Three day ban and threat of permaban in Politics

Amerika

I received a three-day ban from moderator johnnyskeleton for a breach of the forum charter in Politics for posting “Try taking those liberal rose colored classes (sp) off.” I cannot see the thread as I have been banned, but I believe it was the one about [U.S.] Media bias against Trump.

I contacted that moderator to dispute the ban as “liberal rose colored glasses” is a commonly used term in US politics and the comment might have had a level of snark, but it was definitely not trolling or abusive. I then followed it up with several examples where and how the term was used in US political published articles.

He responded with the following:

Being snarky may not be expressly against the charter, but trolling and uncivil comments are. If you hadnt already had an appalling record here, I probably wouldnt have banned you. But youve been causing a lot of trouble for the mods so the next step is a ban. Any more of this stuff and you will be permabanned.

You can go to dispute resolution now if you wish

I dispute the ban and the threat of a permaban.

First, I do not have an ‘appalling record here.' Look at my post numbers in Politics and record here. You may also look at my PM’s regarding contact from mods. Yes, at times mods have hit me with things, but many have been reversed when I explained the meanings of my comments to them. If the mods don’t understand certain US political phrases I use, then please ask before hitting me with a ban.

Second, to state I was banned because I’ve been ‘causing a lot of trouble for the mods’ it untrue from my viewpoint. What troubles have I been causing the mods? By reading the mod's response, it indicates they just don’t want to do their jobs or deal with the complaints from petty members who would like nothing more than have me banned from Politics, and look for any way to take me out. Perhaps you should look at the measure of the posters who are reporting me. And to threaten me with a permaban for anything else that might come about is ludicrous.

Third, I am not a troll and my comments are not uncivil, although at times they might have some biting humor and a touch of appropriate snark based on the quality of comment leveled against me. I feel I am being unfairly targeted by the mods because my viewpoints are contrary to the majority of the posters and mods here. I don’t see the same standard applied to many comments that are much more 'offensive' (against the rules) than anything I post.

Thank you for reading this. I understand I have been a headache for the mods, but perhaps the real problem the mods need to deal with is the pettiness of the posters reporting me. And perhaps look in particular at the poster staking me. I await resolution.

Amerika

Toots

Hi Amerika, I will be looking into this for you. Please give me some time to investigate, and I will post back here with a response.

Amerika

Toots wrote: »

Hi Amerika, I will be looking into this for you. Please give me some time to investigate, and I will post back here with a response.

Thank you Toots. Take all the time you need. My three-day ban should already be over, but I still can't see Politics as of yet, for some reason. My biggest concern is the threat of a Permaban, because the goalposts seem to keep moving on what is considered acceptable and what is not, based on the posts that don't receive infractions. It almost seems at times that moderation is determined by the mod's frustration level and how loud the crowd storming the castle with pitchforks and torches are. My comments are targeted against the post and not the poster, but mods seem to have a blurry line of interpretation in this regard. It's hard to know what is right and wrong when consistency is not upheld.

One flaw of mine is I don't report people for abuse and personal attacks, but I guess that will have to change going forward, since I seemingly now have a target on my head and the natives smell blood. I didn't want to overburden the mods in the past with abuse reports, as they would have way to much work to do if I reported all the trolling, abuse, and personal attacks from the posters with and ax to grind against me. And I feel I can fight my own battles... I have been doing it here for a very long time.

Amerika

Toots

Thanks for your patience Amerika, I'm nearly finished my investigations.

Would you be able to forward me the PMs that you received and sent in regards to this ban please?

Amerika

Toots wrote: »

Thanks for your patience Amerika, I'm nearly finished my investigations.

Would you be able to forward me the PMs that you received and sent in regards to this ban please?

Will do.

Toots

Thanks Amerika, I've received your PMs and will hopefully have a decision shortly. I just need to clarify a few things with the forum mods.

Amerika

You're welcome. If the forum mods state I've been a problem I suggest you look at the history of such. I have more PM's if you'd care to see them.

Toots

Thanks for your patience Amerika, I've finished looking into this.

Firstly regarding your 3 day ban, I'm upholding it (it's expired anyway) because the post was below the standard acceptable for the Politics Forum. On the 30th of September, you received a yellow card in Politics and the warning that came with it was that your next mod action would be a ban.

With regards to the permaban comment, I've spoken to the mods of the Politics forum, and they have confirmed that your next ban won't be permanent (it will most likely be a week) however, continuous charter breaches can eventually result in a lengthy ban from a forum. It's standard practice to increase the degree of card or length of ban if a user is repeatedly breaching the forum charter. While your record wouldn't be as awful as some I've seen here, it is pretty bad. In total you've amassed 6 warnings, 3 infractions and 3 bans in the Politics forum, so with a record like that, it's not unreasonable to say that, while you're not the worst offender, you do create extra work for the forum mods.

Amerika

Thank you, Toots, for the time and effort you put into this. I’m sure you don’t have time to look into subject matter of those 6 warnings, 3 infractions and 3 bans. If you did, your wold have seen a majority have of the infractions and warnings were from comments I made that that were simply common US political sayings which understandably the mods might not be aware of not being from the US, or so minor a matter that making the point 'official' is ludicrous. I probably should have protested more because seeing that quantity, without regard to quality, of the ‘offenses’ is what matters. Since joining in 2010, and having almost 4,500 posts of which roughly 99% are in US Politics, which is understandably a hot topics issue, I don’t consider my record as being ‘pretty bad’ at all.

I accept your ruling, although I feel it was made in a vacuum. I have seen mods come and go over the years in US Politics, and must confess a few of the recent batch has much to be desired. I understand the need to support mods as much as you can, as it is a thankless volunteer job, but supporting the pettiness of a couple of mods pretty much makes me a 'dead man walking' in Politics. But I’ll make the best of my time left here until the few bad apples will ultimately get their jollies by finally finding a way to oust me.

Closing thought... How many time have petty posters, with vendettas against me, reported me... that the mods were unable to take any action because I did nothing wrong? Shouldn’t this be discounted when one makes a comment like ‘you do create extra work for the forum mods?’