Administration & Moderation Notices

[AdminSTB]

With regards to last nights image removal

Despite a couple of comments, this isn't really a free speech issue but a privacy issue.

Taking account of the two points below from our guidelines - which don't fully cover the issue but do point towards it

• Take care to avoid copyright issues, particularly if posting images by private photographers.
• Never post private information about another forum member without their express permission.

A meme image was posted after a change of title, had that meme image been labelled rather than use images of the two people concerned, it would 100% have been allowed to stand.

The image of one user is less contentious - said user uses a variety of images of himself in his avatar here, therefore within context of the forum can be said to be a public figure. I think that is fair use.
The other user does not use images of himself here, nor does he reveal a great deal of private information, although he is well known here and as a moderator is somewhat of a public figure. However, I think it is reasonable under privacy guidelines to have it removed if requested.

Obviously, this has to be looked at on a case by case basis. To give an example, if you found pictures from my council career, then using them would be fair use, if you use my holiday snaps from last year then I don't think that is - anyway as the possessor of a face for radio I am fairly picture shy.

I am, however, becoming aware that some users seem to be taking an inordinate interest in private information of other users. I would recommend they look at the guidelines again, where it is explicitly against the rules.

[AdminSTB]

carlton43 has been banned for personal attacks.

There was an incident yesterday where an attack was made on carlton and was followed up on by a further attack after some mild goading.

Said member had no previous actions or complaints against them and after they apologised in public the moderators decided not to take any further action.

Carlton decided to make a personal attack on that person and insult them by saying they were "pulling a sickie" (the member is bed bound) and then claimed the moderators were biased.

To be perfectly honest, I've just about had enough of the behaviour of some people who seem to think that they can act like empowered toddlers on here.

[AdminSTB]

I have reviewed the thread and discussion on carlton and will make a short comment tomorrow, sorry I'm still working on this project proposal.

However, it is clear that the consensus is that he shouldn't be banned but should just be kicked. I will remove his kick first thing* Sunday (15th April) morning.

* first thing being a moveable feast between 6am and 9am.

[AdminSTB]

I have just at his request mass deleted the postings and removed the account of @trident. I'd like to thank him for his contributions over the years and for his service as Labour Room Moderator. He has decided to leave the forum as he wishes to reduce his digital footprint. I do hope he will return one day.

A part of the reason for his withdrawal is that he has been harassed by A Brown most recently on another site where that member posed as another member here to attack him. A Brown has also been harassing some members by email including emails to employers and on social media. Whilst he has not logged on here for some months, I have unilaterally decided to ban him in case he tries to return, I have also IP banned three of the IP addresses he used, the others belong to public mobile pools (as is frequently the case these days).

As members know, I took the decision last year to make the General Election threads and now the Local Election threads member only. I am now considering this further and would appreciate your input on this matter which is why I will be opening the Discussion thread for 48 hours to talk about the issues raised in this notice.

I will be speaking to the Labour room about them selecting another room moderator for their room later.

[AdminSTB]

I have just at his request mass deleted the postings and removed the account of @benji. I'd like to thank him for his contributions to the forum and I do hope he will return one day.

[AdminSTB]

User wotanskrieger has been banned. I'd like to thank all the mods for taking actions whilst I was campaigning in Lewisham East. I'm not sure if he's was a troll or actual Odinist Nazi, but I suppose he could well have been both. His blog was particularly interesting.

You can all stop sending the complaints in now.

Comments will be opened for 48 hours.

[AdminSTB]

The moderators have reviewed last nights complaints from the Exiting the EU thread.

In one case, we have issued a warning by private message.

In the other case doktorb🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ has been kicked until Sunday morning for a combination of general personal attacks and a false accusation of racism.

The Discussion thread will be opened for around 24 hours.

[AdminSTB]

@wattyler81 has been given a three day kick for trolling in the micronations thread.

The Discussion thread will be opened for around 24 hours.

[AdminSTB]

User @pieandmash has been kicked for a week for racism.

[AdminSTB]

A complaint has been made about a potentially libellous posting in the Ein Gwlad thread.

There was a significant delay in dealing with this complaint because I was attending some celebrations in an area with very poor internet access. I apologise for this, I should have deal with the complaint before I left on Sunday morning but I was waiting for a settled view from the mods. On reflection, this was not a good idea.

There will be a further posting on this matter tomorrow. Then the Discussion Thread will be opened.

Now, if you don't mind I have to get to work.

[AdminSTB]

Following the complaint about the potentially libellous posting in Ein Gwlad thread, we have reached a conclusion.

