Referred here from Politics

Raiser

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055768546

Please be open minded, please follow the thread progression, please consider the logic and try to arrive at your conclusions without bias or tending towards those that you might naturally side with out of familiarity etc.

I didn't actually name any names on the thread as I just wanted to broach this without pointing fingers directly, but looking retrospectively, this outright censorship which is so clearly derived from personal opinion, tastes and views is something that has crept in and sadly become the everyday policy for moderating the Politics Forum - and its sad, stifling and against the spirit of Boards.ie

But what of the thread lock and infractions you ask? Well free speech hurts and we all have reputations and egos to protect......

Zaph

Addressing your point regarding the thread lock first, the politics charter clearly states the following:

Topics should not be verbatim quotes from some article without comment from the thread starter. Add a comment before or after the post, offering your opinion on the subject, or at the very least, your reason for adding the topic.

Please remember that we are not a blog, a news feed nor an announcement forum - if you are not willing to discuss what you post, then please don't post it.

The OP offered very little by way of discussion, merely posting a question and leaving it open with the comment that they are there "merely to provoke discussion". That in itself is grounds for thread closure, regardless of any conspiracy theories anyone cares to come up with regarding censorship.

Regarding your infraction, the charter also clearly states the following:

The moderators will not discuss their moderating in the Politics threads. If you wish to discuss moderation, there is one specific thread to do so here. This is the only thread in this forum where moderation may be discussed. If you wish to discuss an issue with a moderator privately or directly, either PM the moderators, or take it to the Helpdesk forum.

The following remarks made by you quite clearly breach this rule:

Raiser wrote:

The Politics Forum has a Mod that arbitrarily closes threads in the most dictatorial and utterly annoying fashion......

Raiser wrote:

For one opinionated Loudmouth to routinely close valid and potentially entertaining discussions on an uneducated personal whim is in my opinion almost obscene

So you have not only discussed moderation on-thread, but you've also resorted to personal abuse by describing a mod as an "opinionated loudmouth". Your claim that you haven't named names just doesn't wash seeing as that there are only 6 politics mods anyway, so it's clearly aimed at one of them. Either offence is deserving of an infraction and/or ban.

Finally the charter states this:

Keep your language civil

Describing the Irish electorate as **** could hardly be described as civil, and again warrants an infraction for breaching the forum charter.

Now should you wish to discuss the moderation of the politics forum further, I suggest that you use the thread in the forum specifically for that purpose. You can find it here.