Zzippy being overly officious (I think)

Richie_Rich89

To whom it may concern,

I recently received an infraction for a post on the Ireland team talk thread of the Rugby forum. In it I used the term "China virus" to refer to Covid. The post, which has since vanished, went as follows:

"Healy's central contract is up at the end of the season, I think, so it might be a sensible time to move on with other options - especially given the financial situation due to this China virus. Leinster would have Dooley, Byrne, Milne and Hanan, and Ireland have the likes of O'Sullivan coming through.

I'm not surprised to see O'Mahony perform well at openside with two physical players alongside him at 6 and 8. He's a smart player, so he's well able to read the game and put himself in the right areas to support play like you want from your openside. What he doesn't bring is bone-crunching physicality, like you'd get from a Kaino. Frankly, I think he should have moved to openside years ago. Maybe he could play 6 if Leavy's at 7."

I believe Zzippy (the moderator in question) has taken a personal dislike to my posting style on the Rugby forum and is looking for any opportunity to pick me up on things I say and give me infractions/warnings. I'm probably quite a passive person, so if people ever respond strongly to my posts I'm not really inclined to argue. As I see it, other people can assess all the information and come to their own conclusions, and it's not up to me to try to change any opinions. I just put my thoughts out there and let others do the same. I probably rarely reply more than once to people who respond to me. I think it's likely that Zzippy interprets this lack of responding from me to mean that I was expecting or looking for a reaction. I try to say what I think, but at the same time I tend to just stay away from posting opinions that might be seen as controversial. I don't post just to get a reaction.

Since joining on April 12 2018 I have averaged 0.79 posts a day, almost all of them in the rugby forum. In that time I have received 1 warning from Awec, 3 infractions and 1 warning from Connemara Man, and 6 infractions, 3 warnings and 3 bans from Zzippy. I have only one warning/infraction from moderators other than Zzippy in the last 19 months. 19 x 30 x 0.79 = 450 posts, 450 posts with one warning or infraction by moderators other than Zzippy. One of Zzippy's warnings was subsequently retracted after I queried its legitimacy. The retracted warning was given out in response to my post below:

"People had probably just accepted that Schmidt wasn't a fan so they knew it was likely Cooney wouldn't be selected. In the 6N, when Murray was performing awfully, Cooney still only got a few minutes off the bench. It was pretty obvious he wasn't in Schmidt's plans, so his omission didn't come as a shock."

Zzippy claimed there had been an error. Now, I'm not a moderator; I can't know how easy it would be to make such a mistake, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility he/she applied it hoping it would slip under the radar and ultimately contribute to a ban.

One other factor that leads me to think he/she is just looking for any opportunity to pick me up on things is that he/she is never out of the "The last 10 visitor(s) to this page were:" section of my profile page. It's as if he/she is making sure not to miss any of my posts, hoping there'll be something there to object to.

Zzippy's argument for giving out an infraction went as follows:

"This is a racist trope that is designed to get a reaction. Classic trolling. It got a reaction and another poster was infracted for that, but the phrase is not acceptable."

I don't think this is fair or accurate at all. Yes, someone reacted strongly, telling me to "**** off" and that I was a "tosser", but someone reacting doesn't mean I was looking for a reaction.

I don't think "China virus" is racist. It has entered common usage and has been used by mainstream media sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-china-51232613

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-virus-outbreak-pandemics-new-zealand-united-nations-650053a830f86dd3da8a001dd6bba129

It is common for diseases to be named after places they originated from/are associated with - MERs (Middle East respiratory syndrome), African sleeping sickness, Lyme disease, Spanish flu, German measles, etc. There are no racist connotations involved. It's simply a reflection of the fact that the virus came from Wuhan in China.

There have been attempts to characterise the term as racist by people or organisations with ulterior motives. The Chinese regime are attempting to muddy the waters as to where the virus originated, so they're no doubt opposed to the use of the term.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/china-peddles-falsehoods-to-obscure-origin-of-covid-pandemic/articleshow/79600233.cms

Anti-Trump news sources have characterised it as xenophobic so they can bash Trump. But it's not actually any more discriminatory than 'German measles'.

I did a quick search of Boards and 'Cass', a Boards.ie moderator, uses the name "China virus" in this post from September https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=114711145

Zzippy has indicated that I should move forward with the appeal process if I wish. I contend that this infraction was given out based on pre-conceived notions by a moderator about me and based on an unreasonable reaction from another poster rather than on the content of my post. I don't think my use of a phrase that has been employed by mainstream media outlets and by moderators on here merits an infraction and I think this infraction and subsequent two week ban should be overturned.

Thank you

Beasty

The Sports CMods have been alerted to this appeal

hullaballoo

The sports CMods are shy a hand or two at the moment so I will offer to stand in as CMod for the sake of this appeal if that is ok with you OP?

You will of course still be entitled to have any decision I reach further reviewed by an Admin if you are unhappy with my decision.

Richie_Rich89

hullaballoo wrote: »

The sports CMods are shy a hand or two at the moment so I will offer to stand in as CMod for the sake of this appeal if that is ok with you OP?

You will of course still be entitled to have any decision I reach further reviewed by an Admin if you are unhappy with my decision.

Yes, of course. That's fine.

hullaballoo

Thanks, I have now reviewed this.

"China virus" is racist. No amount of obfuscation changes this bare and simple fact. Fwiw, all of the other examples you've given are also racist but I'm not sure whether considering those other namings has any meaning in the current context.

China virus is a term that was used by Trump in a propagandistic way to disparage and undermine China in a political move amidst a global emergency where it couldn't have served any legitimate purpose. That is the most notorious source and usage of the phrase and as you probably know, the one that gives it any kind of currency. Similar things have happened previously where a phrase or word has been used by someone high profile thereby changing its nature from innocuous at best or dubious at worst to outright discrimination with no doubt about it.

A very stark example of this phenomenon is the change in the meaning of the phrase "work sets you free" after its use at nazi extermination camps. This is purely to illustrate to you the way context can completely alter the meaning of words. However, I would add that I think referring to the coronavirus as the China virus is inherently racist notwithstanding that Trump removed any doubt.

As such, I am upholding the card. As above you may appeal to an admin.

Beasty

No response in over a month

Marking resolved