# A striking example of moderator bias **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 9, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641 "2016-02-09T18:09:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/41 "2016-02-11T17:48:40Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Who, **Der Trihs**? He’s not banned. You make **slee** ’s point for him. A poster who said the kinds of things about liberals or atheists or pro-abortionists that the poster in question said would be banned - not suspended after persisting in the behavior for years, multiple ATMB threads, rulings that the behavior was OK as long as it only happened once per thread, receiving multiple Warnings, issuing a pleading Mod Note (not a Warning, a Mod Note) practically begging to give the mods an excuse not to suspend him. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/42 "2016-02-11T17:51:00Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You make **slee** ’s point for him. A poster who said the kinds of things about liberals or atheists or pro-abortionists that the poster in question said would be banned - not suspended after persisting in the behavior for years, multiple ATMB threads, rulings that the behavior was OK as long as it only happened once per thread, receiving multiple Warnings, issuing a pleading Mod Note (not a Warning, a Mod Note) practically begging to give the mods an excuse not to suspend him. > > Regards, > Shodan Once again, an example to prove your point would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/43 "2016-02-11T17:56:12Z")
I find it funny. EVERYBODY but me is biased…sure right… Yeah, I see bias (often on both sides here)…or at least I think I do… But at least I have the meta sense to realise that if everybody ELSE has some bias they ain’t seeing…most very likely so do I. Note this aimed towards BOTH posters AND mods. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/44 "2016-02-11T20:50:38Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You make **slee** ’s point for him. Well, not really. To make his point for him, I’d need to not only point out that **Der Trihs** has not been banned, but that he is also uniquely obnoxious in a way that we do not allow any conservative poster to behave. I’m not sure what metric you’d use to demonstrate that, though. I’d argue that we have a couple of conservative posters who’s behavior is comparable to **Der Trihs** , and who have not been banned. Do I think they’re comparable because I have a liberal bias? Could be. Does **sleestak** _not_ think they’re comparable, because he has a conservative bias? Seems equally likely, to me. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/45 "2016-02-12T00:27:04Z")
Moderators ARE biased against jerks and trolls. And it doesn’t make them angels either. Those two things are consistent. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/46 "2016-02-12T01:36:30Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Cite? Did you imagine the numbers, include those who just hover, or is there any evidence of the claim? > > It sounds to me your claim is based on your imagination. Since you do not participate in the majority of threads in which posters on the Left or Right are prominent, you are unaware of this obvious fact. What my claim sounds like to you is pretty much irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/47 "2016-02-12T01:44:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > You make **slee** ’s point for him. A poster who said the kinds of things about liberals or atheists or pro-abortionists that the poster in question said would be banned - not suspended after persisting in the behavior for years, . . . Nah. One poster who engaged in that sort of behavior from the Right was only banned after hanging around for 16 or 17 years. Another poster who engages in the same behavior from the Right, but posts a bit less often, is still posting. Based on Reported posts, posters on the Left have been simply a bit more tolerant of such behavior from the Right, choosing not to hover their cursor over the Report icon whenever they see either of those posters’ names. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/48 "2016-02-12T02:36:19Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > . . . choosing not to hover their cursor over the Report icon . . . What happens when we do that? Does it have any actual effect? I’m confused. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/49 "2016-02-12T13:21:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’m not sure what metric you’d use to demonstrate that, though. How about the ones I mentioned - a pattern of hate speech over many years, multiple ATMB threads documenting the behavior, rulings from the mods that the behavior, although obnoxious, would be tolerated if it occurred only once per thread and only every few weeks, multiple warnings, then a reversion to a Mod Note pleading with the poster in question to back off, then a suspension instead of a banning? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/50 "2016-02-12T14:44:40Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > What happens when we do that? Does it have any actual effect? I’m confused. I took it as a metaphor for “being so eager to click ‘report’ that their mouse hovers over the button in anticipation of finding something worthwhile of clicking it.” ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/51 "2016-02-12T15:52:15Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Interesting claim. > > Any evidence? > > When have there been droves of conservatives to drive off? > Do you think that the Mods were involved with the “driving off” of Wiccans, Fundamentalist Christians, Creationists, supporters of GWB’s Iraq invasion, chiropracters? Others? > The Straight Dope originally appeared in alternative- or counter-culture publications that attracted a much larger base of Left-leaning readers and that group has always made up and continues to make up the larger portion of the membership. > > **Bricker** has proposed, on a few occasions, that a change in the application of rule enforcement might lead to a less Left-tilted membership. I freely acknowledge the Left-tilting culture of the membership, but I have not yet seen examples of where changes in enforcement would result in a change of culture, (unless one proposes that the Mods treat the Left more harshly–which **Bricker** has never proposed). > **Shodan** ’s claim that the anti-Democratic post was not reported (as much?) because the board tilts Left may be true.