Alright, here's the gist of what we're working on. These are not rule changes, these are moderation policy changes. No site rules are expected to change. These are also not set in stone and are subject to change. Do not take my comments below as gospel. I'm just summarizing some of the changes we'll be making. For the vast majority of you, these changes will have no effect whatsoever. If you are a troll, however, you are being put on notice: You will stop working against INGO or you will be gone.
We understand that the biggest concern is moderation consistency, so Fenway is exploring ways to remove discretion wherever possible. In some cases, this will simply not be possible due to the nature of the beast. For example, you can't narrowly define "trolling" or people will ALWAYS find a way to troll while still technically being within the rules. We also understand that the language rules need to be clearer and enforced consistently. Lastly, people want to know the reasons behind bans.
The requests are asking for a lot to be put on the shoulders of the staff, so there are a few concessions that we will expect in return. I'll briefly discuss them here, but Fenway will flesh them out when he makes his decision.
Note that these new policies will not address the Classifieds. We're already aggressively moderating the Classifieds and there's not much more we can do there, except Classified restrictions will come much quicker. Given the number of classified infractions we've given out over the last month, it's clear that some people aren't taking the hint. Their access to the Classifieds will be removed until their infractions expire.
First, other than routine administration (dupe threads, merges, etc.) or blatant violations of the rules (starting a new thread about religion, for example) we won't close any more threads. You've asked us to punish the offender, not everyone else, but determining exactly who the "offender" is can be difficult, especially when a thread goes ten pages south before a staff member can address it. A thread MAY be closed temporarily while we sort things out.
Second, we'll be eliminating infractions (other than Classifieds). Several people have stated that the infractions aren't working and that people are using them as badges of honor. We tend to agree. That only leaves us with one other tenable option for enforcing the rules, and that's banning the troublemakers.
Third, the requirements force us to be MUCH more aggressive about enforcing the rules. Because you don't want any moderator discretion, we need to enforce ALL rules ALL the time for everyone. We already believe that we do this, but it's apparent that the membership disagrees. This is how we'll do it: We currently have two basic classes of violations.
- The first is a "hard" violation. Things that are cut-and-dried (language, copyrighted material, etc.) Fenway will be taking away our discretion completely. Any "hard" violation is an automatic 24 hour ban. Absolutely no exceptions. For language, if it's not in the censor, it's allowed and no action will be taken. If it's in the censor, then you either let the censor block it or you block it yourself. ANY attempt to circumvent the filter will result in an automatic 24 hour ban. We will not be going back in time to look for violations, and we can't be everywhere. Don't assume that we are condoning a violation if you see it and we don't. Repeated violations may or may not result in a permanent ban.
- The second is a "soft" violation. These are things like insults, trolling, etc. In these cases, a single PUBLIC warning will be placed in the thread where the offense occurs. The warning will apply to everyone, not to any specific poster. ANY further offenses in that post by ANYONE will result in an automatic 48-hour ban. Continued trolling after a ban expires will result in a permanent ban. No private warnings, PM's, infractions, etc. will be given. Everyone already knows the site rules, so the public warning will technically be your second reminder notice. The downside to this procedure is that it will create a game where someone puts out an insult or a troll knowing that no one will be able to respond once we've placed a warning. If we see a pattern to this behavior, the offender will be permanently banned.
Also, you should note that purple text does not absolve you from responsibility for what you post. Too many people are being insulting and obnoxious and hiding behind purple text. If you can't convey sarcasm without being insulting, then you're not qualified to use it. The onus is on the poster to make it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that his post is "good-natured ribbing between friends". Asking the staff to make that determination means bringing in our discretion, and you've already said that you don't want that.
In both types of violations, we expect members to follow the spirit of the rule as well as the letter of the rule. We're not lawyers and we're not going to create rules that are 96 pages long to fulfill every possible loophole and contingency. The rules are already pretty simple to follow and you're (mostly) all adults and should be able to understand why any particular rule is in place without having it explained to you in detail.
