DkIT Ban and Moderator Breach of Privacy

C-Shore

Hello,

As directed by Red Alert, I am starting this thread to find a resolution.
I did not PM the mod who gave the ban because of the breach of privacy which I will detail further in the post, but I did contact draffodx and Red Alert which has led me to here after no resolution.

On this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056120212 I entered into a dialogue with Sarge who is also the Mod of the forum.

As you can see in the thread, we were discussing academic issues. I mentioned that the mod might be able to gather certain issues from the thread and pass them on to the person mentioned in the original post as he is a personal friend of this person.
It wasn't so much back seat moderating in telling people what to do or how to run boards, as much as it was suggesting a way to help the college external to boards.
However, in reply to my post (which I can't link because I am now banned) Sarge named me in person.
I then replied to the post by pasting the rules regarding privacy and telling Sarge I would report him for breach of privacy, as can be seen in the above link.
During the time I was writing this post, Sarge had left a second reply with a warning for back seat moderating. Which I only saw after I posted about the breach of privacy.

So after this, I was given a ban for back seat moderating, which I don't think is appropriate just because I pointed out it was a breach of privacy; I was trying to be fair and let him know.

As mentioned, the Mod; Sarge, is a personal friend of the person who was in discussion so I feel that there was a lot of bias in the way he reacted and the resulting ban is quite unfair.

Like I said, my first mention about Sarge being a mod was not questioning his moderating skills or efforts, but just a way that we could all improve the college and sarge might be able to help more because he was a mod; but he seemed to take offence to this and gave me my first strike.
Then banned me because I quoted the rules on privacy, which I think he broke by referring to my real name.

Maybe quoting the rules was the wrong thing to do, but I thought it was more appropriate because he was a mod and broke the rules so easily?

Draffodx removed my name from the post, but other people who saw the post and also received email updates, have said it to me personally after seeing my name so the damage of this has already been done, what happens with this?

Was the 5 month ban fair just for this and nothing happens to the mod? I don't think it was really backseat moderating in the first place..

Thanks for reading this.

r3nu4l

Hi C-Shore, I've asked the CMods to comment. I can then comment later. The link you provided in your thread does not work. This is the correct link.

C-Shore

Cheers r3nu4l,

I fixed the link, I probably missed a character when copying and pasting..

Talk soon

spurious

Backseat modding, though the length of the ban could be seen as excessive.

Unwarranted remark re grammar probably caused the naming - everyone knows everyone IRL?

C-Shore

Yeah I understand it was backseat moderating in a way, and while I didn't mean it in a way that was insulting Sarges efforts as a mod, as mentioned in my original post here; it was a once off.

I agree that the point on grammar was a bit too personal and should have been put in more general terms; but I don't think that justifies breaking privacy rules, particularly from a mod?
Was it my pointing out that I'm reporting him also considered as back seat moderating? I only copied and pasted the rules so he knew what for.

And that leads to my final point, even though everyone knows each other in real life; as you can see in the privacy rules, you can't identify someone outside of their username/pseudonym..

Red Alert

Correct me if I'm wrong, but seen as you asked him to do something IRL, didn't you in theory break privacy too? Therefore I'd find it difficult to uphold the complaint on privacy.

The name issue could have been easily resolved without backseat modding, by PM'ing the mod concerned (or any other).

I agree with Spurious about the length of the ban - one to two weeks would suffice.

C-Shore

Hello,

Sorry for the delay..

So the first thing would be that no I don't think that suggesting him to do something in real life was breaking privacy rules, because there was no identification of who he was, or in other words; I kept it anonymous.

However, I don't think removing my name from the post was really a proper solution. I said to either Red Alert or draffodx that people got email updates on the new posts or were viewing it live, and said it to me outside of boards. Which means that people knew, regardless of my name being removed later, you know?

Things are getting a bit mixed up now though, so can we clarify it? Was it me telling him I was reporting him or was it me suggesting him to do something outside of boards that was considered as back seat moderating?
If it was the latter then apologies that it came across wrong.

But one thing that I think is important to reiterate on this thread as, I mentioned to Red Alert or draffodx in a PM(again with privacy in mind, I know the dispute thread is different); is that Sarge is a personal friend of the person mentioned in the original post and because I wasn't exactly praising that person in my posts I think there was a lot of bias on Sarges part and then a lack of rational decision making when making a judgement.

20 Times 20 Times

Hello everyone ,

I like these threads , especially when they follow that BIG DIAGRAM up there pointing out all the steps you should take before starting one. Then again some users don't read the stickies at the top of forums/threads and just go ahead and break rules. Anyway short and sweet , your 5 month ban was a mistake , I couldn't change that on the phone that i banned you on. I will ask one of the Admins to change it too 3 weeks from the day i banned you. Apart from that , I have noting more to add.

Also , you keep saying I'm a personal friend or this person , how on earth do you know this ? Anyway im really not getting into tit for tat with you. The Admins runs boards how they see fit and can make any call/ judgement and i will stand by their decision, I'm just a helper on here.

Red Alert

If the ban can be changed to the intended length by Sarge that's fine with me.

C-Shore

Just to quickly address Sarges last question..
I think it was version 2 of "Post your picture" but it's gone now. Anyway, a lot of users posted their pictures and I remember you had a lovely Mexican hat and a guitar so that's how I knew it was you.
In knowing that, I still didn't refer to you by name.

Secondly, I don't think there was a need for the sarcastic tone with regard to the diagram at the top of the forum.
Firstly I followed all procedure as closely as possible by PM'ing draffodx and Red Alert because I don't have confidence in your moderating abilities after what you said on the original thread, where I was directed to here.
I also find your last post ironic after that breach of privacy.

So anyway, until we finalize that ban I want to move on to the other issue raised.
The breach of privacy has been somewhat overlooked.
What is going to happen with regard to that?

20 Times 20 Times

Hmmm I like having boards stalkers :-) that go through my posts to find out who I am :-) . I reckon I posted that picture over 12months ago maybe a lot longer !

C-Shore

Ha don't flatter yourself! I'm in the college about 30 months now so I've stumbled across it..

Red Alert

The brief breach of privacy, whilst regrettable, was at the minor end of the spectrum. The offending content was removed once it was brought to the moderator's attention. In any internet forum that's the best that can be done. Therefore I do not envisage any further action will be needed.

C-Shore

Tut tut tut tut tut tut.

Not even a slap on the wrists?

r3nu4l

I'd like to thank the CMods for their time and for reducing the ban appropriately. I agree with that decision 100%.

I do have some other comments.

C-shore, on the original thread your aggressive tone and attack on Sarge's ability to construct sentences was completely uncalled for and unwarranted. That in itself warranted a ban, regardless of anything else.

Sarge, equally on this thread your snide remarks are unwelcome and unhelpful.

The breach of privacy should not have happened and Sarge is now fully aware of the terms of use and shouldn't be naming any users in future. The mod in question removed your name as soon as it was reported. No further action needed.

I suggest that if you two have any further problems with one another you take it to real life and keep it away from boards.ie.

Thanks.

Issue resolved.