\* The further claim that the Mods are promoting that tilt appears to be little more than an expression of confirmation bias. > > - I find it interesting that among posters who routinely report philosophy-based infractions, we have rather more Left-leaning reporters reporting attacks on the Right than Right-leaning posters reporting attacks on the Left. (There are posters on both the Right and Left who will report any such attack, regardless of the target, but more Right-leaning reporters will report only attacks on the Right than Left-leaning reporters will report only attacks on the Left.) In general, but not specifically, Liberals are better read, informed and consistent in their philosophy than are Conservatives. That means that SD is a good place for Liberals to express themselves, and, since well read, informed and solidly based people tend to gravitate toward Liberalism, that is why there are more Liberal posters than Conservatives here. Indeed, when a Conservative posts a cogent argument, it is cause for everyone to applaud. and, I say again, political speech is protected, even on a message board. No message board can legally forbid women, Islams, African Americans, or disabled people – why would they feel is is legal for them to censure political speech.? ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/52 "2016-02-12T16:21:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > You tried to pre-empt the drama by creating the drama yourself. You didn’t have to say “I understand the GOP wants to tear her down as much as possible and this is more a political ploy than anything else”. How about “I’m only interested in the GQ answer, not what one side thinks the other sides purely political motives are.” Instead, you put yourself squarely on one side of the political argument. That may have worked better, but the result would probably have been the same, given how polarizing the subject is. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/53 "2016-02-12T16:28:28Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > I find it interesting that among posters who routinely report philosophy-based infractions, we have rather more Left-leaning reporters reporting attacks on the Right than Right-leaning posters reporting attacks on the Left. (There are posters on both the Right and Left who will report any such attack, regardless of the target, but more Right-leaning reporters will report only attacks on the Right than Left-leaning reporters will report only attacks on the Left.) > [@Bone](#): > > I personally don’t see any bias in moderation - we’re human, we’re going to disagree. I am curious if the above is per capita though, because with the population of posters not evenly distributed, the above would be expected. I think the point was that **Shodan** ’s claim that moderation is one sided because reports are one sided is untrue (though intuitively it makes sense). ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/54 "2016-02-12T16:41:42Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > ain, political speech is protected, even on a message board. No message board can legally forbid women, Islams, African Americans, or disabled people – why would they feel is is legal for them to censure political speech.? Can you cite the law or court case(s) that support that claim (emphasis added)? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/55 "2016-02-12T17:23:39Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > and, I say again, political speech is protected, even on a message board. No message board can legally forbid women, Islams, African Americans, or disabled people – why would they feel is is legal for them to censure political speech.? Freedom of speech, in this case, belongs to the **publisher** , i.e., The Straight Dope Message Board, owned by Sun-Times Media LLC. No governmental entity can force SDMB to publish - or refuse to publish - anything it wants. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/56 "2016-02-12T17:57:51Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > and, I say again, political speech is protected, even on a message board. No message board can legally forbid women, Islams, African Americans, or disabled people – why would they feel is is legal for them to censure political speech.? Because it’s a private forum and they can do whatever the fuck they want, for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/57 "2016-02-12T20:30:27Z")
> [@crucible](#): > > … > > and, I say again, political speech is protected, even on a message board. No message board can legally forbid women, Islams, African Americans, or disabled people – why would they feel is is legal for them to censure political speech.? The online sites where you think free speech is protected, often required you to limit your free speech rights pursuant to their membership agreement or terms of service policies. The same thing you agreed to when you signed up here. Failure to follow the rules earns you a revocation of your posting privileged. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/58 "2016-02-12T20:53:18Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I took it as a metaphor for “being so eager to click ‘report’ that their mouse hovers over the button in anticipation of finding something worthwhile of clicking it.” Oh! That works! (Failing to understand metaphors is the only thing I have in common with Drax the Destroyer.) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/59 "2016-02-13T01:39:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I think the point was that **Shodan** ’s claim that moderation is one sided because reports are one sided is untrue (though intuitively it makes sense). I think **Bone** ’s point is that pure numbers don’t tell the whole story. If there are 200 liberals on the board and 10 conservatives, and you have 20 liberals reporting attacks on conservatives, and 2 conservatives reporting attacks on liberals, how do you assess that? There are 18 more liberals reporting their own side than conservatives, but… there is only 10% of the liberals, whereas there is 20% of the conservatives. So, who is “more likely” to report attacks against their opponents? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641/60 "2016-02-13T01:42:13Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Nah. One poster who engaged in that sort of behavior from the Right was only banned after hanging around for 16 or 17 years. Another poster who engages in the same behavior from the Right, but posts a bit less often, is still posting. While I appreciate that you are trying not to point fingers, your example is meaningless unless we can evaluate it ourselves, and we can only do that if you actually name the names. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-striking-example-of-moderator-bias/745641.md?page=4)