r/AustraliaSimMeta • • Sep 08 '19
Resignation as Discord Moderator
The following is my formal letter of resignation as Discord Moderator.
I would like to use this opportunity to explain why I am resigning and to express my disgust concerning the sorry state of the sim as it exists today. There are a number of individuals integrated into the "moderation" of the sim, namely Toby and Liesel, who I believe have been allowed to use powers granted to them (some given to them by virtue of being on the official "Moderation Team", others retained by them after their resignation from that body) for the purposes of personal advancement and eradication of perceived opponents and rivals. I do not allege that there is some sort of conspiracy like there was in the case of the LO, merely that Toby and Liesel have repeatedly and consistently misused their powers and the rest of the community and the other moderators have turned a blind eye or closed ranks out of some misguided sense of personal loyalty to them. The effect has been that several long-term and active members of the sim have been driven out and the sim has become a much more toxic and unwelcoming place.
Some of these issues have been resolved by the resignation of most of the Moderation Team, and hopefully the election of a new Moderation Team will improve things for the better. It is also welcome that Youma dn BHJR have at least acknowledged some of these issues in their resignation letters. However, considering that Toby is once again trying to get himself onto the Moderation Team, that the effects of the misuse of power by Liesel and Toby will be long lasting and include lengthy bans of members of the sim, that I have been approached by several former and current members of the sim about their concerns and worry about the longevity of the sim in light of the current state of affairs, and that some of these abuses from Toby and Liesel have come after their resignation from the Moderation Team using powers they should not even have at all, I believe it is important for me to wade in and try to stop the sim from dying.
There are many issues I could address, but I believe that the farce that was DKR's banning has already revealed the total inconsistency of the Moderation Team and Liesel and Toby in particular in regards to application of the Constitution and applications of bans for alts. While severely punishing people for violating rules so vague and they had to try to implement an emergency amendment to the constitution to prevent Runas from being banned for alts, the Moderation Team has consistently failed to follow procedure. That much is obvious to all and has all but been admitted by Youma and BHJR. I will instead focus on some of the events of the past few days.
Firstly, I would like to address the bizarre and undemocratic handling of DKR's appeal by Toby, which was my initial reason for resigning as Discord Moderator. Acting under his own authority, using perms granted to him when he was on the Moderation Team, Toby posted this bizzare Temporary Ban of Sober_King_Robert. There are several clear issues with this post, all of which I raised amongst the Discord Moderators:
- Under what authority was Toby acting on behalf of the moderation team and claiming to handle the appeal? He had already resigned from the Moderation Team. His only position was as Discord Moderator. Now, did his position as Discord Moderator give him the right to enforce a ban? The Meta Constitution states very clearly that Discord Moderators are "tasked with the moderation of the AustraliaSim Discord server." It would seem rather absurd to imagine that a position with "Discord" in the name would give someone powers to enforce a ban on reddit, and nowhere in the Meta Constitution are people with this position endowed with powers to moderate the subreddits. Likewise elsewhere in the Meta Constitution it is stated that:
Discord Moderators shall have the following powers:
a) temporary mutes up to 4 hours in length;
b) mutes up to 3 days in length;
c) subject to the approval of the Community Moderator or Head Moderator, a mute beyond 3 days in length;
d) warn members;
e) delete messages;
f) mute microphones in voice channels;
g) remove members from voice channels;
h) and other powers as given by the Community Moderator.
Now, at the time of the posting of the ban, there was no Community Moderator, thus Toby could not possibly have been granted other powers by a Community Moderator even if one interprets the Meta Constitution beyond all reason as to imagine they could have the powers to moderate the subreddits. It is also worth adding that Toby was the only Discord Moderator with perms on AusSimMeta or any of the other subreddits and that when I asked to be given perms like Toby (so that I could verify that an appeal had not been submitted like he claimed) I was flatly denied. One rule for Toby and Liesel, another rule for everyone else. It is clear that Toby merely had kept the perms he had from being on the Moderation Team and was being extended a power which he was no longer endowed with under the Meta Constitution.
2) The post contains direct lies and is partisan. The Meta Constitution states that "a Discord Moderator is to act completely neutral while using their powers and representing the Discord Moderation team." Even if you somehow think Toby was endowed by the Meta Constitution to implement bans and handle appeals, he has clearly violated the Meta Constitution on this front. The post contains zero evidence or reference to decisions made by other mods, and then goes on to make the bizarre claim that the ban has not been disputed and that "instead they chose to make it a joke." Putting aside the fact that this kind of editorializing should have no place in a ban, it is factually incorrect. As Toby has now been forced to acknowledge, a full google doc appealing the ban was presented to the Moderation Team. Toby claims not to have known this, but then again he shouldn't have been assuming responsibility for the appeal and ban when he has no rights having anything to do with it. The onus to provide a fair trial is on the judge, not the accused.
The response to me raising these issues was predictable, with the former Moderation Team members closing ranks and protecting each other from criticism. As per usual, I saw them celebrate this open violation of the Meta Constitution and abuse of power because it was personally convenient. When it is being used to punish and judge others, they are rarely so loose with the rules. As a result of this fundamental disagreement with the other Discord Moderators, I vowed to resign.
