Administration & Moderation Notices

[AdminSTB]

I haven't changed the background/theme: I assume this is a ProBoards issue although it does seem rather coincidental.

[AdminSTB]

I will be appointing mattbewilson as a moderator. This will take effect as soon as I can get to a desktop.

[AdminSTB]

Nov 15, 2016 23:27:49 GMT AdminSTB said:

I need to ask the forum to be more sparing when it comes to posting images, tweets and suchlike. Many of us have posted them, for various reasons, myself included. They are acceptable to a point, but they can take up a lot of space, particularly for those choosing to scroll through "Recent Posts", and mobile users. Just something to bear in mind.
Another related issue that has cropped up lately is copyright infringement. Particular care should be taken when using images taken by private professional photographers - do seek their permission before re-posting their work. Any offending material needs to be drawn to the attention of myself and/or a Global Moderator so that it can be removed with reasonable swiftness.

Please be mindful of this, especially the paragraph in bold. If you put several tweets in the same post, or quote those posts, you can 'clog things up' for other members.

If you quote a post that has a number of tweets, or are quoting a post responding to a tweet, please consider removing the tweet(s) from the quote and typing *snip* so that others can still find the original post if they wish.

Thank you.

[AdminSTB]

It seems that we have lost a member this evening.

doktorb has deleted his account but not his posts. This may be a knee jerk decision in line with previous behaviour. As the slate was wiped clean when I took over, I shall not take previous behaviour into account if he re-registers but I will consider imposing limits as this is essentially strike one.

[AdminSTB]

gwynthegriff has retired as a moderator. I very much appreciate his even handed approach over the last couple of years when things have sometimes been fractious.

The moderation team is now AdminSTB, bjornhattan, stb12 and mattbewilson.

[AdminSTB]

This is a friendly reminder to keep it civil and don't let personal grudges overcome your desire to not insult people, especially when referring to them in the third person.

[AdminSTB]

Four members raised concerns about eastmidlandsright's use of the Wagner Group's logo as an avatar. One as a report, one in a thread, and two by message. I did not initially spot it myself because I mainly use the mobile site where it isn't always immediately clear what an avatar is.

I sent a message to eastmidlandsright asking for it to be removed, to which I have not received a response despite posts being made since my request. I allowed 24 hours for a response. As a result, I have removed the avatar.

Freedom of speech and expression is of paramount importance. People naturally have sympathy with one side or the other in all sorts of situations and differing views should, and will be, respected. However, promotion of groups linked to war crimes regardless of side or affiliation will generally not be viewed favourably. There is no exhaustive list of these groups.

Please feel free to comment in this thread.

[AdminSTB]

There is an issue with ProBoards affecting users both here and across various other forums.

Jan 15, 2023 16:05:10 GMT @socalso said:

Regarding the 410 errors:

Our systems team have been alerted to this issue and are working to remedy this as quickly as possible.

I apologize for the inconvenience in the meantime.

We don't have any local control over this.

[AdminSTB]

I am taking a few days off for medical reasons. I have not been well for a few weeks but the problem is easily treatable. The moderation team have already been told and any decisions they make will have my full support.

[AdminSTB]

Good evening.

Well, this has been a fun weekend, hasn't it. Lots of unpleasant exchanges; allegations of racism, ageism and intolerance; suggestions that people are trolling and threats by members to leave. All the stuff that makes me feel I'd rather be a Millwall fan at an ICF pub in 1986.

I have asked before for people to play nicely. Last night, I asked people to stop discussing an issue: the discussion carried on so I had to lock the thread. If you carried on discussing the matter, you are lucky that you did not get a temporary ban.

There will be no bans as a result of the behaviour this weekend. I appreciate this will disappoint those who have requested that others are banned.

However. This weekend has featured examples of behaviour that will not be tolerated in future. When I stood for election, I said that racism would not be tolerated. This includes antisemitism or hints of it. In the interests of the forum, if there is a repeat of this weekend's behaviour (from anyone, on either side of the 'debate', including trolling) there will be bans. This is the final warning.

Thank you.

[AdminSTB]

Five day bans have been issued to the following members:

uthacalthing
dundas
tomc

This is for contravening specific instructions in a thread about discussions in that thread.

They have been advised by both PM and email. The messages were sent before the ban was effected in line with my promise to advise those being banned of a ban.

I had hoped never to issue a ban but, well, here we are.

[AdminSTB]

Forum member mrhell has been banned following a recent suspended sentence.

In line with policy, he has been advised by email.

The discussion thread will be not opened in this case.

[AdminSTB]

Strontium Dog, mrpastelito and Adam in Stroud have been banned from the International Politics subforum.

In the case of Adam in Stroud, the ban is for five days until Tuesday 23rd May 2023.

In the cases of Strontium Dog and mrpastelito, this is pending further action.

The restrictions took some time to implement for technical reasons and can't be thread specific.

In line with policy, the members affected have been advised by email and DM.

[AdminSTB]

Strontium Dog and mrpastelito have been received a five day ban from the forum.

Although restricting these members from the International Politics subforum might have been enough, reigniting the matter in the moderation discussions thread made a ban inevitable.

[AdminSTB]

I can't believe that I have to post this, but for clarity I have copied this from the Ukraine thread.

Describing someone as 'the Jew' is as bad as describing someone as 'the Negro.'

Do not describe an individual, living or dead, using a racial epithet in such a way. This forum is not Der Sturmer and neither are we pub bores who deliberately chuck this sort of thing into conversation to get a rise out of people.

This is not a request. It is advance warning of a ban. The other moderators will take action if I am not available.

If you receive a ban for this, you will be advised by email according to the current policy but you will not be warned in advance.

[AdminSTB]

Please don't post the George Osborne wedding email.

[AdminSTB]

grahammurray has been banned for five days for ignoring an instruction not to post an assertion. This is not due to the substance of the assertion but disregarding an instruction not to post it or continue to discussion.

In line with current policy, he has been emailed with instructions on how to appeal.

[AdminSTB]

We've had several messages from members wishing to post in the parliamentary by-elections sub-board. This is currently limited to members with ten or more posts, and the rule has been in place for some time. This will be removed today but is, as with everything ProBoards, fiddly to do on a phone. I don't use my work laptop for the forum so will do make the necessary change later on.

[AdminSTB]

The above issue should now have been fixed. I initially changed it on Monday evening but was advised that it didn't change. So sorry about that. If you didn't have access, you should now but you may need to log out and back in again. Please let one of the moderation team know if this still hasn't worked.

[AdminSTB]

timmullen1 has been banned. This is for failing to follow an instruction. In accordance with my policy, he has been advised by personal message and by email, with the right to appeal.

I wish to add here that if you want to call someone an 'alleged rapist', or refer to allegations of corruption, or whatever that is fine. That does not concern me. This was the issue at hand.