Banning of a poster and the recent incivility

[RightinNYC]

As some of you may know and for the others that don't, 26XWorldChamps undertook a purposeful effort to harass and intimidate multiple members of this forum. PM's were sent to numerous persons urging them to flood false reports of racism to the Mod Staff, even after Champs was informed that the material in question was not racist. In both of these scenarios, his stated intent was to get these members banned from the forum or force them to leave on his own. This form of vigilantism is not acceptable, and Champs' repeated violations of the "Don't Be a Jerk" rule have resulted in a ban from the forum.

This is a forum based on civility. Things may get heated at times, but above all we must understand that we are here together as a community. We must all remember to focus on the politics and avoid being pulled into the personal. This community aspect is destroyed and trust is ruined when members take it upon themselves to run off and harass posters they do not like or agree with. This is fair notice that any future actions along these lines will meet with the same result

After investigating the issue thoroughly, the mod team considers this issue to be closed, and we hope not to have to deal with an issue like this again.

Furthermore, we are aware of a growing impression amongst some members that there is an increasing level of destructive and over-the-top partisanship here. As we are entering a period of time when more people who've never debated politics online are getting interested and involved in these debates, and we enter the partisan conflict of a Presidential election about which many members hold deep passions, some increase of normal partisan behavior is inevitable and will not be discouraged. It is important that this is a haven for the full plurality of political viewpoints, and we will not set a precondition of a specified level of nuance. We believe reason is the truest arbiter and its merits will stand on it's own without defense in the pantheon of rational debate.

However, in as much as we encourage the free flow of ideas and positions, we will not stand idly by when people abuse the freedom of thought as a means to disguise violations of our standards of civility, through destructive partisan attacking. There very well may be more "Don't Be a Jerk" violations in the future as a product of this. We moderators hold deep feelings as to the importance of intellectual freedom, and we will always be vigilant in our self regulations so that our application of this rule does not extend into thought control. We will also step in whenever we see someone cross the line. We believe our record stands as sufficient proof to merit faith in our judgment, as faith in our judgment is a fundamental premise of the credibility of our actions.

If anyone has any questions or concerns, we encourage you to bring them up here.

-The Mod Team

[MC.no.spin]

Originally Posted by RightinNYC

As some of you may know and for the others that don't, 26XWorldChamps undertook a purposeful effort to harass and intimidate multiple members of this forum. PM's were sent to numerous persons urging them to flood false reports of racism to the Mod Staff, even after Champs was informed that the material in question was not racist. In both of these scenarios, his stated intent was to get these members banned from the forum or force them to leave on his own. This form of vigilantism is not acceptable, and Champs' repeated violations of the "Don't Be a Jerk" rule have resulted in a ban from the forum.

This is a forum based on civility. Things may get heated at times, but above all we must understand that we are here together as a community. We must all remember to focus on the politics and avoid being pulled into the personal. This community aspect is destroyed and trust is ruined when members take it upon themselves to run off and harass posters they do not like or agree with. This is fair notice that any future actions along these lines will meet with the same result

After investigating the issue thoroughly, the mod team considers this issue to be closed, and we hope not to have to deal with an issue like this again.

Furthermore, we are aware of a growing impression amongst some members that there is an increasing level of destructive and over-the-top partisanship here. As we are entering a period of time when more people who've never debated politics online are getting interested and involved in these debates, and we enter the partisan conflict of a Presidential election about which many members hold deep passions, some increase of normal partisan behavior is inevitable and will not be discouraged. It is important that this is a haven for the full plurality of political viewpoints, and we will not set a precondition of a specified level of nuance. We believe reason is the truest arbiter and its merits will stand on it's own without defense in the pantheon of rational debate.

However, in as much as we encourage the free flow of ideas and positions, we will not stand idly by when people abuse the freedom of thought as a means to disguise violations of our standards of civility, through destructive partisan attacking. There very well may be more "Don't Be a Jerk" violations in the future as a product of this. We moderators hold deep feelings as to the importance of intellectual freedom, and we will always be vigilant in our self regulations so that our application of this rule does not extend into thought control. We will also step in whenever we see someone cross the line. We believe our record stands as sufficient proof to merit faith in our judgment, as faith in our judgment is a fundamental premise of the credibility of our actions.

If anyone has any questions or concerns, we encourage you to bring them up here.

-The Mod Team

I agree with the ruling 100 %. You guys are real pros.

Well written! You should be a judge!

[RightinNYC]

Originally Posted by MC.no.spin

I agree with the ruling 100 %. You guys are real pros.

Well written! You should be a judge!

All the good parts were written by other mods, but thanks anyways.