Fourth, ban reasons will be made public. In most cases, posts resulting in a ban will not be removed, so that the members can see for themselves what lead up to the ban. Posts may be edited for content (such as in the case of a language violation). Now, here's one of the expectations we will require from the membership. Insight into the reasons behind a ban do not entitle you to be a part of the decision-making process. The ban decisions will be final and are not up for discussion. Petitions to "un-ban" someone will not be entertained. Fenway will ask moderators who are questioned regarding the reasons to direct the member to the Ban Notice thread, which will contain a brief message indicating the reason for the ban. The staff expects and requires your support in this issue in exchange for the knowledge. In other words, we will not be amused if we hear back that you've gone off somewhere to complain about how unfair you think the staff is being. If a member gets themselves banned, it's the MEMBER's fault, not the staff's. That member will be expected to bear the burden and the staff will not be held responsible for that member's behavior. We encourage the members to hold each other to the same standard. In other words, DON'T FEED THE TROLLS. This is the consequence of taking away discretion.
Furthermore, any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban (such as by creating a second account) will result in the member becoming permanently banned. Any permanent ban that is circumvented may (at Fenway's sole discretion) be referred to legal council under US Code Title 18, "Fraud and related activity in connection with computers" (and others). We're tired of chasing down banned members, so we need to pursue them more aggressively up to and including using the justice system, especially when they come back just to troll. Again, the staff refuses to be held responsible for members who cannot control themselves.
Fifth, the rule against posting copyrighted material will be loosened slightly. Press releases and other information that is OBVIOUSLY public-domain will be allowed. However, copyrighted text not personally owned by you or the organization you represent is still prohibited. Righthaven is not going away, no matter how much you want it to and INGO has to protect itself against lawsuits. It sucks, but it is what it is.
In short, it seems we're being asked to take a much harder stance on rule violations, which is perfectly fine. However, nobody likes being slapped down. But we either slap down everyone or we slap down no one. Therefore, we expect the membership to support the staff when action does need to be taken. Everyone knows the site rules and everyone will know the specific consequences for breaking them. We expect to be treated with the same respect and dignity that you are demanding from us.
We understand that the biggest concern is moderation consistency, so Fenway is exploring ways to remove discretion wherever possible. In some cases, this will simply not be possible due to the nature of the beast. For example, you can't narrowly define "trolling" or people will ALWAYS find a way to troll while still technically being within the rules. We also understand that the language rules need to be clearer and enforced consistently. Lastly, people want to know the reasons behind bans.
The requests are asking for a lot to be put on the shoulders of the staff, so there are a few concessions that we will expect in return. I'll briefly discuss them here, but Fenway will flesh them out when he makes his decision.
Note that these new policies will not address the Classifieds. We're already aggressively moderating the Classifieds and there's not much more we can do there, except Classified restrictions will come much quicker. Given the number of classified infractions we've given out over the last month, it's clear that some people aren't taking the hint. Their access to the Classifieds will be removed until their infractions expire.
First, other than routine administration (dupe threads, merges, etc.) or blatant violations of the rules (starting a new thread about religion, for example) we won't close any more threads. You've asked us to punish the offender, not everyone else, but determining exactly who the "offender" is can be difficult, especially when a thread goes ten pages south before a staff member can address it. A thread MAY be closed temporarily while we sort things out.
Second, we'll be eliminating infractions (other than Classifieds). Several people have stated that the infractions aren't working and that people are using them as badges of honor. We tend to agree. That only leaves us with one other tenable option for enforcing the rules, and that's banning the troublemakers.
Third, the requirements force us to be MUCH more aggressive about enforcing the rules. Because you don't want any moderator discretion, we need to enforce ALL rules ALL the time for everyone. We already believe that we do this, but it's apparent that the membership disagrees. This is how we'll do it: We currently have two basic classes of violations.
