[waterphone]

That sounds like a terrible environment to lock yourself into, but it also seems pretty ineffective. If I was temporarily banned for hinting that I was going to leave the Upwork platform, that would be a trigger to leave it even more quickly.

[MichaelBurge]

Leaving the Upwork platform permanently isn't what bothers them[1]; they're worried more about the while loop where you:

* Obtain a lead on Upwork

* Request moving off of Upwork to avoid fees

* Do subsequent payments through Paypal or similar.

In this case, you aren't moving off the platform entirely and banning you will hurt your lead generation.

[1] At least in the context of this specific case.