# The moderation here is getting ridiculously heavy handed **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 23, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869 "2014-07-23T19:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/81 "2014-07-23T23:54:28Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > “So-and-so gets away with things that others don’t” is an accusation: that is firmly and clearly and unambiguously aimed at the moderators. I don’t think that there is an issue with that statement being posted here. > > As I pointed out in the other thread though, the statement that got moderated went beyond simply making that accusation. The full statement was: > > "I thought we all decided there was a Czarcasm exception to that rule? You know, like a cop not giving another cop’s wife a ticket for something that anyone else would have gotten a ticket for. " > > That went beyond simply making a comment about the moderation: and directly called out the moderating staff as “being corrupt”, and IMHO, was rightly moderated. The accusation that Czarcasm gets away with stuff that other people don’t is, again, IMHO, not proven. I cited a thread in GQ with much worse behaviour where people were not moderated, despite reports. I’m not a fan of Czarcasm or his posting style. But this pile on is not based on objective evidence: but on subjective opinion. If you want to show that Czarcasm is not treated the same as other posters: you guys really need to show more evidence than what has been posted so far. Cause I’m not seeing it. As I said before, you’re seeing zebra before horse in this. Try viewing it in the light of Occam’s razor. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/82 "2014-07-24T00:15:02Z")
\< tiptoeing lightly here \> Just for clarification, I swear, but here’s where I’m confused… Some (?) of the mods see saying that “ **Czar** gets away with things” as an indirect insult of them, correct? Okay, bear with me. But we constantly see all over the boards people say similar things about **Der Trihs** (who, by the way, I have absolutely no beef with) and I’ve very seldom ever seen anyone do anything but take it with a grain of salt. Why the assumption in one case, yet not the other? And no, I’m not trying to be provocative, I’m truly trying to understand. Little help, please? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/83 "2014-07-24T00:18:30Z")
I agree with every previous (and quite probably every future) post that expressed wrinkled-brow confusion at the unbelievably high level of inexplicably vindictive-seeming madness going on in these 3 threads. The moderation here is usually fantastic; it seems like buttons have been pushed, tho, ya know what I’m sayin’? ---
**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:** [July 24, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/84 "2014-07-24T00:18:52Z")
> [@Emiliana](#): > > This is a separate issue, no? …I was addressing another poster in this thread. If you feel the issue is out of place take it up with the other poster, not me. > [@](#): > > One could make a more or less well-founded claim that Czarcasm gets away with violating the rules. But it would still be a complaint, more or less well-founded, about moderation rather than an insult directed at Czarcasm. But it doesn’t appear to be well founded. If you think it is then make the case for it and stop just repeating the meme. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/85 "2014-07-24T00:23:49Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …I was addressing another poster in this thread. If you feel the issue is out of place take it up with the other poster, not me. > > But it doesn’t appear to be well founded. If you think it is then make the case for it and stop just repeating the meme. Uh, okay. Missing the point entirely is, alas, not all that unusual here. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/86 "2014-07-24T00:23:54Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > As I said before, you’re seeing zebra before horse in this. Try viewing it in the light of Occam’s razor. …this is about the fourth time you’ve called me out on this. If the moderators were going to call you out on this they would have done so by now. Please either stop being cryptic and explain where I am wrong or if you fear moderation just stop calling me out. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/87 "2014-07-24T00:24:25Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > I know we really don’t have a vote here, but I vote for option 1. I’ve been a member here for a few years, and have never gotten a warning so I’m no troublemaker, or at least I don’t recall getting a warning, but this episode has been the most convoluted BS I have seen on this forum. Indeed. I’ve been a member here for fifteen years without a warning, and this is far and away the strangest, most arbitrary, overly defensive, sneering, inappropriate moderating I’ve ever seen. I hope the mods involved in passing out the warnings get a good night’s sleep and have the good grace to be embarrassed tomorrow; I hope the mods not involved in passing out these inappropriate warnings can take the involved mods to the side and counsel them into better behavior. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/88 "2014-07-24T00:25:42Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > I was addressing another poster in this thread. I was actually referring to the warning **Peter Morris** got in this thread with my question, not the warning you were referring to. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/89 "2014-07-24T00:25:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I hope the first person to figure that out will enlighten the rest of us. There is little chance of that happening. Figuring it out, I mean. This is right up there with the Trinity for Ouroboros reasoning. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/90 "2014-07-24T00:25:49Z")
…and for the record,I think the op of the pit thread should have been warned. But the other warnings were stupid and should be withdrawn. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/91 "2014-07-24T00:27:55Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > But it doesn’t appear to be well founded. If you think it is then make the case for it and stop just repeating the meme. Where can the case for it be made? Making it in ATMB risks insulting **Czar** ; making it in the Pit risks discussing moderation. Warnings are being handed out with a far greater sensitivity on the trigger than I’ve ever seen before, making it very difficult to know how this issue can be discussed without triggering warnings and/or thread shutdowns. And as an added bonus, there are some bomb-throwers who delight in stirring up the mods who post in both threads, obscuring genuine points; and the moderators in at least some cases seem to be issuing warnings with no clear reason at all, and assuming anyone who disagrees with their moderation is doing so in bad faith. It’s genuinely unclear where and how this case can be made on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/92 "2014-07-24T00:35:30Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …this is about the fourth time you’ve called me out on this. If the moderators were going to call you out on this they would have done so by now. Please either stop being cryptic and explain where I am wrong or if you fear moderation just stop calling me out. I didn’t call you on anything. I just commented on what seems to be your propensity to see hoof prints and think there’s a zebra loose, instead of a horse, in this matter. