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rabican (rabican) wrote in scans_daily, @ 2009-06-06 16:05:00

An apology, and some ground to cover.
(cross-posted to noscans_daily)

I'd like to start this post by apologizing to the members of this community, particularly those who are fans of color, for having dismissed the impact of cissie_king's words in her post on NoScans Daily last Friday. I failed to recognize people's legitimate complaints in my private response to box_in_the_box, and although my words weren't meant in harm, this did not mitigate their hurtful and racist effects.

As a whole, the moderation team would like to apologize for the manner in which box_in_the_box was banned. He was on his last chance in terms of conduct, but banning him for his response to cissie_king had the effect of silencing his protest to cissie_king's hurtful words. This, too, was a racist action, and its consequence was that many of our members became worried and feared that their speaking out against discrimination, in that post or elsewhere in the future, would be silenced as well. When encountering instances of racism (or any other kind of discrimination), we have to be more understanding and flexible in our moderation, and realize that the reaction to discrimination can be full of anger and hurt, and rightfully so.

As a result of the discussion coming from cissie_king's post and the mod post we made last Saturday, and concerns raised by members on the community and elsewhere, we're making some changes. We understand that there's been confusion and worry about the rules and our methods of moderation overall, and we hope that the improvements we've made will better serve you all and make for a happier, healthier community.

We can't realistically guarantee that the community is an entirely safe space, completely free from any and all discrimination or prejudice, but our aim is to make it a safer space for everyone. Unfortunately, we haven't been doing the best job of it. After reading many of your comments, having longer discussions with some of you, and talking to some of the moderators of debunkingwhite and foc_u - and thank you, everyone who took the time to speak with us - we're enacting some policy changes that we hope will help us continue to strive toward making NoScans Daily and Scans Daily safer spaces.

As moderators it should be our responsibility to provide members with information or resources about discrimination to offending commenters/posters, and take the appropriate discplinary measures when necessary, and so we're in the process of compiling a list of resources that the moderators plan to use as tools in future situations where issues relating to privilege, discrimination, prejudice and oppression are raised.

There were also a number of concerns raised last week about warnings and discipline. This included worries about the lack of transparency in the system, the new double-ban policy, concerns about a lack of even-handedness in the moderation and confusion over how much venting is acceptable under community rules.

All of these issues, as well as the status of box_in_the_box and cissie_king's membership are addressed in this post. Since it gets rather long, we've divided it up into different sections, each of which has its own lj-cut.


NEW COMMUNITY ETHOS.

The following now constitutes our community ethos in both Scans Daily and NoScans Daily, as quoted in full:

1. 1. Scans Daily was founded by girl geeks, and members of slash fandom but now strives to provide an atmosphere which is LGBT-friendly, anti-racist, anti-ableist, woman-friendly and otherwise discrimination and harrassment free. The moderation team is always striving to make it a safer space for all fans, but this is not a safe space. Members come from all walks of life to talk about and share extracts from comics, and not all of them are on the same page regarding anti-oppression theory. Calling out other members or creators for discriminatory or oppressive behavior is encouraged for the good of the community.

Note: Please contact a moderator immediately if you see another member making discriminatory remarks.

Soon to come: a resource list of links for those seeking more information about anti-oppression theory.

2. Do not make personal attacks or insults* in posts or comments. This applies to comments to both other members in the community and the creators whose work is being discussed. We welcome critical opinions, but please try to concentrate on the work rather than the person. It's perfectly fine to disagree with others and to express your own opinions, but if you can't do so without resorting to personal attacks or passive aggression, then that's probably a sign that you should take a step back from the conversation. Our aim is to create an atmosphere where members can be passionate about comics in all ways, and don't feel personally threatened by others. Threats or wishes of bodily harm upon other community members or creators, even in jest, will not be tolerated.

[Coming soon, FAQ posts on appropriate and inappropriate commentary. For now, refer to the section below on venting and "sanitization" of the communities.]

*Please note that calling out other members for discriminatory behavior is NOT considered a personal attack here at Scans Daily. For our specific policy on discriminatory behavior, please refer to rule #1.

If you see someone making insulting comments, contact a moderator to let them know about it.

3. NSD respects our members' rights to privacy and control over their online identities. As far as we're concerned you are your pseudonym. Trolling and attempts to dismiss other posters on the basis of their "hiding behind a fake name" will not be tolerated. Unauthorized public release of a fellow member's contact information will result in immediate banning.

WARNINGS AND THE BAN SYSTEM.

