Overzealous Deletion of Threads

[junedragon]

It seems forum moderation has escalated over the past few months in terms of the way posts are treated when a moderator finds content to be in contravention of the rules. It has gradually progressed in the manner of:

Warn the user to cease their conduct and snip/edit their post
￬
Do the same as above and warn all users on the thread to stop.
￬
Do all of the above and lock the thread for a couple days til the situation cools down
￬
Lock the entire thread for 2 weeks "until people learn their lesson"
￬
Outright delete the thread (with no notice or explanation and on grounds that are flimsy at best)

It seems like a colossal overkill to, say, delete an entire regiment's thread and lock the new one for 2 weeks because of a handful of posts, predominately by people who aren't even in the regiment. And to give the shit excuse that some of the content of the thread "had nothing to do with the regiment" is just insulting. By that logic at least 9/10 regiment threads should be deleted (but the inconsistent application/interpretation of rules is a matter for another day, also chipping away at the sense of mod fairness/transparency).

I understand the need to trim out bad content, but the trend of deleting entire threads on the basis of a few posts which may or may not contravene the rules is rather concerning. The Right Wing Politics thread, for instance, was deleted last night with no indication of what was said which violated the rules. Moderation in this fashion can only serve to raise questions (eg. was this deleted because something was posted which I missed that broke the rules or because the mod disagrees with the opinions expressed in the thread?) and harm the transparency of forum moderation.

If the mods are going to proceed in this fashion (of outright deleting threads where some posts may violate the rules), it would be reasonable to at least make a thread here which outlines:

• Threads that have been deleted (on a case by case basis)
• Why they were deleted
• Support (quotes if possible) for the explanation for the deletion. (ie. proof of rule infraction)

This is a simple measure requiring little time that guarantees transparency. I would argue its even more important than the list of banned users thread because outright deleting a thread removes all traces of the content and alleged rule violations.[/list]

[Peppers]

inb4mute
inb4delete

[Theodin]

muh "borderline racism"

[Dazzer]

inb4mute
inb4delete

[Duuring]

If you feel that more punishments are being issued, you are wrong. If anything, we have introduced a more policy by not punishing small infractions and more severly punishing major infractions, leading overall to a lower number of punishments. We have unbanned a collection of members and have introduced the concept of temporary bans. We have also given OP's the ability to remove posts within their own threads, so maybe that's why you think we have deleted more posts.

Editing posts takes time, more then simply just clicking the remove-button. If we find content to be against the rules, removing it altogether is simply easier and enables us to do our work better.

Having said that, this 'case' you refer to is obviously the thread of the Polish Lancers, a thread which has been reported several times and had included racist content before, on a much more frequent basis then other threads. Even so, until the recent closure of the thread, I have not acted on these reports. However, the last few pages were simply too much. And when I finally issued a warning, I was ridiciduled and regimental members continued their actions without problem. That's not just posting inappriopaite content, that's both not following the instructions of a moderator as well as insult, and I will not stand for that.

And it's clear to me that Peppers did not learn because of his post here again. If you want a decision revoked, ridicule might not be the best way to achieve it. Thank you; by just making that post, you only convinced me that I made the right decision.

If the mods are going to proceed in this fashion (of outright deleting threads where some posts may violate the rules), it would be reasonable to at least make a thread here which outlines:

Threads that have been deleted (on a case by case basis)
Why they were deleted
Support (quotes if possible) for the explanation for the deletion. (ie. proof of rule infraction)

An unnesssary addition to the duties of the moderators. We barely remove threads anyway, and most of them are so clearly against the rules everybody should be able to see that it's against the rules. If you don't want your thread removed or shut down, you should not break the rules on it.

[Peppers]

What am I trying to learn? I mean you unbanned a bunch of trolls that where immediately muted days after the unban process dont sit here and try to even think unbanning people makes you a saint you only realeased the trolls.I dont see how anything reguarding the 1er PLG thread is being considered since I am not in that regiment you should not take it out on innocent people maybe if you knew the community you would know I have stepped down from the regiment.

[Theodin]

And again, you failed to highlight any racist content. If you can show me a single time on that thread where there was a clear example of someone claiming one race was superior than the other, that's okay. But criticism of refugees and left wing politicians is racist? That's hilarious.
As well, you didn't address the right wing politics thread deletion. That's okay, you all know you're biased anyways.

[InUrBase, EatingUrBacon]

Well I mean when the head guy Vince is a Bernie Sanders supporter its not a huge shock that certain political affiliations will be favored over others lol.

[Who-]

PLG are cool and all but I have seen some really fucking racist shit on that thread lmao.

[Duuring]

I see nothing but complaints about a specific case here. You can contact me by PM for those. You left the Polish lanciers? I really couldn't care less.

And again, you failed to highlight any racist content. If you can show me a single time on that thread where there was a clear example of someone claiming one race was superior than the other, that's okay. But criticism of refugees and left wing politicians is racist? That's hilarious.
As well, you didn't address the right wing politics thread deletion. That's okay, you all know you're biased anyways.

If you'd like a pointer, content like this is unacceptable.

Spoiler

[close]

That "Right wing politics thread" was unncessary as we already have a political discussion thread.

Well I mean when the head guy Vince is a Bernie Sanders supporter its not a huge shock that certain political affiliations will be favored over others lol.

Get over yourself.



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