Why Upwork is being Discriminative against 1 specific group?

[675f430e]

Hey guys, I am just here to show something that is terrible and unprofessional by Upwork.

I joined Upwork recently and decided to become a freelancer by selling by Web IT services. Many of my catalog services are not approved due to the policy that isn't abiding with. However, how come other freelancers do the same and get away without it without any obligation?

The worst part is that Upwork asked me to verify my account just because I made that valid question. Now, my Upwork account is suspended.

Please mention any non-racist freelancer websites in the comment.

[a_lipsey]

Hi Ranjan, 

Discrimination on Upwork is an issue; however, I don't think that's entirely at play here. 

If you have earned any money, you will have to verify your account. ALL freelancers are required to do that and if they don't, their account gets suspended. That is not discriminatory. If it were only required of one group or another, it would be, but it is required of all freelancers who earn money, and if we fail to respond in the required timeframe, we face a temporary suspension until we do deal with it. Follow up on verifying your account, and they will lift the suspension. They deal with everyone the same way in that. 

Regarding the first question, your project catalog offering, can you give us more information on what policy they said it is violating or not following? What was the reason they gave for rejecting the project? I have also had issues with getting projects approved, usually because they don't like the cover image. 

We need more information to help you address this issue. What is the project for and why did they say they rejected it?

[675f430e]

I hope it is not a racial discrimination. In the beginning the catalog wasn't approved because I was using "us, we," things like that. But why don't you look at this seller's catalog and tell me if this is discriminative or not.

If you did not approve mine but approved other seller's same catalog, then what is it?

See the screenshot.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[2a05aa63]

Use your own picture so you won't get banned on other website that require a real picture. It's not about race but about being dishonest.

[675f430e]

Go look around upwork and tell me how many are using celebrities' pictures instead of their own.

Why don't you look around and get back to me so I can see how this racist thing is going on.

[martina_plaschka]

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Ranjan R wrote:

Go look around upwork and tell me how many are using celebrities' pictures instead of their own.

Why don't you look around and get back to me so I can see how this racist thing is going on.

---

It would be nice of you to flag any freelancer profile that uses a stolen picture. You would be doing your part to make the platform safer for everybody. 

[675f430e]

I agree, but looks like it is not the case here.

[martina_plaschka]

Right. It's discrimination. Sure. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines** Because when upwork says in their ToS that you have to be a single freelancer on a freelancer profile, and not a group, those rules can't apply to you. And if they insist on their rules, they discriminate against you. 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

Maybe this will make you feel better: no, it's not a racial thing. Everybody gets suspended that don't play by the rules. The are pretty inclusive in their approach. 

[colettelewis]

For heaven's sake Ranjan, this is not racist; it is a requirement by Upwork to use your own picture. If I decided to use the picture of a celebrity, instead of my own, Upwork would suspend my account. 

The use of 'us' and 'we' in your profile is to be avoided because it implies that there is more  than one of you with the same account,  which is against Upwork's terms of service. So put everything in the first person - "I" or "my" etc. 

Also, as has already been stated, Upwork requires all freelancers to verify their profiles. 

When you fix the above, you will probably be reinstated

[675f430e]

You are right, but looks like you didn't read the whole story yet. Please read it again.

[colettelewis]

Why don't you concentrate on what you need to do, and for the moment forget the other people who are violating Upwork's terms of service.  I agree, there are plenty of them.  But what is important is how you run your own freelancing business on Upwork,  not what other people are doing.  

If Upwork says you need to address certain issues before your account is accepted, then do it.  There are fraudulent freelancers and clients on every internet job platform out there.  The answer to these is to ignore the former and avoid the latter. 

But please, stop accusing everyone of being racist. Of course there are racists, but equally, there are people who hate women,  who hate certain religious factions and so forth.  So what we all have to do is remain level-headed and unbigoted in every sense,  and know how to use this platform and accept the many advantages it offers.  

[petra_r]

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Ranjan R wrote:

The reason I am concerned about others crossing violations but accusing me for the same thing, is my first concern.

---

They've not been caught (yet). You were. That's all.

You weren't suspended because you asked a question. You were suspended because you aree violating Upwork's terms of service. 

ANYONE who is caught doing this, will face action being taken.

This has nothing to do with racicm and I find it incredibly distaseteful when people try to play the race-card when they are caught violating the rules. When they twist the facts to paint themselves as innocent victims.

Your race has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with your current situation. Your violating the terms of service does.

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Ranjan R wrote:

Yes, I am ready to accept TOS and rules

---

Well, do it then and get on with it.

Or don't.

Up to you.

But don't try and make this about race because it categorically isn't.

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Ranjan R wrote:

but why just me?

---

It's not "just you"

If you see others violating the terms of service, feel free to flag them.

Or don't.

Up to you.

[675f430e]

Those users aren't caught even after several months but I was caught within 2 weeks? That's convincing.

Why haven't they still been caught even after reporting? So, its because it is not discriminative or unequal?

If I don't feel free to flag the violater's then Upwork will never find it, but they are very interested to find my violation so quickly.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

[NikolaS]

Hi Ranjan,

Please know that we routinely ask freelancers and clients to verify their identities to help protect our community and ensure that Upwork stays safe and secure. This is covered by the Upwork Terms of Service. Please feel free to check this help article for more information. 

Regarding your concern with rejected projects. You may want to refer to the email you received from our team with detailed instructions on what needs to be edited so that our team can approve your projects. If you need any clarification please follow up with our team via email and they will be happy to assist you further. 

Additionally, I see that you are already responded to the ticket regarding your verification process. Please allow more time for our team to review your case and respond accordingly to your ticket. You will be notified of their response.

[675f430e]

Hey Nicole, **Edited for Community Guidelines**. I think sharing will build a concrete base for platform's development.