- The first is a "hard" violation. Things that are cut-and-dried (language, copyrighted material, etc.) Fenway will be taking away our discretion completely. Any "hard" violation is an automatic 24 hour ban. Absolutely no exceptions. For language, if it's not in the censor, it's allowed and no action will be taken. If it's in the censor, then you either let the censor block it or you block it yourself. ANY attempt to circumvent the filter will result in an automatic 24 hour ban. We will not be going back in time to look for violations, and we can't be everywhere. Don't assume that we are condoning a violation if you see it and we don't. Repeated violations may or may not result in a permanent ban.
- The second is a "soft" violation. These are things like insults, trolling, etc. In these cases, a single PUBLIC warning will be placed in the thread where the offense occurs. The warning will apply to everyone, not to any specific poster. ANY further offenses in that post by ANYONE will result in an automatic 48-hour ban. Continued trolling after a ban expires will result in a permanent ban. No private warnings, PM's, infractions, etc. will be given. Everyone already knows the site rules, so the public warning will technically be your second reminder notice. The downside to this procedure is that it will create a game where someone puts out an insult or a troll knowing that no one will be able to respond once we've placed a warning. If we see a pattern to this behavior, the offender will be permanently banned.
Also, you should note that purple text does not absolve you from responsibility for what you post. Too many people are being insulting and obnoxious and hiding behind purple text. If you can't convey sarcasm without being insulting, then you're not qualified to use it. The onus is on the poster to make it ABSOLUTELY CLEAR that his post is "good-natured ribbing between friends". Asking the staff to make that determination means bringing in our discretion, and you've already said that you don't want that.
In both types of violations, we expect members to follow the spirit of the rule as well as the letter of the rule. We're not lawyers and we're not going to create rules that are 96 pages long to fulfill every possible loophole and contingency. The rules are already pretty simple to follow and you're (mostly) all adults and should be able to understand why any particular rule is in place without having it explained to you in detail.
Fourth, ban reasons will be made public. In most cases, posts resulting in a ban will not be removed, so that the members can see for themselves what lead up to the ban. Posts may be edited for content (such as in the case of a language violation). Now, here's one of the expectations we will require from the membership. Insight into the reasons behind a ban do not entitle you to be a part of the decision-making process. The ban decisions will be final and are not up for discussion. Petitions to "un-ban" someone will not be entertained. Fenway will ask moderators who are questioned regarding the reasons to direct the member to the Ban Notice thread, which will contain a brief message indicating the reason for the ban. The staff expects and requires your support in this issue in exchange for the knowledge. In other words, we will not be amused if we hear back that you've gone off somewhere to complain about how unfair you think the staff is being. If a member gets themselves banned, it's the MEMBER's fault, not the staff's. That member will be expected to bear the burden and the staff will not be held responsible for that member's behavior. We encourage the members to hold each other to the same standard. In other words, DON'T FEED THE TROLLS. This is the consequence of taking away discretion.
Furthermore, any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban (such as by creating a second account) will result in the member becoming permanently banned. Any permanent ban that is circumvented may (at Fenway's sole discretion) be referred to legal council under US Code Title 18, "Fraud and related activity in connection with computers" (and others). We're tired of chasing down banned members, so we need to pursue them more aggressively up to and including using the justice system, especially when they come back just to troll. Again, the staff refuses to be held responsible for members who cannot control themselves.
Fifth, the rule against posting copyrighted material will be loosened slightly. Press releases and other information that is OBVIOUSLY public-domain will be allowed. However, copyrighted text not personally owned by you or the organization you represent is still prohibited. Righthaven is not going away, no matter how much you want it to and INGO has to protect itself against lawsuits. It sucks, but it is what it is.
In short, it seems we're being asked to take a much harder stance on rule violations, which is perfectly fine. However, nobody likes being slapped down. But we either slap down everyone or we slap down no one. Therefore, we expect the membership to support the staff when action does need to be taken. Everyone knows the site rules and everyone will know the specific consequences for breaking them. We expect to be treated with the same respect and dignity that you are demanding from us.
