Guy banned for thinking Bertie lacks credibility..WTF?

tech77

Just reading this thread in Politics http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=54556132#post54556132 and a guy gets banned for expressing the opinion that Bertie has no credibility.

I don't think he even actually called Bertie a liar but even if he did it's still not exactly an outrageous opinion.

Does this mean no more (justifiable IMHO) Bertie/FF bashing on Boards?

Karl Hungus

Feedback tbh.

Mossy Monk

tech77 wrote: »

Just reading this thread in Politics http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=54556132#post54556132 and a guy gets banned for expressing the opinion that Bertie has no credibility.

I don't think he even actually called Bertie a liar but even if he did it's still not exactly an outrageous opinion.

Does this mean no more (justifiable IMHO) Bertie/FF bashing on Boards?

Um. Is this some attempt at heroism?

Wertz

Politics mods in FF bias shocker. No surprise there then. Probably a whole team of civil servants charged with managing PR on Irish forums and blogs.
A few weeks back I called our glorious leader som choice expletives and questioned his , er, integrity on AH and all I got was an edit and a warning (in fairness the comment was possibly slanderous and I had no problem with it being deleted)...I didnt get a ban though.
Moral of the story; politics forum is for gimps and crusties.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Around here your nobody until your banned from at least one forum, welcome to the BBC (Banned Brothers Club).

Terry

Moved from AH.

Tha Gopher

I got banned once for disagreeing with the personal view of one of the mods. PM`d him pointing out this fact, ban lifted within an hour.

WhiteWashMan

Tha Gopher wrote: »

I got banned once for disagreeing with the personal view of one of the mods. PM`d him pointing out this fact, ban lifted within an hour.

arent you a little shinning diamond of wonder.

Wertz

Much like your shining command of the english language...

DonalN

Wertz wrote: »

Much like your shining command of the english language...

ha ha!:D

leninbenjamin

Mr.Micro wrote:

The country needs a strong leader and not someone who many people perceive as a liar and shady ,more interested in money ,yachts and the like

Rock Climber wrote:

I'm not convinced that you are unaware of this forum's policy on liar accusations.
I'm giving you a 1 week ban to familiarise yourself with it.

Mr.Micro himself did not actually call Bertie a liar himself.

Secondly there is a difference between actually calling someone a liar and stating i perceive him to be a liar. one is an apparent statement of fact, the other is opinion.

I understand all too fully the need for heavy moderation in the politics forum, but i don't think a ban was fully deserved in this instance.

gandalf

LOL pro FF read some of my posts I am so far from that position its frightening.

If a newspaper or other media outlet come out and call him a liar then there is no problem it being said here, until that happens we do not want to be put in a position where we are being quoted as the source and worst case scenario another feckin court case.

Terry

I wouldn't even allow it then.
Newspapers have been successfully sued in the past.

Wertz

gandalf wrote: »

LOL pro FF read some of my posts I am so far from that position its frightening.

Fair enough but the tone from the mods that stays with me from politics is very FF biased.
I mean you wouldn't see anyone getting warned or banned for saying whatever the hell they liked about SF for instance, unfounded or otherwise....hell they're usually applauded for it...

Karoma

Terry wrote: »

I wouldn't even allow it then.
Newspapers have been successfully sued in the past.

If the user cites the newspaper as the source - we can claim fair comment and lock the thread with a retraction of sorts if it goes dodgy.

InFront

If the comments are so dodgy, why wasn't the thread locked or deleted?

They don't seem to be anything bad relative to what usually gets written on the politics forum about FF. I'm sure one wouldn't have any problem digging up a heck of a lot of posts which were as opinionated - you'd struggle to call them outright accusational - as those of Mr Micro.

DublinWriter

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Mr.Micro himself did not actually call Bertie a liar himself.

Secondly there is a difference between actually calling someone a liar and stating i perceive him to be a liar. one is an apparent statement of fact, the other is opinion.

I understand all too fully the need for heavy moderation in the politics forum, but i don't think a ban was fully deserved in this instance.

I totally agree.

Mr.Micro's argument IMHO was cogent and reasoned, in contrast to a lot of other threads I see in other fora that leave Boards Ltd's collective arse hanging out the window in terms of legal exposure.

Stark

tech77 wrote: »

Just reading this thread in Politics http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=54556132#post54556132 and a guy gets banned for expressing the opinion that Bertie has no credibility.

Hmm, the link points to a post by some 12 year old talking about Boyzone.

daiixi

that's because politics is so damn boring.. and those boyzone boyz are so hawt!

David Michael

How times have changed.

Sheep follow.

using the "legal" thing is cool though. I can't be arsed going back in time pointing out the irony.


FTP!

Time Magazine

David Michael wrote: »

How times have changed.

using the "legal" thing is cool though.

Yeah, I guess you can say things change when you've had your existence threatened by "legal" "things".

I can't be arsed going back in time pointing out the irony.

Of course you can't, merc.

David Michael

Ibid wrote: »

Yeah, I guess you can say things change when you've had your existence threatened by "legal" "things".



Of course you can't, merc.

Sure when you have ad revenue coming in.. it helps not to piss them off.