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/93 "2014-07-24T00:37:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Where can the case for it be made? Making it in ATMB risks insulting **Czar** ; making it in the Pit risks discussing moderation. Warnings are being handed out with a far greater sensitivity on the trigger than I’ve ever seen before, making it very difficult to know how this issue can be discussed without triggering warnings and/or thread shutdowns. And as an added bonus, there are some bomb-throwers who delight in stirring up the mods who post in both threads, obscuring genuine points; and the moderators in at least some cases seem to be issuing warnings with no clear reason at all, and assuming anyone who disagrees with their moderation is doing so in bad faith. > > It’s genuinely unclear where and how this case can be made on this board. …this quite simply isn’t true. Posters in the other thread had plenty of opportunity to make their case and everyone was given a days notice that the thread was going to be closed. No one made the case not because they feared moderation, but I suspect because the evidence isn’t there. ---
**Author:** ![LibrarySpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LibrarySpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LibrarySpy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/94 "2014-07-24T00:39:13Z")
[Everything that has happened before](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=621483) [will happen again.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=667063) [Here’s Czarcasm escaping a warning for insulting someone in 2013](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=706410) and [getting a warning for it in 2014](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=720005). So that, at least, seems like an honest progression. I didn’t find any examples of Czarcasm getting special treatment when he was not a mod, but I have no idea how to search for that. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/95 "2014-07-24T00:39:32Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > I didn’t call you on anything. I just commented on what seems to be your propensity to see hoof prints and think there’s a zebra loose, instead of a horse, in this matter. …feel free to explain exactly how I misread your post. Please stop talking in riddles. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/96 "2014-07-24T00:43:33Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …this quite simply isn’t true. Posters in the other thread had plenty of opportunity to make their case and everyone was given a days notice that the thread was going to be closed. No one made the case not because they feared moderation, but I suspect because the evidence isn’t there. No. In the middle of trying to make the case, I was threatened with a warning and told (well, heavily implied) that I was being annoying and told how great it would be if warnings could be given out for being annoying. My position was profoundly misrepresented by one of the mods and then the misrepresented position was dismissed with prejudice. **Czarcasm** was advised not to post in the thread. I sincerely felt that making the case that certain behaviors should be moderated would be likely to result in a warning against me. You might disagree. You might think that I could have made the case. But can you see how others might feel there’s a chilling effect on discussion that resulted–that we’re sincere in what we say? That we’re not just hiding behind this as an excuse because we secretly know you’re right? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/97 "2014-07-24T00:46:21Z")
> [@LibrarySpy](#): > > I didn’t find any examples of Czarcasm getting special treatment when he was not a mod, but I have no idea how to search for that. See, this is the conundrum right here. Taking the issue at hand, for example, if you see someone junior modding in a thread, we’re encouraged to report it and not say anything ourselves, lest we be junior modding also. From there, the mods can do what they wish and we may never know the outcome if something isn’t posted in the thread. So, how _does_ one search for instances of that to compare and contrast against warnings that others have received for similar rules violations? About the only way that would work is if someone had a lot of times on their hands and could follow **Czar** around, catch him doing it, then look for specific instances of anyone else being modded over the same thing, compile a list and then share their findings. I have no idea if anyone would be up for that, but I suppose if we’d like to revisit this issue in five years or so… ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/98 "2014-07-24T00:59:40Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …feel free to explain exactly how I misread your post. Please stop talking in riddles. I feel like you’re participating in a different thread than the rest of us. One that was closed earlier in the week. That said, it’s not a fucking riddle. It’s a very common expression that means the most likely explanation is usually the right one. Meaning, you saw hoof prints and assumed it was the unlikely zebra that made them instead of the much more likely horse. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/99 "2014-07-24T01:04:35Z")
WTF is going on on this board today?? I swear to Og, there must be full moon or a voodoo hex or something. I think I’m logging off until tomorrow, or fuck, maybe until the weekend. Hopefully all will be back to what passes for normal soon. Fuck. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869/100 "2014-07-24T01:06:13Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > No. In the middle of trying to make the case, I was threatened with a warning and told (well, heavily implied) that I was being annoying and told how great it would be if warnings could be given out for being annoying. My position was profoundly misrepresented by one of the mods and then the misrepresented position was dismissed with prejudice. **Czarcasm** was advised not to post in the thread. > > I sincerely felt that making the case that certain behaviors should be moderated would be likely to result in a warning against me. > > You might disagree. You might think that I could have made the case. But can you see how others might feel there’s a chilling effect on discussion that resulted–that we’re sincere in what we say? That we’re not just hiding behind this as an excuse because we secretly know you’re right? …you’re complaining about being moderated for saying “Your desire to win the nitpickery prize apparently blinded you to the actual claim”? I think a mod note was appropriate there. You didn’t have to write that and could easily have worded it another way. But thats irrelevant. Can you actually make the case? Yes or no? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moderation-here-is-getting-ridiculously-heavy-handed/693869.md?page=6)