One of the concerns raised was the lack of transparency and sometime confusion regarding official warnings. The new system, as described in our amended policy aims to clarify what constitutes an official warning, under what circumstances an official warning will be given and under what circumstances a user will be banned. We aim to be more transparent so all users can see when a warning has been given and at what level.

Another issue members raised concerns about was the "dual banning" system, where a warning or ban on either Scans Daily or NoScans Daily would carry over to the other community. On this, we realize that we put this policy into effect without consultation or making it clear to our members, and that the policy is not a popular one. For this we apologize. That rule has been repealed and any official warnings or bans given from now or previously will only apply on the community in which they are given.

In addition, as suggested by tavella, we have made an expiration time for warnings official policy. Warnings will be wiped from the system after 6 months, meaning those who receive three warnings in, for example, three years aren't treated the same as those who get three in a week.

Members should also note that the suspension period for a second warning has been increased from one to two weeks.

STATUS OF THOSE BANNED ON FRIDAY.

With the change to policy above, obviously there were two members - box_in_the_box and cissie_king who were banned from both communities. These double-bannings have been overturned. However, it is our understanding that cissie_king has opted to terminate her membership entirely while box_in_the_box has informed us that he wishes the ban on NoScans_Daily to remain in place currently as a "cooling off" period, a decision we have respected and agreed with. We will review the status of the ban after a suitable period of time.


ON VENTING, AND "SANITIZATION."

Another concern raised by members was the "sanitized atmosphere" of the new communities and what level of criticism is now acceptable.

Scans Daily has always been a place where members feel free to vent and be passionate about comics. We want to maintain an atmosphere where members feel free to "let rip" without being called up on it. We do understand that there's been some confusion about what level of heated debate is acceptable, and that there's been a perception that any negative comment about a work will earn a member a mod note.

This is definitely not the case and we want members to be free to be passionate in both negative and positive ways. The new posting guidelines seek to clarify what is and isn't acceptable. The short version is that it's okay to get impassioned about a work, but not okay to make threats, wish harm on, outright insult or abuse other members or creators.

We understand there's a blurred line between being critical of a work and attacking a person, so we've provided some examples in addition to the clarified rules to hopefully make the distinction easier for everyone to understand.

POST: This comic with Batman is awesome because he punches people in the face. I think Ms. Writer Person should stay on this comic for ever and ever and ever.

NOT ACCEPTABLE: You're a fucking moron and your post fucking sucks, just like you always do. Nobody cares what you think. Ms Writer Person is such a fucktard, I don't understand why nobody's punched her in the face at a convention.
PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE: I thought the whole issue was idiotic and the writer has produced utter garbage. I've never seen the appeal in this writer and this has convinced me even more.
STILL ACCEPTABLE: I gotta say I really disagree with you (as usual). It's pretty damn clear to me that Batman is at his most awesome when he throws batarangs at people's fucking necks. I think Ms Writer Person's run on this comic has been fucking terrible (and not in the cake-stealing way), and I really don't understand why there haven't been more complaints about this shitty, shitty pile of shit writing.
SHOCKINGLY, ACCEPTABLE: I disagree. I think Batman is coolest when he's throwing batarangs at people's necks, rescuing puppies and babysitting. I would like to see more batarangs, puppies, and babysitting, and I don't think Ms Writer Person is the one to do it.

In short, we want to make the atmosphere one where people feel they don't need to hold back, but not where anyone personally feels threatened.

FAIR AND EVEN-HANDED MODERATION.

Another concern raised was a lack of even-handedness from the moderators. If we've appeared to be uneven in our modding, we apologize and are trying our best to do better. We do understand that some members have been noted by a mod for a minor infraction of rules, while in other posts, similar comments have been overlooked. Where this has happened, we wholeheartedly apologize.

We do try to read as much of the content as we possibly can, but sometimes things do slip through the net. We urge anyone who sees a blatant rules infraction to contact us.. It may be a simple matter of the comment not having been read by any mod - we try our best to read every response and post, but that's not always possible - if you feel a rules violation has been overlooked or ignored, please let us know. We don't want to place the entire burden of policing the community on our members, but we do want everyone to feel they receive even-handed treatment, and can come forward if they encounter something that concerns them.


We hope that you'll embrace these changes and work with us in continuing to make scans_daily and noscans_daily fantastic communities for comic enthusiasts. We know the past few months - from the suspension of the old community on LJ and onwards - haven't been the easiest, but if anything, you've all proven its resilience, given how vibrant and energetic the new communities have become.

Once again, we are sincerely sorry for any hurt, worry, anger or confusion we've caused. We thank you for your patience and kindness, and we are tremendously thankful to be part of Scans Daily and NoScans Daily, and the great community of people that you are.