Cannot Accept Censorship

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A recent post of mine Get the Wambulance! has been removed from the open discussion forums. Bec asked me to censor myself. The claim was that this post was "intended to belittle other members." This is certainly not true. It was a random idea I had, and I thought it was funny. In some of my recent posts, I've been complaining more than anyone anyway, so obviously I'm not trying to belittle myself.

The fact is I cannot bear a forum that decides my sense of humor should be censored, especially when I'm not directing it at anyone. Since the moderators have decided to take a heavy hand and go against freedom of speech, I cannot remain.

If the WrongPlanet.net forums must choose censorship over freedom, I must leave.

By the way, here's the original post:

And here are the messages exchanged between Bec and me:




This may seem like something too minor to get so worked up over, but I must side with my principles.

flip off censorship

Last edited by Renagade on 05 Nov 2005, 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I bet Sean hasn't been censored once. There is clear favouritism on this site.

It should be renamed "RightPlanet - the online resource and community for right-wingers with Asperger's Syndrome". NO WELFARE RECIPIENTS ALLOWED

NeantHumain,

I do not see anything wrong with you post. Unfortunately I am not a mod anymore and therefore cannot add point of view.

I would suggest to you in this case however to appeal to Alex. He does have the power to override the mods since this is his site.

Renegade - I would suggest removing the c word. I guess I am going to have to have a look at the curse filter.

I usually don't invoke executive privelage, but I think that censorship for no reason is bad. I don't know why this was moved in the first place... The thread has been moved back to the general discussion forum. I apologize for the mod's hasty actions.

I don't know if this is a joke... I'd say that the mods are currently favoring more liberal views at the moment. Ideally there shouldn't be any bias. I am working on fixing the bias issue.

cool, alex!

No it is not a joke. There is a right-wing bias, as this is an American site, and I want to ask you if Sean has yet received moderation for unacceptable comments regarding welfare recipients, and personal comments towards me. I also want to know if Ascan has been censored for his unacceptable racist comments.

Many of the moderators are really liberal british people, actually.

Hardly....

If you check the moderators list Robert, you will find several British moderators and a number of left wingers and liberals. We have to step in to moderate posters on both ends of the political spectrum - not for expressing their views, but for making posts which break the site rules - including personal attacks on other members. It is hard to draw a line in the sand beyond which expressing opinions becomes offensive, which is possibly what Alex is referring to in terms of liberal bias. If you stick to attacking the argument and not the person, you'll be fine.

Ascan is clearly making racist comments and baiting me by insulting me over my middle-class background!! I want him sorting out!!

And Sean. Making comments about welfare recepients. Considering many on this site claim benefits, this is very insensitive. I want him sorting out as well.

Sure, the Mods are left-wing, but they shouldn't be afraid to censor right-wingers as well as their own. I still have faith in the Mods' judgement, but there is some weird reverse-psychology going on, where people like Vivi are afraid to moderate Sean for fear of being called biased. In doing so, they become biased against the leftists who cannot call them biased. Do you see what I mean?

what utter tosh, robert. you have been censured - not "censored", please note, and it's wise to make sure one knows what one is talking about (including vocabulary) if one wishes to engage in any political involvement - for making personal attacks, which is a violation of the TOS. the members you mention have made no such attacks in the instance to which you refer, and so do not need to be "moderated". they have merely expressed their personal views, views which i find as offensive as you do, if not more so. however, in my capacity as a Moderator, i am not here to censure or censor people who disagree with my views, however distasteful i find them, but to ensure that the TOS are adhered to.

as duncvis says above, and as i and other Moderators have said many times, attacking the argument and not the person is acceptable - that's called debate, if there's qualification.

as far as neanthumain's original thread is concerned, the term "wambulance" is, according to the urban dictionary:

"A fictional abulance or rescue squad for someone who cries or whines, most often without provication. A way to insult someone whom often cries for no apparent reason; a cry baby, a brat, or someone suffering from hypochondria."

i think, given recent events, as Bec said, it was in particularly poor taste.

in addition, if you check the list of moderators, you can see that there are 3 out of 20 mods from the UK. duncvis' and my political leanings are obvious - i can't (and wouldn't, anyway) speak for any other of the mods.

Good on you, Alex. As for giving him an official warning, sheesh! Bec asked him to move it. You can't ask him to do something, and if he says no, give him an official warning. That's exactly what "asking" is about.

Let me explain. As I said, this is because of recent events. There are people who are depressed and suicidal, and they need to be taken seriously. If we had a 'wambulance' when Freund was here, I am sure most people would have recommended it to him.

I saw NeantHumain's thread, and wasn't exactly sure how to take it. I googled 'wambulance' and found the definition that vetivert posted. I thought that was inappropriate for a forum like WrongPlanet, which, as I said before, has members who have issues and problems that need to be treated with sensitivity.

I did not make the decision to send the advisory or the official warning to NeantHumain by myself, that decision was made by all of us (the other moderators and I).

I do not promote or support censorship, NeantHumain, but there is a time and a place for everything. Unfortunately, this was both the wrong time and wrong place for the 'wambulance' thread.

This is an American site, but as for the right-wing bias, that is not true. I am one of the moderators, and I am extremely left-wing.

As for wanting to know if Sean has received moderation, that is between Sean and the moderators. If Sean wishes to disclose that information to you, that is his decision. All advisories and warnings are private between a member and the moderators, unless a member wants to make them public.

Last edited by Bec on 05 Nov 2005, 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

This was not a literal suggestion. I didn't really mean WrongPlanet.net should have a wambulance that members would "send" people to. It was a joke and nothing more.