A lot of us have been personally or non-personally impacted by recent events.
There are also a number of those not impacted, including a incumbent senator, who are currently quite active on social media.
It appears OzBargain has in recent days also become a commenting platform for some of those to spread their views. It would also appear that the use of racist and religious comments intended to cause offence are not clearly defined in the commenting guidelines.
Need I remind OzBargain Moderator(s), that racist conduct is unlawful(legislation.vic.gov.au) and falls under a combination of Commonwealth and State legislation(humanrights.gov.au), and OzBargain is surely aware the responsibility they hold in the event that such posts are published on this website.
I now call upon the OzBargain Moderator(s) to:
- Publicly confirm that OzBargain, and all Moderator(s), condemn racial or religious motivated posts that are intended to ridicule, humilate or spread hatred and will actively and timely remove those posts; and
- Update the commenting Guidelines to include a specific subheading for Racism and Religion regarding comments of this nature so there are clear guidelines going forward.
Mod: Resolved
Confirm as we've been doing for numerous years.
Commenting Guidelines
Help
Acting Respecfully
I think what people have issue with is when they land on a page and see a comment that doesn't meet the guidelines and expect it to be gone before they got there. This is unrealistic as we have no mechanism of detecting shit comments before they are made and rely on people reporting the comment (use the report link). We did have half of our staff online from Saturday throughout Sunday morning monitoring some deals/threads we thought were hotspots and engaged to remove comments and ban users as fast as possible. However we also like to sleep from time to time.
Confirm we'll add clarity to that.
Yes, when we update the guidelines, we will announce it in site and guidelines updates as well as my monthly stats/news post.
Again, I'll make the point that it's better to discuss and get quality guidelines then rushing out and throwing something out as fast as possible. Happy to hear your suggestions to add to the commenting guidelines.
Thank you. That is the first confirmation I have received since asking.
Neil we know you and the mods are good people and this is a generally civil forum. And yes, I'm well aware there are PR reasons for a lot of what you do, but god I wish you'd stop kowtowing (this isn't cultural appropriation, I'm Chinese, blah blah blah) to these ridiculously over-wrought demands from someone who has nothing to do but stick their noses in other people's business.
@HighAndDry: Seeking revision of the commenting guidelines to provide further clarity is over-wrought is it?
@Typical16-bitEnjoyer: No, thinking there's somehow an issue with racism or religious intolerance on this forum that requires TWO forum posts is.
Seeking revision of the guidelines just says something about your comprehension skills.
Disclaimer: Not intended to "ridicule, humilate or spread hatred". Don't mod me bruh.
@HighAndDry: That's not really for you to decide, is it?
@Typical16-bitEnjoyer: Nah, that's just a fact.
@HighAndDry:
Where is the second thread?
@whooah1979: This is the second one, the first one was removed with a [Post in TWAM] notation.
@HighAndDry: Ohh. So this is the second post about PC or nothing meaningful?
@whooah1979: Apparently so. I guess the mods thought letting OP post up a thread was easier than dealing with his whining in private.
@whooah1979: Here
@rompastompa: lol. Thanks.
It was taken down faster then a Bolt.
https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hcE-o6…
@whooah1979: For clarity, the 1st post was different than this post and without going into it too much, it involved an issue between 2 users. For general site discussion, using site discussion is fine however when it's an issue between members, it's best to discuss in TWAM.
@HighAndDry:
LOL, sure sure.
It's a community site so it would be in our best interests to listen to the community then discuss internally, and roll out any changes if warranted. This is for features, guidelines, bugs etc and has always been how we do things. You know otherwise we become Whirlpool dictators (sarcasm).
EDIT: Actually the Whirlpool mods put up a post recently about the kind of stuff they have to deal with.
@neil: Hahahahah nah, I won't begrudge you guys doing whatever you think is in the best interests of the site. Its a bargain site after all, not a milk crate on a street corner.
Though I'll note, community-wise, the negs might be a good reflection of that.
@HighAndDry: Going by your comment history, I'm not sure you're the best person to discuss negs :)
@Typical16-bitEnjoyer: My comments don't usually care about what the community thinks. This comment thread refers to it.
Or rather, my comment history should make me intimately familiar with negs.
Yeah, I promise I won't post anything to humilate anyone as soon as I figure out what that means…
This is all a storm in a teacup. There's no way comments on a bargain site has any real life relevant to recent events.
Straw man argument.
I merely identified something lacking in the commenting guidelines that ought to be addressed. It would assist Moderators in any event as it would provide clarity.
Mods have unfettered discretion already - this is a private forum. They can pull numbers out of a hat and delete comments randomly if they wanted to.
People know racism is bad, you virtue-signalling [profanity], get off your bloody high horse.
@HighAndDry: Do you know what a straw man is?
Because I didn't say anything even relevant to what you just posted.
@Typical16-bitEnjoyer: Do you know what "disingenuous" means? Com'on. You're trying to pretend your post has nothing to do with recent events? Yah. Sure. You have a bridge to sell me as well?
To be clear: There are already civility guidelines. Being racist is being uncivil. Therefore it's already covered. Did you need more clarity? Want me to spell out c-i-v-i-l-i-t-y for you too?
@HighAndDry:
I bet you triple checked your spelling on that one before you hit post comment, it would have been funny if you made a typo!
@onetwothreefour: Hahaha, you bet I did.
@Typical16-bitEnjoyer: I do and I fail to see the value in it, if you are using it for its intended purpose.
Why don't you rewrite all the rules and then we can vote on them one by one.
Pay for the rebuild of the website and all the legal disclosure required and then start looking for a way of making money to cover the cost of the policing.
@Toons: Just for clarity: Adding to the guidelines won't garner any further cost to OzBargain nor do we have to rebuild the website. We discuss guidelines and features every day and have changed the guidelines numerous times over the past 13 years.
@neil: What is being asked for is a legal declaration and by proxy the same of the members.
Should you comply to the demand then I would be seeking advice from a lawyer since the OP has posted so many regulations.
Which were someone takes offence to could end up in you being shut down, while the case is looked into which is something none of us want.
@Toons: I say this respectfully when I say that's total nonsense.
@neil: Neil, I understand your role here but surely even you can see this thread most of this page which has been cancelled out for negative votes.
As far as legal action the very fist statement made under racial vilification act is to seek legal advice (which is mentioned in OP's opening submission) once that track has started there is no pleading the 5th should they continue respectfully
@HighAndDry:
Just to be clear, we don't, which is why we have guidelines so all moderators can act in a similar way. If we have it written in the guidelines with clarity, we have to have less arguments in TWAM by the offenders.
Let's be respectful in our discussion here. Thanks.
@neil: I censored myself with the [profanity] (as in I literally typed [ profanity ]) - it wasn't an actual insult there.
Though I guess there's a (purely unintentional) lesson about the foibles of censorship in there somewhere.
(Also, noted, will keep my gloves on.)