[aps]

I'm not sure what put the mods on notice about this. I wonder if I was the first one who made mention of it. If that is the case, I have to give credit to WI Crippler for asking me about a statement I made in a post. I wasn't even that direct about it, but he asked me what I meant, and I provided an explanation. I call that outstanding moderation of this message board. (I think Tashah may have noticed it too.)

[jallman]

Would it be in bad form to do a little dance over Champs' banning like he did over Navy leaving?

[Jerry]

Originally Posted by RightinNYC

As some of you may know and for the others that don't, 26XWorldChamps undertook a purposeful effort to harass and intimidate multiple members of this forum. PM's were sent to numerous persons urging them to flood false reports of racism to the Mod Staff, even after Champs was informed that the material in question was not racist. In both of these scenarios, his stated intent was to get these members banned from the forum or force them to leave on his own. This form of vigilantism is not acceptable, and Champs' repeated violations of the "Don't Be a Jerk" rule have resulted in a ban from the forum.

This is a forum based on civility. Things may get heated at times, but above all we must understand that we are here together as a community. We must all remember to focus on the politics and avoid being pulled into the personal. This community aspect is destroyed and trust is ruined when members take it upon themselves to run off and harass posters they do not like or agree with. This is fair notice that any future actions along these lines will meet with the same result

After investigating the issue thoroughly, the mod team considers this issue to be closed, and we hope not to have to deal with an issue like this again.

Furthermore, we are aware of a growing impression amongst some members that there is an increasing level of destructive and over-the-top partisanship here. As we are entering a period of time when more people who've never debated politics online are getting interested and involved in these debates, and we enter the partisan conflict of a Presidential election about which many members hold deep passions, some increase of normal partisan behavior is inevitable and will not be discouraged. It is important that this is a haven for the full plurality of political viewpoints, and we will not set a precondition of a specified level of nuance. We believe reason is the truest arbiter and its merits will stand on it's own without defense in the pantheon of rational debate.

However, in as much as we encourage the free flow of ideas and positions, we will not stand idly by when people abuse the freedom of thought as a means to disguise violations of our standards of civility, through destructive partisan attacking. There very well may be more "Don't Be a Jerk" violations in the future as a product of this. We moderators hold deep feelings as to the importance of intellectual freedom, and we will always be vigilant in our self regulations so that our application of this rule does not extend into thought control. We will also step in whenever we see someone cross the line. We believe our record stands as sufficient proof to merit faith in our judgment, as faith in our judgment is a fundamental premise of the credibility of our actions.

If anyone has any questions or concerns, we encourage you to bring them up here.

-The Mod Team

First, who cares about Champs? Banning him is like swatting a fly.

Second, since when does the Mod team give a **** about letting the members know what's going on regarding banns/suspensions, etc? The existence and nature of this thread is very out of character of for the mod team. Something has changed or is changing, what’s up?

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Jerry

First, who cares about Champs? Banning him is like swatting a fly.

Second, since when does the Mod team give a **** about letting the members know what's going on regarding banns/suspensions, etc? The existence and nature of this thread is very out of character of for the mod team. Something has changed or is changing, what’s up?

I agree with this. I remember a Mod bragging about banning Aquapub not too long ago in a thread. Was it really necessary to mention Champs by name in this thread?

[Zyphlin]

Alright, I'm a rather new mod, but I gotta just blink a bit here...

Every other perma ban that's happened I can remember people yelling for some actual information from the mod team. So this time, with a lot of things that started the investigation into this coming out during an open thread, and knowing this has been an issue in the past, the mod team decided to be open and forth coming with this. Partially to answer any questions people may have, partially to show that this kind of action will not be tolerated again, and partially to address a growing problem on the forum that we end to keep a much keener eye on.

So now, this time, when the team IS more open about things, people are now mad that the team was open about it?

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Zyphlin

Alright, I'm a rather new mod, but I gotta just blink a bit here...

Every other perma ban that's happened I can remember people yelling for some actual information from the mod team. So this time, with a lot of things that started the investigation into this coming out during an open thread, and knowing this has been an issue in the past, the mod team decided to be open and forth coming with this. Partially to answer any questions people may have, partially to show that this kind of action will not be tolerated again, and partially to address a growing problem on the forum that we end to keep a much keener eye on.

So now, this time, when the team IS more open about things, people are now mad that the team was open about it?

No one is "mad" on my part. Everything you mentioned above could have been done successfully without mentioning a member's name. It seems a little vindictive when a name is used.

I agree that we should be informed of reasons for recent bans and infractions, but in a more neutral way.

[Caine]

Originally Posted by Alex

No one is "mad" on my part. Everything you mentioned above could have been done successfully without mentioning a member's name. It seems a little vindictive when a name is used.

I agree that we should be informed of reasons for recent bans and infractions, but in a more neutral way.

So then everyone can be pi.. "upset" that the name wasn't mentioned....

This was done appropriately. Carry on.