[Resolved] Ban in the 'Cable & MMDS & IPTV' Forum

Schorpio

Hi folks,

Hoping you can take a look at this for me. I was banned by @icdg from the forum for 48 hours, and I'm looking to get that overturned. I have contacted icdg via PM, and they are upholding their decision.

The dispute centers around this post by @babelfish1990 (and the following posts).

Icdg is responding to babelfish, but all in bold (using the mod 'voice'). It's not apparent that this is a mod action - there is no mention of any rule broken/possible sanction etc. Bablefish responds challenging icdg's post, and icdg seems to accept their point. There is no threat of a warning or ban to babelfish.

I then post, asking why icdg's post was all in bold, when it's not moderation but only their own opinion/discussion. I get an instant 48 hour ban, without any previous warnings or bans.

I have appealed to icdg via PM, contesting that the ban is not warranted. They are upholding the ban. I am happy to send on the PM's to whomever reviews the case.

Thanks.

Spear

@MiCr0 If you could please review.

Spear

Micr0 hasn't been too active recently, I've PM'd him, but if he doesn't respond in a few hours, this'll have to go to the admins instead.

Beasty

Apologies for the delay in someone getting to this. I will do an initial review, which can be appealed further to another Admin if you are not satisfied with any coclusion reached

Could you please post the full PM exchange with the mod

Thanks

Schorpio

No worries at all about the delay.

Thanks - PM sent.

Spear

@Beasty Is this still being reviewed?

Beasty

Apologies again for the further delay on this

The order of events were

The mod posted in bold

@babelfish1990 you keep repeating your mantra “BBC don’t license iPlayer for outside the UK” even when you’ve been told repeatedly on this thread that the BBC have in fact licensed catch up to Sky in Ireland.

Now what has come of that deal is by all accounts full of missing content and limited in scope. And the BBC for whatever reason wont allow it to be called iPlayer. But the deal has still been done, and you can’t keep coming on saying the BBC won’t do a deal when in fact they have done one.

You may be of the view that was the mod's opinion, but that is not relevant here. It was a mod instruction aimed at curtailing further discussion of something that had been posted repeatedly by the other poster

There was a reply to that post by babelfish1990

The mod further replied, again in bold (but with some further non bold narraive added to the post)

@babelfish1990

 that is all fine, and the points are well made, it was more the bald assertion that there was nothing in place without explaining the nuances. We might have no further discussion of moderation on thread.

the final sentence of that quote is the important bit. "We might have no further discussion of moderation in thread". That was an instruction to drop discussion of moderation and it applied to everyone.

You then quoted the tinitial mod warning, stating:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122345842#Comment_122345842

Why was this in moderator bold?

Babelfish's points are valid, and I don't think" he broke any forum rules.

That is very clearly questioning the mod instruction/warning in thread. The mod had already stated there was to be no further discussion of moderation and you ignored that instruction. If you wanted to raise the question you should have PM'd the mod and not comment about the mod instruction in thread

Hence I agree that you broke a mod instruction. Did that warrant a 48 hour ban? Well the ban clearly expired some time ago, so there is no "lifting" of it. I would add that this forum ban does not appear on your profile. The only record of it is in the mod post stating a 48 hour ban was being applied and in this dispute thread. The altenative would likely have been a pointed warning which remains on your profile permanently. My own view is the ban was warranted as there was a very clear breach of a mod instruction (and indeed if I did decide to overturn it you would then have faced a pointed warning in its place)

I am therecfoire upholding this sanction

Schorpio

That's fine Beasty, thanks for looking into it.

As a follow-up, I would note that you've stated that I quoted a mod instruction/warning. My reasoning is that icdg's post is clearly not a mod warning. There's no suggestion of any forum or thread rules being broken. It seems to me like the use of mod voice (i.e. bold text) to shut down a particular poster or topic. (Note, the topic being discussed is relevant to the thread, and above board).

Further, this mod post was challenged by babelfish, and the was no ban or warning. In fact, the opposite - icdg accepted that babelfish's posts were valid. Again would add to my argument that the original 'mod' post was not valid or appropriate.

I would further note that other posters also expressed displeasure at this course of events, to the extent that icdg felt the need to lock the thread for a few days to curtail that discussion.

What is boards.ie policy in challenging a situation such as this (inappropriate moderation and/or use of mod tools)? In this situation, icdg has used their position to shut down discussion that they didn't like, rather than discussion which broke forum rules. It surely can not be the case that mods can shut down anything they, and no way to appeal other than to the mod themselves - on that basis of zero discussion of mod posts.

Beasty

If you have an issue with a moderator discuss it with them first. If that does not satisfy you then discuss with a CMod

Unfortunately as we can see in this thread the relevant CMod here is not around much.

The next element in the Boards hierarchy is the Admins. You can start a thread in Help Desk if you wish to attract the attention of one

This thread is specific to your appeal against the 48 hour forum ban. It is not for wider complaints, which as I have alluded to belong in Help Desk.

In this case I am satisfied the mod was acting as a mod with the narrative they put in bold

One thing I do think relevant, and perhaps has not been seen much in this particular forum/category, is that to avoid confusion mods should not mix mod comments with general discussion of the topic in any post. I will highlight this to the mod in question to avoid this happening again