# How to flag a post, what happens when you do so, and moderator preferences on this subject

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flag-a-post-what-happens-when-you-do-so-and-moderator-preferences-on-this-subject/916283>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [July 25, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flag-a-post-what-happens-when-you-do-so-and-moderator-preferences-on-this-subject/916283 "2020-07-25T03:13:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 12

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**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flag-a-post-what-happens-when-you-do-so-and-moderator-preferences-on-this-subject/916283/12 "2020-07-27T23:27:08Z")

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For what it is worth, my vision of _this_ thread is to understand actual and intended procedure when we flag posts, not to litigate proper board policy or any particular moderator action. Not that anybody has strayed off course yet…

In a certain thread, **@Jonathan_Chance** wrote that he had recieved over 900 reports. [His response](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/812) was to put all participants on high alert:

> [@Feds 'black-bagging people' in Portland](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/812):
>
> OK, let’s put this thread - give then 900 reports it’s generated - onto what my regulators would call ‘enhanced oversight’.
> 
> From this point forward, everything and everyone needs to be on best behavior. If a questions asked, try to answer it. No personal cracks of any kind about another poster.
> 
> Failure to comply may result in warnings, penalties, banning from thread or forum and will almost certainly get this thread shut down.
> 
> I hope that’s clear.

Forty-two hours and one hundred forty-eight posts later, as described by **Ruken** , the **system** user appears to have temporarily auto-locked the thread “due to a large number of community flags”. **Could a moderator clarify whether the thread was actually locked by a moderator, or whether it was automatically locked by the system due to a large number of community flags?** If the latter, is that intentional?

* * *

In the same thread there is [a post](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/956) by **kswiss** that currently reads,

> [@Feds 'black-bagging people' in Portland](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/956):
>
> This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.
> 
> > **View ignored content.**
> >
> > > [@Feds 'black-bagging people' in Portland](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/feds-black-bagging-people-in-portland/915638/953):
> > >
> > > Look, if you’ve something to say, say it. There’s plenty of disagreement in the thread, but among for permission seems a bit silly.
> > 
> > Okay, y’all are are bunch of conspiracy theory spouting nut jobs. All the “kidnapped” “disapeared” people are in fact in the normal legal process. They are not being put in re-education camps. They were lawfully arrested, taken back to the station, read their rights, given a lawyer if they can’t afford one, charged with a specific crime, presented in front of a judge, will receive a trial by a jury of their peers.

(In the actual post the words “View ignored content” are blue like a hyperlink.)

**Could a moderator confirm whether this specific post has actually been hidden by a moderator, or whether it has been automatically hidden due to community flags?** If the latter, is that intentional?

~Max

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_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-flag-a-post-what-happens-when-you-do-so-and-moderator-preferences-on-this-subject/916283)._