Think about it.

were once a young fella full of heart went forward... Being CNN.... well...

David Michael

Ibid wrote: »

Yeah, I guess you can say things change when you've had your existence threatened by "legal" "things".



Of course you can't, merc.

Your comments welcome. I am not owned

Dirk Gently

Wertz wrote: »

Politics mods in FF bias shocker. No surprise there then. Probably a whole team of civil servants charged with managing PR on Irish forums and blogs.

PROOF :eek:

Seriously though, the mods have made their position clear, I don't much agree with some of their decisions over the months regarding the issue but we all know at this stage they will ban people who they view as a liability to the site.

The knock on effect from that is that Bertie / FF topics are policed to the hilt, creating a straight jacket like situation.

unfortunately this results in a gap between Bertie topics and other topics in so far as a lot more mud can be thrown at other figures, both domestic and foreign which wont be tolerated in Bertie threads.

Lots of opinion has been posted and spun about a lot of political figures, Bertie, Adams, Bush, Blair, Chavez but Bertie does enjoy special protection, perhaps as a result of local liable, perhaps as a knee jerk to a mountain made out of a certain SF supporters mole hill going way back.

Bottom line, if you want to discuss Bertie uncensored go to another political forum and post there. If you like reading amusing wild accusations thrown about by opposing left and right wing posters on non bertie topics get your self a cupa tea and a ciggy and sit back and read the boards.ie politics forum.

padser

gandalf wrote: »

If a newspaper or other media outlet come out and call him a liar then there is no problem it being said here, until that happens we do not want to be put in a position where we are being quoted as the source and worst case scenario another feckin court case.

If you are worried about a court case then why has the comment been left there? Banning the author wouldn't have any effect - but removing the comment actually would.

It doesn't matter whether you are repeating a defamatory comment, or are the first to publish it - you are still equally liable for publishing it. It's not a defence to say Joe said it first. Thus allowing comments after a newspaper has made them first makes pretty much no sense.

meglome

I was banned myself from Politics for a month and I've no intention of posting again or getting the ban lifted. Maybe I'll change my mind but for now its politics.ie instead. There's something seriously wrong with moderation on the politics forum. So why would I want to get banned again for little or nothing. There also seems to be no real escalation process, you post in HelpDesk and hope for the best.

David Michael

meglome wrote: »

I was banned myself from Politics for a month and I've no intention of posting again or getting the ban lifted. Maybe I'll change my mind but for now its politics.ie instead. There's something seriously wrong with moderation on the politics forum. So why would I want to get banned again for little or nothing. There also seems to be no real escalation process, you post in HelpDesk and hope for the best.

Agreed.

padser

padser wrote: »

If you are worried about a court case then why has the comment been left there? Banning the author wouldn't have any effect - but removing the comment actually would.

Most comments are removed.
The one Mr micro made wasn't because it doesn't seem to be a direct accusation.It could be read as an effort to flout the spirit of the instruction given though which for a regular poster who should have been aware of the policy on the board did require some action.
A weeks ban was a measured response,I think,given that it's policy to give a 1 month ban for taking the michael altogether with our instructions by using the "liar" word.

David Michael wrote:

Agreed

Actually Merc, very, very few people are banned on politics on a day to day basis.
I can get the actual stats for you if you like but suffice to say that of the hundreds of posters,probably 99% adhere to mod instructions and post within the rules.

gandalf

padser wrote: »

If you are worried about a court case then why has the comment been left there? Banning the author wouldn't have any effect - but removing the comment actually would.

It doesn't matter whether you are repeating a defamatory comment, or are the first to publish it - you are still equally liable for publishing it. It's not a defence to say Joe said it first. Thus allowing comments after a newspaper has made them first makes pretty much no sense.

Firstly I didn't ban the user, Tristrame did. He has stated his reasons behind the ban, seems harse but then again where do we draw the line. You're not going to get After Hours type moderation in the Politics board it is a lot stricter to try and foster debate not "x is a lying tosser".

I see alot of whinges from users here who have fallen foul because we took the position not to have Politics become a cheerleader for certain parties that have a certain affiliation with illegal organisations. So what, if you don't want to post good riddance. One user (who has replied here) in particular seems to post "controversially" to massage their own ego imho and has had several usernames sitebanned. I really don't know why the admins let them come back under new guises but hey thats their prerogative as they put the real effort and cash into the site.

Maybe if you stopped whinging and suggested proper alternatives to the areas of moderation that they are not happy with then things could improve. Far from the mods all being from one political ilk they are varied from the point of view of politics and their real life activities. Personally and putting my cards on the table I am an ex member of the Labour party and work in the private sector and personally cannot stand Fianna Fail and all they stand for. The only area I see an imbalance in is we don't have a woman mod on Politics.

Terry

gandalf wrote:

Firstly I didn't ban the user, Tristrame did. He has stated his reasons behind the ban, seems harse but then again where do we draw the line. You're not going to get After Hours type moderation in the Politics board it is a lot stricter to try and foster debate not "x is a lying tosser".

Just to set things straight; we do get a few "Berite is a tosser" type threads on AH. However, we do not allow unfounded allegations about anyone. Postsof that type are deleted.

gandalf

LOL I can't win