I'm going to give all of you a heads up on something going forward.
There have been discussions with Staff members about enforcing the guidelines where we've been lax in the past. A lot of that mindset is for the board to plainly and simply avoid all semblance of condoning bullying or harassing members, or groups of members. I've told y'all before that there is never going to be a list of prohibited words, and that's true. Guideline #2 has always been a big deal to the ownership, and they have given us a directive to remove from view racial slurs, whatever those are, and we act on this as soon as we see them, but there is no specific list of slurs that we prohibit, Staff deals with it on a case by case basis.
Slightly similar to that, Staff has been given leeway to begin to enforce the usage of certain language in these forums in a way that helps prevent bullying or harassment. We can interpret this kinds of language in a way that if we feel that the post is meant to invoke harassment or a bullying attitude toward a group of members, we can issue infractions and remove it from view and issue infractions.
No one hates censorship on a forum more than I do, and those of you who know me have seen how I have used that in the past. I'm committed to enforcing the owner's wishes concerning bullying and harassment while at the same time being mindful of the slippery slope that can come from editing member posts. More than most mods, I am well suited to this task here.
#21 - ECCIE Staff will go to great lengths to avoid editing, deleting, or censoring our members posts or threads...unless absolutely necessary. Forbidden topics such as underage sex, illicit drugs, bestiality, revealing personal info, medical speculation, or images not in compliance will be removed from public view. Controversial, troublesome, or objectionable posts may draw staff attention or in some cases disciplinary action, but the offending post will not be removed from the view of our membership in any but the most extreme cases. Often times you will find directions, footnotes, or other guidance from staff edited INTO posts which draw our attention. These are for the purpose of educating the readers of what is and what is not acceptable as well as informing others about how these issues have been dealt with. Members are encouraged to RTM posts which include rule infractions or objectionable material if it appears that staff has not already becomed involved with the thread or post in particular.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lustylad
Relax, fred. No need to apologize for calling assup a faggot. He loves meatballs AND cigarettes.
"The word faggot in the UK typically refers to a kind of meatball, while fag is most commonly used as a slang term for "cigarette"."
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Here is an example. The language here can be interpreted multiple ways. The way I would interpret it is that first and foremost it is an attack on another member, and I would issue an infraction for it. However, I don't see the usage of the word "fag" in this language to be pejorative in nature to homosexuals in general. However, I can completely understand that some people are going to read a tone into the post that can be insulting to them as a homosexual even if the post wasn't directed at them specifically. You can begin to see how my interpretation is going to be based on a VERY thin line that I would hope none of you would want to come near, let alone cross.
I will also say that if I had posted this message earlier, there are a couple instances today where I would have removed certain language in other posts from view and issued infractions.
Staff has been tasked with enforcing the new directives about harassment and bullying on the board, and we are to enforce them fairly and constantly for everyone, including groups of members who identify racially, sexually, and ethnically differently than you. Certain language we will be keeping more of an eye on in the future, and this is just a heads up to help you avoid getting on the wrong side of Staff interpretation of your language in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by winn dixie
Next certain words will not be allowed to post. Then threads will be closed at the first sight of any disagreement. Then entire forums will be removed because it was not "hobby related"!!
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As I said before, this will not be the case. I rarely close threads, because I should have already given my input to take control back of the thread before it gets to that point, and specific words will not be banned from here. Some language will be given VERY little leeway though...little enough to be almost non-existant.
Take care.
