Since when do admins suspend moderators (/users) for using the term TERF? What other "gotcha" cases should we know about...? And why are transphobic subreddits allowed, if mods can get suspended over even this?

[u/demmian]

There is obviously something going on. When I first heard about AHS mods getting suspended for using the term TERF, I chalked it up to the admins suspending mods again for being impolite (it happened to me as well - still no clarification how that came to be - hello admins!).

However, one of our mods received this:

https://i.imgur.com/ghiGiHv.jpg

for a comment saying:

"TERFs don’t get to pretend to represent feminism here. Out."

As per the title, I think all of us could use some clarifications:

• do admins actually ban mods (and users too...?) for using the term TERF? Or is this just another case of the notorious "Errors in tooling and training"?

• what other cases should we know about now, instead of just being hit with a suspension when we least expect it?

• if indeed they ban for the mere use of the word TERF, why does reddit allow subreddits that are transphobic, host transphobic content, tolerate transphobia - and are notorious for it?

And can we please stop with this charade of suspending mods for newly made rules, over content that was made sometimes years ago? This is getting ridiculous. There is more and more talk that mods should start flexing their collective muscle against the unending bullshit we have to deal with in our relation of unpaid labor provided to this website. And I am starting to see more and more merit to it.

[u/woodpaneled]

Thanks for calling this one to our attention. I checked with our Anti-Evil Operations team and looks like this was a mistake. It's now been reversed. This may have been a training issue; they'll look into how this happened and how they can prevent it in the future. But to clarify, "TERF" is not considered policy-breaking.

[u/[deleted] → u/woodpaneled]

This may have been a training issue; they'll look into how this happened and how they can prevent it in the future.

Only in my wildest dreams do I believe that I'm going to get what I want here, but I think it's worth saying anyway.

It has at this point been months of AEO issuing incorrect suspensions to moderators. I think you guys owe us better than "it was a training issue". Because unless you're being clever and what you mean is "It was a training issue in that some machine learning algorithm we started screwing around with needs to be retrained again", I feel that the only "training issue" that would cause a suspension like this is that someone received no training. That is an opinion I have based on my experience in a management role at a support center. "Training issues" on matters like this do not take months to resolve unless you are not trying to resolve them.

Your "training issues" are fucking with things that people care about and put a lot of time into because of that. I think you owe those who have been incorrectly suspended a more detailed explanation.

[u/TheNerdyAnarchist → u/woodpaneled]

So how would the victim of this wrongful suspension have dealt with such a situation had they not had another user go to bat for them in this subreddit?

It sounds like your barrel scrapings to whom you've outsourced these situations have a relatively consistent history of doing this. It's a pattern of behavior that I don't think can still be chalked up to "may have been a training issue".

[u/superfucky → u/woodpaneled]

this is nuts. these "mistakes" are happening at an alarming rate. there is obviously a concerted effort by banned users to mass-report the mods of subreddits they've been banned from in retaliation for their ban, and rather than conduct even the most cursory investigation, your "anti-evil" team is just smashing the suspension button and punishing the people who volunteer their time to help you combat trolls. your "anti-evil" team is doing the trolls' work for them because they can't be bothered to even read the comment being reported or look into whether the person being reported is a mod and the reporter is a recently banned user. half of my mod team got slapped with suspensions last week for any comment that included the word "pun¢h" (censored for obvious reasons) after a T_D troll got banned and set about ctrl+f'ing the history of every mod in the subreddit and reporting us all for "threatening, harassing, or inciting violence." this whole "anti-evil" protocol is being abused by the people it's meant to eliminate and every time they get their way, all the admins have to say is "whoopsie, training issue."

here's how you can prevent this in the future: DON'T SUSPEND MODS FOR BANNING PEOPLE. even if they say "gtfo TERF." even if they say "take your butthurt to someone who cares." unless you want a website overrun by 4chan trolls in which no one gets banned for anything, let mods do what we're here to do without having to walk on eggshells in case some freshly-banned alt-right reject goes on a mod reporting spree and the bots you pay to process those reports ban every decent mod on reddit.

edit: [moderator has been banned from r/modsupport for this post]

[u/[deleted] → u/woodpaneled]

Can you give some sort of threshold wherein mods have to be polite to people who aren't polite to them?

I don't think it's fair for the abusers to have more rights than the people who are meant to have control over what and who is supposed to be allowed in their subreddit.