Censorship

mcsean2163

I live in Ireland. I'm an Irish citizen. I was born here. I've never been to Russia. I met a Russian man about a month ago who has a child in the same school as our child and spoke with him for about 3 minutes, I think that's the most I've spoken to a Russian in my life. I say this not as it affords me any privilege but only to emphasis I am not a Russian and not Putin's puppet as some have maligned me.

Under Irish law, I'm allowed to have an opinion on the Ukraine war that is pro Russian, pro Ukraine, neutral or whatever.

My position aligns with Sabine Higgin's. I think diplomacy and de-escalation is in the best interests of Ukraine and humanity in general.

I have been threadbanned by @Beasty for expressing that opinion in both the Russian and Ukraine threads. More recently, @Beasty threadbanned me from for this comment:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120521103#Comment_120521103

His rationale was that on March 5th, I had been warned by the moderator @Ten of Swords not to talk of Ukraine. In one post only, I had defended Ukrainian men in Ireland against a poster saying they are 'military aged male etc.'. Straight away I was told to shut up.

This campaign to shut me up is censorship. My opinion is different to @Beasty, therefore I cannot express it? Go to the Russia/ Ukraine forums and you'll find vile caricatures and snuff videos but the guy looking for de-escalation and diplomacy is being censored.

We in Ireland are not at war. We are not in NATO. We are allowed to have an opinion.

This is meant to be a discussion forum. But it's not. It's not a discussion forum if only one opinion is allowed. That's a dictatorship.

Can you ask @Beasty ty and @Ten of Swords why they are censoring my opinion.

Dial Hard

No free speech on Boards. Never has been, never will be. If you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to stay.

65535

There's no free speech on r/Ireland on Reddit either if you even think of voicing a different opinion over there.

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120527522#Comment_120527522

Thanks, I thought Section 230 had a similar analogy in Ireland meaning if boards censors opinion that it becomes editorial content meaning that they become responsible for defamation on their platform etc. I'm not up to speed on it really but I'd be surprised if they were not breaking the law.

If you don't like it, nobody is forcing you to stay.

That's basically what autocrats say. If you don't like xyz, e.g. people selling drugs to children, then leave Ireland etc.

Sadly not a lot of other places to go 🥲. Unashamed censorship. I wonder what the regulator would say...

Dial Hard

Which regulator do you think has aegis over Boards, exactly?

Girl Geraldine

If you think Boards.ie is breaking the law, then by all means go to your solicitor and apply to the courts to have a your case heard. So if you are prepared to do that, then off you go and do it. If not, then hold you whisht.

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120527533#Comment_120527533

Sad state of affairs.

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120527979#Comment_120527979

I don't know. Maybe the ombudsman might help?

https://www.ombudsman.ie/

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120527985#Comment_120527985

I don't have a solicitor... 🥲

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120528190#Comment_120528190

The Ombudsman 😂 Boards is not a public service.

I'll give you a clue - it's none. This isn't a regulated entity.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120527879#Comment_120527879

Making stuff up and then getting all upset when it does not work that way is on you. You are not in the States and Irish law applies here, now before you make anymore false accusations, I'd very strongly advise you to consult a solicitor.

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529113#Comment_120529113

Jim, I'd be interested if you could point to anything I 'made up'. I certainly have not knowingly made something up to mislead.

If I got anything wrong in any discussion, I've no problems retracting an incorrect statement.

As I noted previously there have been many xenophobic and discriminatory statements published in the Ukraine and Russia forums with no repercussions. They would likely fall under The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989.

You are unapologetically owning your censorship which I imagine puts your organisation more in the position of publisher than platform.

I cannot advise you legally as I'm not a legal professional but I'd imagine if anyone had to be circumspect, it might be you.

You have accused me of making false accusations. I have not knowingly made any false accusations. To accuse someone wrongly of such in a public forum could I believe be construed as defamation.

muffler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120528196#Comment_120528196

Here ya go.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529237#Comment_120529237

I have not intention of engaging you now go talk to a solicitor.

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529492#Comment_120529492

Muffler, I raised this as an issue. You want to ignore it and make a joke out of it fine, that's on you and your team.

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120529698#Comment_120529698

Jim,

Is there a reason you seem to think you can issue orders to me?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120527979#Comment_120527979

Microsoft?

Antipathetic

You're wasting your time. Arguing with people on here, the more I have observed the discussion on Ukraine, the more I am convinced this site has been infected by pro US propaganda most likely pushed by bots or paid actors acting on behalf of the US government and or corporations.

It wouldn't surprise me if the owners of boards have taken money in exchange for pushing certain narratives considering the sites, recent financial troubles and the disasterous "upgrade" which pushed users away and led to the site losing a lot of you uses.

Also lol @Jim2007 trying to threaten a user for having an opinion by suggesting they need a solicitor, mate the site isn't paying you. You are only a mod.

muffler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120530415#Comment_120530415

The conspiracy theories forum is that way -------->

mcsean2163

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120530415#Comment_120530415

Thanks antipathetic. There's only one person in the real world with a similar view to Ukraine/ Russia threads. I wonder if it's worth trying to start an anti war movement in Ireland.

Beasty

OP

You were banned from the Russia thread in CA

We only have one thread in CA discussing the Russian war on Ukraine

You then tried to shoehorn discussion of the conflict in another thread in CA. Another mod warned you for that

You repeated that in another thread in CA and I banned you from that thread

And I will ban you from any other thread in CA where you try and raise issues concerning the conflict

And to the conspiracy theorist, if someone was trying to direct discussion like that I would have thought I would be in on the secret. I can assure you I am not

Boards.ie: Mike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120527879#Comment_120527879

Hi there mcsean2163,

Irish laws and regulations apply to us here at Boards.ie. We endeavour to follow them to the strictest letter of the law when we are made aware of issues of site or are officially asked to review content on site. Currently Ireland does not have specific internet censorship laws. We are not directly responsible for the content that a user posts here on the platform. See our Terms of Use here if you are not familiar with them. https://www.boards.ie/content/terms?site=desktop

There are specific channels that handle issues that a user may have. Starting a new thread in help desk is not one of them. Your first move would have been to try and directly resolve the issue with the Moderator in question. We also have a Dispute Resolution Forum. If that wasn't progressing positively then you could have asked for it to be reviewed by a CMod and then to an Admin, who's decision on the matter is final.

I have posted numerous times in these situations reminding users that this is not a dictatorship. However if a users comments are deemed to go against the terms of use here then there will action taken on them. The volunteer Admins and Moderators assess these situations with the black and white facts that are before them. When a user is pushing the boundaries of factual, engaging, informed and civil discussions there will be actions taken against that post and poster for baiting or trolling or whatever it may be.

Lastly I would like to point out that making allegations or defamatory remarks against the site is not something that is not taken lightly here. It is in fact grounds for immediate banning of that account. Which I will be doing today before close of business.

I am closing this thread now. I will allow you to make a response but you may only do so directly to me by PM or directly to hello@boards.ie. Do not start another thread here.