Security News > 2024 > May > Stack Overflow suspends user for editing posts in OpenAI protest
A recent partnership announcement between OpenAI and Stack Overflow has some members concerned that their data is being used without permission and will only lead to inaccurate information being created by LLMs. The partnership was announced on Monday, with OpenAI getting access to Stack Overflow's API and feedback from developers and StackCommerce getting links in ChatGPT back to its source material and receiving assistance using OpenAI models as part of its new OverflowAI platform.
Epic Games UI designer Ben said he tried to edit his highest-rated answers and replace them with a message protesting the partnership with OpenAI. "Stack Overflow does not let you delete questions that have accepted answers and many upvotes because it would remove knowledge from the community," Ben posted on Mastodon.
Ben shared an image of Stack Overflow restoring the edited posts to the original answer and then suspending his account.
In an email shared by Ben, Stack Overflow moderators clarified that it does not allow users to remove posts because they hurt the community as a whole.
"You have recently removed or defaced content from your posts. Please note that once you post a question or answer to this site, those posts become part of the collective efforts of others who have also contributed to that content," Stack Exchange moderators wrote in an email to users deleting their posts.
BleepingComputer contacted Stack Overflow with questions about this deleting posts and their partnership with OpenAI but did not receive a response by the time of this publication.