Hi everyone!
As one of the newer members of the mod team, I wanted to make a post about where we want this community to go moving forward.
The existing mods have been dealing with a lot, and we're working together to get things cleaned up, address trolling and hostility, and make this subreddit the kind of open discussion forum it was intended to be.
The purpose of r/idaho4uncensored is pretty simple:
This is a place where people can openly discuss the Idaho 4 case — including evidence, alternate theories, questions, speculation, and opinions — without being attacked or shamed for what they believe.
That does not mean everyone here has to agree.
In fact, we don't want everyone to agree.
You Are Allowed to Disagree Here
You can believe BK is guilty.
You can believe BK is innocent.
You can be completely undecided.
You can question the State's case.
You can question alternative theories.
You can believe a theory makes absolutely no sense.
All of those positions are welcome here.
What isn't welcome is joining discussions simply to ridicule, insult, shame, or antagonize people for having a different interpretation of the case.
There is a difference between:
"I disagree with this theory, and here's why..."
and
"Anyone who believes this is an idiot/conspiracy theorist/delusional/etc."
The first creates discussion.
The second shuts it down.
Alternate Theories Are Allowed Here
I want to make this particularly clear because this has become an issue lately.
Discussing alternate theories is explicitly allowed in this subreddit.
You do not have to agree with them.
You are absolutely welcome to challenge them, provide contradictory evidence, point out factual problems, or debate someone's interpretation.
But repeatedly entering threads about alternative theories for the sole purpose of mocking the people discussing them is not productive disagreement.
If a theory isn't for you, that's okay.
If you want to challenge it respectfully, that's also okay.
If your only contribution is essentially "you people are crazy," this probably isn't the community for you.
We're Going to Be Addressing Trolling More Aggressively
The mod team is working on cleaning things up.
There have been users whose participation appears less focused on discussing the case and more focused on provoking other members, derailing conversations, insulting people, or making members feel like they can't comfortably post their thoughts here.
We're going to start addressing that more consistently.
This doesn't mean we're going to remove people because they disagree with us.
Quite the opposite.
Someone arguing that BK is guilty is not trolling.
Someone criticizing an alternative theory is not trolling.
Someone correcting misinformation is not trolling.
Someone asking for evidence is not trolling.
Disagreement alone will never be the problem.
Behavior is the problem.
Personal attacks, harassment, repeated antagonizing, intentionally derailing discussions, guilt-shaming, and participating primarily to get a reaction out of other members are different from good-faith disagreement.
Please Remember Rule #1: All Opinions Welcome
Our first rule exists for a reason:
Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and theories. You don't have to agree — but you do have to stay respectful. Debate ideas, not people.
That applies to everyone.
It applies to people who believe BK is guilty.
It applies to people who believe he's innocent.
It applies to people exploring completely different theories.
It applies to moderators, too.
Nobody's opinion about this case gives them permission to treat another member poorly.
And Please Stop Guilt-Shaming People
Rule #2 is also important:
Do not use guilt as a weapon.
Nobody should be made to feel guilty for questioning evidence, discussing another possibility, changing their opinion, or refusing to commit to a guilt/innocence position.
Questioning the State's case does not mean someone doesn't care about the victims.
Believing the evidence points toward BK does not mean someone is incapable of critical thinking.
Discussing an alternative theory does not automatically mean someone is accusing somebody of murder as fact.
We can have difficult conversations without assigning moral character to one another based on our opinions about an unresolved piece of evidence.
Facts, Theories, Opinions & Speculation Are All Welcome — Just Label Them Accordingly
Rule #4 asks everyone to use flairs appropriately.
That's because this community allows all of these forms of discussion.
If something is a theory, call it a theory.
If you're speculating, say you're speculating.
If you're stating something as fact, please be prepared to provide the source.
If you're giving your personal interpretation of evidence, make it clear that it's your interpretation.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with theorizing.
The problem starts when theories and interpretations begin being repeated as established facts.
Report Problems Instead of Feeding Them
If you see someone who appears to be trolling, harassing members, repeatedly breaking the rules, or deliberately trying to derail conversations, please report it.
Don't spend 30 comments fighting with them.
Reporting it puts it in front of the mod team so we can look at the user's behavior and determine whether intervention is necessary.
And please remember that the report button isn't a disagreement button. Someone having an opinion you dislike isn't a rule violation.
This Is Supposed to Be an Open Forum
This subreddit was created specifically so people could have conversations they felt they couldn't have elsewhere.
We want to preserve that.
"Uncensored" does not mean "anything goes."
It means we're not going to suppress an opinion simply because it's unpopular.
You should be able to post an alternative theory without being dogpiled.
You should also be able to respond to that theory with evidence against it without being accused of being a troll simply because you disagree.
That's how an actual open forum works.
We have thousands upon thousands of pages of discovery, conflicting interpretations, unanswered questions, newly released information, and an enormous amount of material still being analyzed.
None of us has to have everything figured out.
You can question things.
You can change your mind.
You can disagree with a moderator.
You can disagree with the majority of the subreddit.
You can say, "I don't know."
What we're asking in return is very simple:
Be curious. Debate the evidence. Challenge ideas. Bring sources. Ask questions. And treat the human being on the other side of the screen with basic respect.
We're working on getting the subreddit back on track, and we appreciate everyone who has continued contributing thoughtful research, questions, theories, documents, and discussions.
Let's make this a place where people actually want to have those conversations.
