# Do not pressure posters into ingoring professional reporting requirements **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 7, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979 "2010-02-07T01:29:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/21 "2010-02-07T05:06:43Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Family law, child protection law, and previously also criminal law. I have had to deal with pedophiles in all three contexts, including the reporting obligations of my own profession. So you know what those obligations are, to some extent? Do they include anonymous internet postings that don’t involve committing a crime? While we’re here, would you mind explaining where I discouraged anyone from following their professional reporting requirements? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/22 "2010-02-07T05:09:35Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Yes, report him to the authorities. Most resoundingly, yes. > > For you to fail to do so, and to continue to provide a platform for his views, is truly pathetic. My God! He’s just a pedophile, It’s not like he’s Jewish or anything. I mean, you do agree that Satan worshipping D+D playing kiddie rapists aren’t as bad as them, right? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/23 "2010-02-07T05:19:16Z")
Long as we’re on that subject, **Muffin** , how do your experiences apply to _U.S._ law? Being that you’re based in Canada I’m wondering how well they compare here. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/24 "2010-02-07T05:26:04Z")
If the KKK and NAMBLA are permitted to exist as organizations, I don’t think the authorities give two shits about some joker on a message board. As long as beliefs stays within the realm of speech, not actions, they’re protected, no matter how disgusting or hateful they may be. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/25 "2010-02-07T06:30:13Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Yes, report him to the authorities. Most resoundingly, yes. For what, exactly? Thought Crimes? Please provide a statutory basis for reporting someone for promoting making an illegal activity legal. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/26 "2010-02-07T06:37:59Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > So you would like us to release personal information about another poster to the general population, so that the authorities might question him for crimes for which he denies outright and for which there is no evidence. … Yeah, the last time that (kinda sorta) [happened](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=306901) it worked out so well! :rolleyes: CMC fnord! > [@Marley23](#): > > Tell me about it. Either we can exercise prior restraint, which we practically never do and which nobody likes, or giving somebody permission to beg for attention while talking about how he’d like to rape children. [del]Cake[/del] death or death? ---
**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:** [February 7, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/27 "2010-02-07T06:40:32Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > So you know what those obligations are, to some extent? Do they include anonymous internet postings that don’t involve committing a crime? I can’t speak for elsewhere, but in Ontario, where I am, the obligation to report is on people who have professional duties with respect to a child and who have reason to believe that the child has suffered or will suffer physical or emotional harm. I am not aware of the SDMB having a professional duty to any particular child, or of Cesario’s promotion of the fucking of infants and children to be applicable to any particular child. That’s why if your law is similar to the law up here, the SDMB does not have duty in law to report Cesario. My position is that you have a moral obligation to report, not that you have a legal obligation to report. > [@Marley23](#): > > While we’re here, would you mind explaining where I discouraged anyone from following their professional reporting requirements? By smacking SmartAleq when SmartAleq encouraged reporting. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2010, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/28 "2010-02-07T06:44:01Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Long as we’re on that subject, **Muffin** , how do your experiences apply to _U.S._ law? Being that you’re based in Canada I’m wondering how well they compare here. I don’t have a clue as to how your laws compare. There is no law up here that would oblige the SDMB to report Cesario for what he has posted. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2010, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/29 "2010-02-07T06:46:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > So you would like us to release personal information about another poster to the general population, so that the authorities might question him for crimes for which he denies outright and for which there is no evidence. Yes. Most certainly. Sorry, pal, but I’m not into harbouring pedophiles, and I’m not into giving them a platform to promote the legalization of fucking infants and childen. Hunt them to ground. Your milage obviously varries. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/30 "2010-02-07T06:58:21Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Yes. Most certainly. Sorry, pal, but I’m not into harbouring pedophiles, and I’m not into giving them a platform to promote the legalization of fucking infants and childen. Hunt them to ground. Your milage obviously varries. While I don’t disagree, and frankly I wouldn’t give a damn if **Cesario** got kicked off the SDMB, there’s simply no justification for bringing law enforcement into it. No laws have been broken; the matter thus far is entirely between **Cesario** and the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/31 "2010-02-07T06:58:51Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > My position is that you have a moral obligation to report, not that you have a legal obligation to report. Report what, exactly, and to whom? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/32 "2010-02-07T06:59:39Z")
Regarding free speech, obscenity is not necessarily covered under free speech. Whether Cesario is/has been obscene is a judgement for other people other than me to make - by some definitions, he is indeed obscene (“a term that is most often used in a legal context to describe expressions (words, images, actions) that offend the prevalent sexual morality of the time.”). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/33 "2010-02-07T07:06:15Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > By smacking SmartAleq when SmartAleq encouraged reporting. What pressure did that put on someone who has an obligation to report **Cesario**? (I’m humoring you here. The answer is none and you can’t possibly be so dense that you don’t know this.) ---
**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:** [February 7, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/34 "2010-02-07T07:13:45Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > you can’t possibly be so dense that you don’t know this.) Quit with the insults, Marley23. This is ATMB, not the pit. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/35 "2010-02-07T07:16:54Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Report what, exactly, and to whom? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12087254&postcount=179](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12087254&postcount=179) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/36 "2010-02-07T07:19:23Z")
I take that to mean you’re admitting you don’t have any argument. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2010, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/37 "2010-02-07T07:24:00Z")
No, telling you to stop making personal insults is not admitting to not having an argument. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/38 "2010-02-07T07:29:42Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > No, telling you to stop making personal insults is not admitting to not having an argument. Then make an argument already. You’ve shucked and jived for this long. And if you think about it, I’m crediting your intelligence: what you’re saying is ridiculous and I’m saying you are too smart to believe it. So come clean already. **SmartAleq** didn’t tell anyone to report **Cesario** to the authorities. He told them to report that the SDMB “is encouraging his behavior” because “companies have personhood as well, apparently, and can be held accountable for the behavior they enable.” So tell me how, when I told her to quit trying to start a campaign to cause trouble for the board, that that discouraged anyone who has a professional obligation to report **Cesario** from doing reporting him. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/39 "2010-02-07T08:43:47Z")
Is SmartAleq’s post spam/promoting a cause etc.? Not remotely. Can the actions proposed in SmartAleq’s get the SDMB into legal trouble? Not remotely. Ergo your admonishment was needless and without ground. Does your admonishment pressure posters into ignoring professional reporting requirements? The admonishment itself is proof of this, for it implies that such reporting should not be made. That no potential reporter would take you seriously is another matter entirely. As far as your preferring to be insulting rather than simply discussing the issue, I suggest you take it to the pit. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979/40 "2010-02-07T08:48:26Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Is SmartAleq’s post spam/promoting a cause etc.? Not remotely. I already explained how it is. There is no other interpretation. > [@](#): > > Can the actions proposed in SmartAleq’s get the SDMB into legal trouble? Not remotely. Then why did she encourage people to report the SDMB on the grounds that “companies … can be held accountable for the behavior they enable.” If you’ll read the post you’ll see **SmartAleq** didn’t tell anyone to report **Cesario** for anything. She told them to report _the board_. > [@](#): > > Does your admonishment pressure posters into ignoring professional reporting requirements? The admonishment itself is proof of this, for it implies that such reporting should not be made. Bovine manure. My post was in line with board policy about promoting causes, and that rule has probably been in place for a decade. People with professional obligations of this kind know what their obligations are, and I didn’t instruct _them_ to do anything. I did instruct **SmartAleq** not to make any similar appeals on the board. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-pressure-posters-into-ingoring-professional-reporting-requirements/527979.md?page=3)