I have asked @barnabymarder to apologise, he has declined so to do.

Therefore the mods have decided to ban him from the forum for seven days.

The Discussion Thread is open to stop you all taking the other thread off-topic.

[AdminSTB]

The 2019 Elections Boards are now live. I would like to thank swanarcadian for all his assistance with this which has meant that they are up a couple of weeks earlier than I had planned. To be honest, I think he's created a majority of the threads. So Plaudits to him and Brickbats to me.

The 2018 Boards will be archived on Sunday, but will still be accessible and updatable.

[swanarcadian]

Sept 26, 2018 18:25:01 GMT AdminSTB said:

The 2019 Elections Boards are now live. I would like to thank swanarcadian for all his assistance with this which has meant that they are up a couple of weeks earlier than I had planned. To be honest, I think he's created a majority of the threads. So Plaudits to him and Brickbats to me.

Not at all, I'm glad to have been able to help.

[AdminSTB]

We had a spammer last night, thanks to quick reporting. his posts were deleted by a moderator and I have just banned him and reported his IP as a spam source.

[AdminSTB]

User beastofbedfordshire has been kicked for seven days for racist trolling in the football thread.

The kick is seven days due to the users previous history which has involved warnings and a shorter kick.

If you want to act like you are /pol/ edgelord, go do in in /pol/

The Discussion of Moderation Actions will be opened for 48 hours.

[AdminSTB]

*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT*

I will be standing down as administrator of this forum as soon as a suitable successor has been found. There has been couple of changes of circumstances at home which means that I need to destress and declutter my life a little and sadly this is one of the things that I have decided will assist with that.

In addition, the moderation team have all decided to stand down as well for various reasons. This will allow the new admin to have a completely new team to take the site forward. This will take effect from when a new admin is appointed or the 12th of January 2019.

The job on average requires about 20 minutes of time each day when there are no complaints, this is to deal with the trivia of new users, changes of party group etc. When there is a complaint, then this can take somewhat longer but has rarely taken more than an hour a day. If the new admin lives within a reasonable distance, I will be happy to offer a couple of hours training, if not I'll give as many hints and tips as I can before handing over the reins. Applications should be made by private message.

I would prefer to have a new admin in place by the end of January 2019, as I have a potential surgery date in February and I would prefer it done by the middle of January.

I would like to thank Andrew_S, Devil Wincarnate and @strinity for all their help and assistance over the last 21 months.

I have opened a new thread for the discussion of this.

[Devil Wincarnate]

After a conflab of the moderators, @boogieeck has been kicked for a week for a mix of trolling and spamming in an identical manner across multiple threads in the last 24 hours.

[AdminSTB]

Jan 13, 2019 9:05:15 GMT @pieandmash said:

In theory, Tulsi Gabbard ticks all the boxes for the Democrats: she's young, female, and minority. In practice, she is disliked by many Democrats for a) leaving the DNC to support the Sanders campaign in 2016, and b) her anti-war/intervention stances, the latter making her particularly unpopular with the Jewish lobby.

I've received a complaint about @pieandmash 's use of the term "Jewish lobby" in the US Presidential election 2020 thread.

Admittedly it is not a term I was very familiar with, but after some research I understand it can be perceived as pejorative or antisemitist. But this view is far from universal - indeed sometimes it is self-described - which makes it a grey area.

My dilemma (or should I say headache) is that there is a substantial section of the forum who view pieandmash as a racist and fascist - his choice of avatar and status perhaps reinforces this view - but at the same time there is another substantial section of the forum which believes that he merely exercises his right to free speech, and represents concerns about immigration that are increasingly being censored. He has a fluent style of posting which is particularly open to interpretation.

I realise that whatever action I take will probably lead to resentment from various quarters - we've seen it all before on Iain's discussion of moderation actions thread - which incidentally is open - it's just not stickied to the top of the Off Topic board.
Based on this complaint alone, my recommendation at this stage is for people who find @pieandmash 's posts abhorrent to ignore him by using the Block Member facility.

[AdminSTB]

beastofbedfordshire/ physicsguy has been banned following a fake argument between the two from which it has transpired from checks on their IP and e-mail addresses that they are almost certainly one and the same person. In addition to sock puppetry, his posts amount to spamming and trolling also. He's also had previous trouble with moderators past and present.
My suspicion is that he wasn't a supporter of the Conservative Party at all but someone putting on an act.
I had previously announced a more temporary ban but have decided to make it permanent following feedback from other members.

[AdminSTB]

Jamie Redhead has asked me to delete all his posts and threads and his membership of the forum. I have complied with his request.