[Resolved] Warning in Politics

I would like to appeal a warning in politics and the follow up warning of a site wide ban please.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117779359#Comment_117779359

not only do I feel this was an overly excessive warning, but also the follow up threat from the moderator:

"Next snarky comment and I'm sitebanning you. You've been sanctioned more than sufficient times to know that your bile and your windup tactics are unacceptable here.

Final warning."

Spear

I've alerted the politics cmod to this.

Dizzyblonde

Hi Aegir, I'll be looking into this for you. Could you post your PM exchange with the moderator please?

I hope a screen shot is ok?

Dizzyblonde

Okay, I spent time last night looking at your post, the thread in question and DRP archive and I think it's fair to say that you've had quite a few sanctions and run-ins on Boards for the same posting style. This post was your third one-liner in a row, and caustic rather than discussing where the other poster's statement was wrong.

You've had temporary bans in the past, and in my opinion the moderator wasn't threatening you - he was telling you that you're on your last chance.

So as far as I'm concerned the warning was deserved and I'm upholding it. I'm pretty sure I've urged you to reconsider your posting style before, you know the standard that's expected in the Politics forum.

You can have an Admin review my decision if you like?

Yes please.

i have made my opinions known about the previous infractions etc and the bias in moderating.

there are certain standards in the politics, I appreciate that they just aren’t applied in an even manner

I would like a C mod to review this.

Dizzyblonde

I am a CMod.

I'll inform Admin and get someone to take a look for you.

Apologies, an admin.

Will an admin be looking in to this?

Hello, is there anybody there?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117846788#Comment_117846788

Hi Dizzyblonde

I am still waiting for an admin to contact me.

Is this still the correct forum for resolving disputes, or should I be posting somewhere else?

Beasty

You are in the right place. Unfortunately we are currently short-handed and this appeal had not been spotted. I will try and have a look at this over the next day or so (hopefully this evening, but that may depend on what else crops up)

Beasty

The first question I have asked myself here was whether your post was against forum rules, or indeed mod instructions

From the charter

"Repeated one liner, low quality style posts will result in a ban. Threads (and posts) that are not based on serious and legitimate Political discussion will be deleted without warning."

There was no "quality" whatsoever in your post. As mentioned by the mod it was a snarky comment

I have looked at the thread in question and note the following 2 mod instructions just a few posts above your own

1. "back to discussing what's being discussed please. Nobody is interested in a squabble" - that was directed at a specific poster, but you were actually party to the "squabble", and regardless of that the mod instruction was relevant to everyone
2. "Aegir, if you have an issue with a post report it. The Mods will get to it in time. Backseat modding just derails the thread." - The post subject to this warning was not backseat modding, but you had been warned already about your behaviour in the thread-

In the absence of other factors, and given the strict way the Politics Charter is set out and applied, I think a 1 point warning would probably have been appropriate.

Unfortunately though there were other factors, as already pointed out by the CMod. You have actually had 4 additional appeals against forum bans in Politics in the last 13 months. This is where the additional comments by the mod are relevant. You picked up a 2 point warning here. Based on your past record in the forum I think it would have been another forum ban, but unfortunately we do not have the ability to apply bans at forum level on the new platform. This feature will hopefully be added but currently the only way we can prevent anyone posting in any forum is via a siteban.

The structure behind the new platform helps explain the mod's comment. On the old platform sitebans were the reserve of Site Administrators unless there were exceptional circumstances. On the new platform, 5 points and a siteban is applied automatically. Each point adds one week to the ban duration. Hence if you had picked up additional forum warnings you would quickly have found your account sitebanned. That would have been via the platform structure rather than being applied "directly" by the mod. It was though a very important message for the mod to get across to you. Perhaps they could have added a bit more narrative along the lines I am setting out here, but it was a very distinct possibility.

To summarise my decision here -

1. was a 2 point warning warranted? Given your record in the forum, yes
2. Was the mod comment about a possible siteban appropriate - yes

Hence I am upholding this sanction

I would add that because the warning was applied more than 2 weeks ago the "points" associated with it are now dropped. However if you were to pick up 5 "active" points a siteban would follow. I would therefore urge you to pay more attention to local charters and indeed any specific mod warnings going forward

I appreciate your thorough response. When taken in isolation, I would agree my record is less than stellar.

my opinion and others in the forum, is that the moderating is not fair and shows a distinct bias. The one liner was a response to a sarcastic comment, one which I did report as I did plenty of other one liners, news dumps etc. these all seem to be perfectly acceptable if they are views shared by the moderator, but result in sanction if they don’t.

and, one point I do take exception to, I have never shown any “bile” on that forum, despite obvious bile being directed at me and other posters. All of which seems to be acceptable to a certain moderator, a C Mod no less

it is beyond a joke at this stage

Beasty

I am not going to comment on other posts, other than to say that, unlike the prior platform, "official" warnings issued to other users are not visible to non-Mods

I can though confirm that I am happy with the mod's actions here, and this is being marked resolved