Banned for telling the truth about my own city

Kermit.de.frog

tricky D wrote:

Dear Kermit.de.frog,

You have been banned from Dublin City for two weeks for ignoring a moderator's instructions.

Discussion can become heated, we don't object to that, but when a moderator issues a warning on a thread to reign things in, it stops a heated discussion from turning into a mess.

For more information please refer to the Boards.ie FAQ.

If you wish to appeal this ban you can see details on how to do so here.

tricky D

Your post:

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Just ignore the junkies, beggars, drunks, litter, feral youth, scumbags, crap transport, lack of police and general ugliness of the city and maybe you might be able to bare living in it.

Hi, this is the second time this moderator has banned me for criticising the state of Dublin City Center. Note I have not insulted anyone (though the defenders of the realm on the forum have routinely insulted me and others for telling the truth, no action). My post was in the context of a ludicrous notion/thread about what the city is actually like to live in and what outsiders think of it.

Why are critical views being censored or deleted on the Dublin City forum? I'm not the only one.

LizT

Hi,
Sorry for the delay in responding, can you confirm if you have PMed the mod in question to discuss the infraction?

Kermit.de.frog

LizT wrote: »

Hi,
Sorry for the delay in responding, can you confirm if you have PMed the mod in question to discuss the infraction?

Hi, thanks for getting back to me.

I PMed him (her?) before on the last occasion I was banned but took it no further. I did not PM on this occasion as based on the previous it seems to be a cul de sac.

It seems ridiculous to me that a group on the forum can attack those like me that have serious concerns about the state of the city center and nothing is done yet I make a comment everyone who has been north of Grafton Street knows is true and I get banned.

The other time I got banned for basically appealing to everyone to get something done about it.

I don't get it. I was born here, I was brought here and I live here and whilst I don't expect everyone to agree I at least expect respect for my opinion which some won't like but I believe most agree with.

I have never been rude or aggressive to anyone on the forum yet I and others who 100% agree with me have been abused relentlessly whenever we criticise the city center. We are mostly described as weak and fragile or treated as if we are seeing things.

I understand some feel strongly about where they live but this seems ridiculous. This seems to be censorship by those who don't like Dublin City Center being described like it really is (in my opinion) and want to shut out the real pressing issues that exist to uphold some sort of facade like there is nothing wrong.

I just don't get it.

LizT

Ok, I have reviewed the thread. You received a two week ban for ignoring a moderator's instructions. The Dublin City charter states:

Discussion of areas in Dublin is fine, in fact it's encouraged. However, generalisations are not, and bans will be given out for such.

Your post clearly contains generalizations, and while a 2 week ban might seem harsh, you have been warned about posting in this manner several times before. In fact, you received a thread ban in December for posting in this style.

I have reviewed your posts in the Dublin City forum, you have 4 mod actions in that forum in the past year and that's not counting on thread warnings and thread bans.
You say you have never been rude or aggresive yet I can find several posts where you have told others to "grow a set of eyeballs in the process which you clearly lack", "Stop being so deluded OP.", "I love this city and it's people like you that make me fcuking hate it because it reminds me of the amount of dicks in it." You post in an unnecessarily rude and aggressive tone at times and you frequently post sweeping generalizations about Dublin City and its inhabitants. Frankly I feel your record doesn't accurately reflect how disruptive you have been to the forum.

Your posts have generated a lot of reports from the community and I feel that you have become a time sink for the moderators of Dublin City. They feel you are a disruptive influence in the forum and from examining your posts there, I have to agree. As such, I feel the ban was warranted and I would ask you to reevaluate your posting style on your return to the forum or you will find yourself receiving a longer ban in the future and you may even lose your access permanently.

I uphold the ban and ask you to seriously consider your posting style when your access is returned.
You may appeal to an admin if you wish.

Kermit.de.frog

Those quotes are entirely out of context as you should know well since you say you reviewed the threads. I and others were being taunted and treated in a patronising and condescending tone by a sub group that has free reign on that forum to say whatever they like when someone has a complaint.

It is the moderators job to crack down on that and in this case if you read those threads again they have singularly failed to do that.

You can only go so long being insulted before snapping at people like that. I have reported these posts and nothing has been done.

If someone writes a post aimed at me that contains logic and reason and is respectful then fine, let's have a conversation as is normal on boards. But if someone calls me a retard, weak or fragile and tells me they are on the northside of the city center every day of their life and have never seen a junkie whilst making personally insulting comments towards those telling the truth then that is not ok.

You don't see my complaint in context nor do I expect you to.

Surely if the moderators there did their job I and others would not have to respond and I have complained about posts there and nothing was done. It should not even take a complaint. Nasty, understated and insidious remarks aimed at disparaging other posters should be dealt with. It is a group of the same 3 or 4 posters that engage in this consistently.

meh, ban has been lifted anyway but I stand by my points.

LizT

Just to clarify, you have reported 3 posts in the Dublin City forum. I am satisfied that all 3 were dealt with adequately, including a forum ban for some users.

This can be marked as resolved as the ban has now expired.