Why Undesirable Behavior Is a Complex Problem

If a particular behavior is undesirable, why not simply modify the program code to make that behavior impossible ? The problem is that in many cases, undesirable behavior is very similar in outward form to permissible or even desirable behavior. Distinguishing between the two often requires a human value judgment. For example, a computer subroutine would have a hard time distinguishing between someone who was "stalking" another player, and someone who was merely following a player because he was lost and too shy to ask for help directly.

In addition, different people have different opinions about what is and is not desirable, and that may change with a given context.

Many kinds of undesirable behavior are easily identified by human perception and judgment. However, the supply of "trusted" humans is limited. Reports from untrusted humans (the vast majority) need to be accompanied by corroborating evidence; otherwise , the reporting facility itself can become a kind of systemic abuse.