less visible to other users.
   • 2018 July 27, Jason Wilson, “What is 'shadow banning', and why did Trump tweet about it?”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     On Wednesday a Vice News story reported that some senior Republican officials were not visible in automatic search results. Vice framed this as “shadow banning” without providing any evidence that it was deliberate.

   • 2022 December 14, Maya Yang, “Twitter suspends account that monitors flight paths of Elon Musk’s private jet”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Over the weekend, Sweeney tweeted that his account had been shadowbanned, meaning that its visibility had been deliberately reduced.

   • 2023 August 24, Steve Kuhn, “How To Get Unshadowbanned on Twitter”, in ITGeared‎^[3]:

     You can also use external software designed to check for shadowbanning.

   • 2023 September 5, Joe Coscarelli, “Ghostwriter Returns With an A.I. Travis Scott Song, and Industry Allies”, in The New York Times‎^[4]:

     On Tuesday, Ghostwriter returned with a new track, titled “Whiplash,” this time using A.I. vocal filters to sound like the rappers Travis Scott and 21 Savage and deliver a message to the industry: “Me and Writer raise a toast,” the A.I. version of 21 Savage raps. “Trying to shadowban my boy/but you can’t kill a ghost.”

2. (transitive, Internet, of a search engine) To filter out results without the publisher's knowledge.

Synonyms

• ghostban
• hellban
• stealthban

Translations

to ban a user without their knowledge

• German: mit einem Shadowban belegen, mit einem Schattenbann belegen

Noun

shadowban (plural shadowbans)

1. (Internet) An instance of shadowbanning.

   Synonym: hellban

   • 2018 July 27, Jason Wilson, “What is 'shadow banning', and why did Trump tweet about it?”, in The Guardian‎^[5]:

     Is there any basis for the idea that conservatives are being targeted for shadow bans? No – at least not based on what Vice purported to show.

   • 2024 June 28, “How to get "unshadowbanned" on Twitter!”, in Circleboom Blog‎^[6]:

     By following the platform's guidelines and treating others with kindness, you'll not only avoid shadowbans but also build a strong and engaged community.

Translations

an instance of shadowbanning

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 限流 (xiànliú)

• French: bannissement furtif (fr) m, shadow banning (fr) m
• German: Shadowban m, Schattenbann m