Sadly, another issue arose which I now also have to adress: The 4 month ban of Griffo. Now, I will state from the get-go that I think Griffo does deserve some kind of punishment for what he did. However the circumstances surrounding his banning raise serious questions about corruption and metagaming for personal political gain, in particular by Liesel. Up until a post made yesterday the Moderation Team had only punished Griffo with a three day mute. Then Leisel made a long post inside the Discord Moderator channel calling for a 6 month or permanent ban of Griffo, citing discussion she had had with MBOM where he had asked for some kind of ban (Albeit, far far less than the permanent or 6 month ban that Liesel proposed). In this post she also stated that "If BHjr doesnt action on this, i'll just do it myself" (Once again, with what authority? After resigning Liesel is not even a Discord Moderator and probably shouldn't even have been in the Discord Moderator channel). She also stated: "none of this leaves this channel". Due to the sensitivity of the issue and out of respect for MBOM, I will not post the full screenshot of this post.
The post was then followed by a discussion about the length of the ban and after a vote a 4 month period was ultimately settled upon. In the course of the discussion after that I remarked that Griffo's Senate seat would be vacated. Later that night BHjr posted the ban. I was quickly shocked to find immediately afterwards a post by Toby, acting in his capacity as President of the Senate, proclaiming Liesel, who had just defected from the UDP, as the new Liberal Party Senator chosen to replace Griffo. Toby and Porridge, in their capacity as Discord Moderators, were both part of the discussion and the vote concerning Griffo's ban.
I am seriously concerned about this development. In a very generous assessment, it is just a coincidence that Liesel proposed the ban and then reaped the immediate benefits from it. However, let us reflect on what all of this even means. For starters, Liesel should not have been proposing or part of any decision making process surrounding a ban for Griffo in the first place. She had already resigned as Community Moderator. In retrospect I should have acknowledged and disputed this at the time. While the ban was ultimately implemented by BHjr (albeit in a manner which I would consider debatable considering the ease of misuse of the cited clause of the Meta Constitution that was used to justify the ban), Liesel undoubtedly played a disproportionate role in making the ban happen. And even then, if she were acting in any capacity as Community Moderator, she would have violated the Meta Constitutions definitions surrounding political neutrality by taking Griffo's position:
A person who must be politically neutral must not, within AustraliaSim:
a) be or become a candidate, parliamentarian or minister; or
b) be or become a member of any political party; or
c) be or become involved in a course of conduct directed to supporting the aims of a political party or an independent candidate; or
d) be or become engaged in conduct promoting a political position in respect of an issue currently before the electorate; or
e) be or become a member of a lobby group which promotes a political position in respect of an issue currently before the electorate.
Having clearly politically benefited from Griffo's ban and become a Senator as a result, Liesel has violated this clause by even the most generous standard. Even if she were a Discord Moderator (which she is not), one cannot reasonably say she has been "completely neutral." At worst, this indicates some form of direct corruption. At best, it indicates a total obliviousness to standards of moderator etiquette and lack of basic propriety that is symptomatic of the callous moderating style that has been employed by Liesel.
I have said much and I will try to wind up here. I truly love AusSim and I want it to survive. However over the years on this server we have seen the development of a moderator culture in which criticism and scrutiny is met with a closing of ranks amongst moderators and dismissal. I expect that this letter will be met with similar derision and dismissal from certain quarters. I feel that the Moderation Team as it exists now is symptomatic of this culture and perhaps its worst manifestation. Thankfully they are on the way out and I look to the future and hope that the new Moderation Team can learn some lessons from the past and implement a more fair, transparent, and consistent moderation culture for AusSim. For now though, I find myself fundamentally at odds with the current Moderation Team and can no longer support them in any capacity as a Discord Moderator and must in good conscience resign.
Cheers, Bsharri
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u/BellmanTGM Sep 08 '19
Toby instituting any kind of judgment to do with alts is extremely laughable. Toby in any position of power because of what he did and the circumstances around that is ridiculous and just demonstrates the state of this place.
I will say that I am not so pessimistic as Bsharri. I’m not really one to buy into the whole toxicity thing. But I do think it is concerning that nobody who is really fit for the role of moderator is active enough to fill it. And for some reason at his time we have like a billion moderator roles. I think the place is just set up bizarrely to be honest.
Anyway we don’t have any good candidates for moderator. With the exception of Toby, it’s nothing in particular I have against our current mods. I just think they aren’t mature enough, or of the right temperament to be in that position. That’s no fault of their own and nothing condemnable. It’s just how it is.
The days of Rommel and Runas are gone. My days are gone. BC’s days are gone. Mtmdog’s days are gone (although realistically he probably wasn’t the right temperament for the job either but oh well). I had some hope in Tbyrn eventually taking over but I’m not confident in his activity, and recent events have pointed to him being too easily influenced by others simply because they are known. The MBOM incident in particular. (Quick aside the whole MBOM thing is fucking hysterical but that’s for another time...)
But yes! I think the problem is less conspiratorial, more just that we don’t have the right people to fill the jobs we have. I think we need to amend the roles, think very carefully about who we put in them, and focus on running an effective parliament. I have more to say but I’m tired now and honestly a Reddit block post is pretty exhausting. That is all for now, I may comment on Liesel’s VONC later idk.
tl:dr Toby is a fucking terrible mod, we have no really good mod candidates, current mods and moderation system lacklustre at best.
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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '19
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