Yes, I did received why my project catalog's were disapproved and I agree with your disapprovals. However, you haven't given the proper answer yet. Why have you left other freelancers to violate the TOS and just pick on me?

Secondly, I have no problem to verify, although I will have to verify my account eventually before withdrawting but why would Upwork ask me to verify my account as soon as I pointed all the issues I found on your platform.

I would appreciate if you reply to the above questions as well.

[NikolaS]

Hi Ranjan,

If you’d like to report any content or activity that may be in violation of Upwork TOS, please use available tools to flag it to the team directly using the flag options throughout the site - on jobs, freelancer profiles, in Messages, Catalog projects, etc. We're not able to share information about another user's account status or the results of our team's investigation.

As I shared earlier Identity Verification is a routine process and we're working toward requiring all freelancers to verify their identity. The purpose of the program is to ensure that Upwork stays safe and secure and that accounts continue to reflect accurate information.

[675f430e]

I already sent an email explaining the situation, none of you have replied yet. What else should I do?

[675f430e]

Does your support@upwork.com works or not?

[martina_plaschka]

They really can't catch everybody. Your argument falls short, since you are basically saying, everybody is violating the rules, why do they punish me only? That's not a good argument in any circumstance. 

It would be better to acknowledge what you did wrong and try to remedy it instead of blaming everybody including upwork of being biased towards you. This is not the way to go if you want to retrieve your account. It is a scorched earth policy that does not serve you, unless you want to stay suspended indefinitely. 

[675f430e]

You should understand that truth with proof is always a valid argument regardless of circumstances. The purpose of this post is the actual reason to which I expected Upwork and community users to respond, rather I am being silenced. By the way, silencing is a part of bigotry.

I am not here to retrieve my account, I am here to address the problems and get an appropriate solution from the users and the platform owner.

Looks like you desperately want my account to be suspended indefinitely from the beginning. Certainly, you are not here to give the solution but to make users go away with their unsolved issues.

[rosehandan]

Hey

Did you pasd the verification they asked you too?

[675f430e]

No, not yet. I was about to go through the process but I found this issue hence I expected Upwork to address it before I get in with my confidential documents.

I mean, what's the point if you get verified or not if the platform is being unfair?

[petra_r]

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Ranjan R wrote:

Why have you left other freelancers to violate the TOS and just pick on me?.

---

Nobody is picking "just on you". That is just ridiculous!

---

Ranjan R wrote:

why would Upwork ask me to verify my account as soon as I pointed all the issues I found on your platform.

---

Because you drew attention to your violations of Upwork's terms of service, so you basically showed Upwork that your profile violates them. When you yourself draw attention to your own rule-breaking, you shouldn't be surprised when something happens. 

[675f430e]

Could you tell me which part of the violation I just broke, be specific about violation.

[martina_plaschka]

To recap:

1. You violated upwork's terms of service.

2. Instead of correcting your mistake, you accuse everybody of being racist.

3. You try to divert the discussion to: but everybody is doing it!

4. You post content on the forum that is not allowed by forum rules. When this is deleted, you complain again. 

The question is: what is your goal? Do you want to have your profile reinstated so that you can earn money here? I'm guessing the answer is no, since everything you did or said points in that direction. You had a choice: to act wisely, or to keep throwing a temper tantrum like a 3 year old in the toy aisle of a supermarket. It was your decision. 

[675f430e]

OK, answer these.

1. Which part of Upwork's terms of service did I violate?

2. Addressing an issue is not a mistake and nowhere do I mention that "everybody is a racist". You are the one who is trying to make me look like that as if I am accusing everybody.

3. Which part of my discussion has been diverted? Are you talking about "hate women" "hate religion" that you bought to the discussion?

4. Which post content on the forum is not allowed? I wouldn't be surprised if this post is deleted, it will simply prove my logic.

My first goal is to understand if Upwork is treating users equally. No one is 3 years old here. It's just you are trying to silence me with your self-contradictory "fancy questions".

By the way, "Community Guru"'s silence me is the worst thing I am facing right now.

[martina_plaschka]

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Ranjan R wrote:

OK, answer these.

1. Which part of Upwork's terms of service did I violate? Representing a group on a single freelancer profile. That is what agencies are for. 

2. Addressing an issue is not a mistake and nowhere do I mention that "everybody is a racist". You are the one who is trying to make me look like that as if I am accusing everybody. Please mention any non-racist freelancer websites in the comment. This implied that this is a racist platform, no?

3. Which part of my discussion has been diverted? Are you talking about "hate women" "hate religion" that you bought to the discussion? Instead of focussing on your own account violation, you are talking about what other people are doing. None of your business. Upwork will deal with them when they violate ToS. 

4. Which post content on the forum is not allowed? I wouldn't be surprised if this post is deleted, it will simply prove my  logic. 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/help/faqpage/title/guidelines

I am not here to retrieve my account. 

No problem then!

[675f430e]

You still couldn't get my point why Upwork is treating users equally.

Of course, you have no problem, but happy to silence the valid questions.

[rosehandan]

I think you have got it all wrong. Upwork customer support are the best I have encountered, maybe you just have to explain in a more polite way.

[NikolaS]

Hi All,

We've been following this conversation and I'll close the thread to further replies since the arguments have been exhausted and the conversation is moving into an unproductive direction.

Several posts have been removed or edited from this thread for Community Guidelines. We encourage our Community members to be professional and respectful to one another when posting here. Please, be mindful of the Community Guidelines and avoid making personal attacks.

Ranjan,

Please continue to communicate with our team on your support ticket and they will be happy to assist you further. I reached out to the team handling your case and they will follow up on your ticket as soon as possible.

This thread has been closed from further replies. Thank you for participating in the discussion.