# Defamation etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 21, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754 "2016-01-21T03:33:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/41 "2016-01-21T06:51:17Z")
Where was litigation threatened in that PM? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/42 "2016-01-21T06:56:27Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > A PM arrived just now following the thread closure: > > Mods, are there any rules about threatening litigation? …there are rules about threatening litigation about the board: but you aren’t the board and I can’t see any threats of litigation there. But if you aren’t posting links to her private profile, private information or pictures, then you have nothing to worry about. If you are: then doxxing is bad dude. This is really the sort of situation that could have been bought up with a PM to the mods. Because right now, thanks to you, you have a huge bunch of people googling award winning bodybuilders. You’ve bought a whole lot of attention on something that really didn’t need the attention. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/43 "2016-01-21T07:07:22Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Mods, are there any rules about threatening litigation? Threatening the board with litigation is an insta-ban. I don’t think there’s a policy about posters threatening to sue other posters, though. Not that there’s a threat of litigation in the PM you just posted. Anyway, it’s moot now. She’s banned as a troll. Not specifically for the picture - although that certainly was a large part of it - but for the overall “every word out of her mouth was a lie” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/44 "2016-01-21T07:10:45Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > A PM arrived just now following the thread closure: > > Mods, are there any rules about threatening litigation? Just an FYI, it’s possible to report PMs with the report button in the PM, it would allow the mods to see any PM you wanted to have them see, if you ever want to submit one for evidence or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/45 "2016-01-21T07:14:16Z")
Thanks, Idle Thoughts. For stuff such as this, however, I prefer to keep it in the open. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/46 "2016-01-21T07:16:40Z")
Just to clarify one point that was brought up earlier in this thread. This is part of the registration agreement: [QUOTE=SDMB registration agreement as of 12/21/2014] We reserve the right to revoke the posting privileges of persons misrepresenting themselves on the SDMB. [/QUOTE] Also, if you want us to act on something from a PM, please report it. That way we get a copy of the PM straight from the system and we know that it hasn’t been altered in any way (not that we don’t trust you, but that way no one can come back later and say that it was altered). ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/47 "2016-01-21T07:17:21Z")
Just curious, did you actually post, as she claimed: “… links to my private profile, private information or pictures…”, I mean that might be against the rules here. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/48 "2016-01-21T07:20:55Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > But if you aren’t posting links to her private profile, private information or pictures, then you have nothing to worry about. If you are: then doxxing is bad dude. No doxxing on my part at all. That being said, it wouldn’t be doxxing of that person when the person’s private information or pictures where not that person’s in the first place. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > This is really the sort of situation that could have been bought up with a PM to the mods. Because right now, thanks to you, you have a huge bunch of people googling award winning bodybuilders. You’ve bought a whole lot of attention on something that really didn’t need the attention. A mod suggested bringing the matter to ATMB. Had the mods made a timely decision, the thread would never have been started to press for a decision. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/49 "2016-01-21T07:30:12Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Just curious, did you actually post, as she claimed: “… links to my private profile, private information or pictures…”, I mean that might be against the rules here. No, the troll is just trolling, doubling down on the troll’s own lies, unless you consider it invasive for me to have made post 28 in this thread, which links to post 32 in the troll’s thread, in which another poster linked to a pic of a person who was not the troll. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/50 "2016-01-21T07:41:45Z")
Why is this such a big deal to you? Do you anticipate a flood of newbies coming in here to flood the board with phony pictures and fictional/questionable lives? Do you expect that if the administration should come around to your point of view it will undertake some sort of discipline on this poster, who’s now banned and no longer actionable? I’m at more of a loss as to what you’re getting out of all this than I was at what the poster in question was getting out of the story she was telling. Geez, just let it drop. The mods have done everything it’s in their power to do, and at this point you’re proving to be more of a problem to the administration than the current and probable future posters with phony stories are likely to be by far. Not every untoward situation calls for a situation-specific ruling. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/51 "2016-01-21T07:52:10Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Also, if you want us to act on something from a PM, please report it. That way we get a copy of the PM straight from the system and we know that it hasn’t been altered in any way (not that we don’t trust you, but that way no one can come back later and say that it was altered). OK, I will, but I will also post it publicly if it is something that I want kept out in the open. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/52 "2016-01-21T08:35:46Z")
Since no one was asking her for proof, it seems like a rather stupid mistake on her part. And I think this is probably the best way to deal with it. There’s no reason for special defamation rules–someone doing this stuff is obviously trolling. Though I do think people were being way too cagey in the thread. The way it read, it seemed like some people had some concerns, but that, after PMing her, those were allayed. There’s got to be a way to avoid that. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/53 "2016-01-21T09:45:02Z")
If I may, I’d like to use this thread to ask another question related to KE and SDMB rules… That poster stunk of troll from the get-go, based on topic, writing style, and behavior. The “behavior” part was: 1. Getting all fake-indignant and saying “she” would stop posting, but coming back almost immediately and being extremely diligent about answering questions; and 2. Posting only about "her"self in “her” thread - not a single post elsewhere on the board. So, here is my question: would it be against the rules if I had posted something in KE’s thread while it was still going on that said: [QUOTE=imaginary post by CairoCarol] So Kinky, you seem eager to respond quickly to all of the questions in this thread. I am wondering if you intend to branch out and post in other threads to offer your insights and ideas related to topics other than yourself - what’s your plan; will you stick around and post in other threads? [/QUOTE] Had I posted this, it would have been my way of saying “KE is obviously a troll, look at “her” behavior”. But accusing people of being a troll outside the pit is not allowed. So - would I have gotten in trouble for a post like that? ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/54 "2016-01-21T12:04:53Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > 1. Posting only about "her"self in “her” thread - not a single post elsewhere on the board. He/she/it actually did post in a few other threads. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/55 "2016-01-21T12:21:43Z")
> [@spinky](#): > > I would appreciate a ruling as to whether it is better to call [name removed] a prostitute than it is to call [name removed] an asshole and a hack. If not for my boycotting the Oscars, I’d nominate this post. For something. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/56 "2016-01-21T12:24:40Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Though I do think people were being way too cagey in the thread. I totally missed any extreme S&M references. Pics or it didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/57 "2016-01-21T14:22:49Z")
None of you got the hint that might not be a prostitute when you saw those pictures? ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/58 "2016-01-21T15:27:52Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > None of you got the hint that might not be a prostitute when you saw those pictures? Lots of people didn’t get the hint that it might not be a prostitute from the opening post. Probability, perhaps, is not a board-wide strong suit. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/59 "2016-01-21T15:47:52Z")
I really think this would have been better handled in a PM to the mods. Forcing them into a corner with such a post in ATMB isn’t fair to them, or the board. If the OP was really who she claimed to be, then this is pretty shitty. If she was a troll, then all the BS didn’t need to happen, the mods deal with trolls all the time. Putting the board first would have kept this in PMs, not a thread visible to the world. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754/60 "2016-01-21T15:53:37Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I really think this would have been better handled in a PM to the mods. Forcing them into a corner with such a post in ATMB isn’t fair to them, or the board. If the OP was really who she claimed to be, then this is pretty shitty. If she was a troll, then all the BS didn’t need to happen, the mods deal with trolls all the time. > > Putting the board first would have kept this in PMs, not a thread visible to the world. I reported on post 1 that this was a violation - if not for trolling, but for promoting illegal behavior (in most of the US). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/defamation-etc/743754.md?page=4)