[Decision] On Trolling.

[Trax]

Decision

Curia decides that trolling should be re-added to the Terms of Service and made punishable offence once again.

Reason: This, this and this among others.

NB!!! Support, if you think that the Curia should adopt an official stance on this issue.

Disclaimer: I'm just the messenger, please don't throw any pointy or rotten objects at my direction.

Proposer: Trax
Supporters: Scar Face, jimkatalanos, SirPaladin

[jimkatalanos]

Hex and moderators should decide that, not the curia IMO.

[Scar Face]

No they shouldn't. The Curia is suppose to be a grouping of the most Respectable and intelligent people on the site, if a majority of us want it changed, clearly their current policy is not working.

Recently I've been seeing a disturbing amount of threads which are full of nothing but trolls, I want this stopped. Under the current TOS they can do it with impunity. I support.

[Trax]

Hex and moderators should decide that, not the curia IMO.

But we, the Curia, can and should voice our opinion on this important issue.

[Scar Face]

But we, the Curia, can and should voice our opinion on this important issue.

Yup. I keep hearing again and again that the Curia no longer should have certain powers, and that we are only here to advise Hex. When we try to do so...

[jimkatalanos]

Well, I support this. Although, I want to hear what the council and moderators will say.

[sapi]

Well, I support this. Although, I want to hear what the council and moderators will say.

We are currently looking at the issue, and should have some sort of response within a few days.

[removeduser_487563287433]

No, this is stupid. Trolling when it was in the ToS was used to ban undesirables for the vaguest of reasons. It will also give people a tool by which to attempt to get their opponants banned - the staff forum will just be 'report - trolling' ad infinitum.

[Garbarsardar]

No, this is stupid. Trolling when it was in the ToS was used to ban undesirables for the vaguest of reasons.

What is this suppose to mean? Do we have to deal every time with the ghost of Christmas past?

Do you think that moderators that want to ban for the vaguest of reasons depend on the ToS?

Or do they need trolling as an excuse?

Please, be serious.

It will also give people a tool by which to attempt to get their opponants banned - the staff forum will just be 'report - trolling' ad infinitum.

Again, irrelevant. Actually you get your opponent banned by trolling him and not by accusing him of trolling...

As for the definition:

Trolling is a repeated pattern of harassment against a user with a sole purpose of provoking a heated response.

So, if you want to add something to the ToS it should look like this:

Repeated statements about other members, whether implicit or explicit, that are judged to contribute more toward disrupting the discussion than advancing it.

...and it should be added in the section Off Topic Posting (1 or 2 points)

Off-topic Posting (1 or 2 points)

Topicality is expected and will be enforced on all forums, so take the extra time to post on the proper forum. Examples of off-topic posting include, but are not limited to:

* Threads that are not related to the topic of the forum in question, or that contain no material that can reasonably be discussed
* Posts that are not related to the topic of the thread in question, or that contain no material that can reasonably be discussed
* Re-posting threads that you know have already been posted elsewhere
* Unsolicited advertisement for any website, product, service, or facility not first approved by TWC staff
* Repeated statements about other members, whether implicit or explicit, that are judged to contribute more toward disrupting the discussion than advancing it.

You can advertise websites, products, etc. in your signature, avatar, or other profile fields, as long as you post productively and don't just try to get exposure for your advertisements. Recommendation of websites, products, or other resources are also allowed if relevant to legitimate discussions.

[Gaius Baltar]

No, this is stupid. Trolling when it was in the ToS was used to ban undesirables for the vaguest of reasons. It will also give people a tool by which to attempt to get their opponants banned - the staff forum will just be 'report - trolling' ad infinitum.

In terms of discussion, it would be incumbent on you to provide examples of the use of TOS "trolling" to

ban undesirables for the vaguest of reasons

In otherwords, you should provide some evidence of such behavior to support your assertions. I have examined Tribunal records in the past, and do not recall any cases that would support your statement.

[iudas]

Support. However, Ferrets makes a good point on the report part...

[Gaius Baltar]

Support, should never have been droped from the TOS.

[Noble Savage]

I also support

[Harry Lime]

I support this as well. Trolling invites flaming which is outlawed by the ToS.

[Erich von Manstein]

Just to note, there is no guarantee that trolling will be added to the ToS should this decision pass. Staff is only required to take the decision under advisement, nothing more.

[Lord Condormanius]

I could support this, but only if there is clear definition as to what trolling is. I would hate to see this kind of thing abused, using a loose definition to target certain members. As it is now, trolling is very vague. I have seen some people accused of trolling for simply stating an opposite opinion.

[Scar Face]

Trolling was defined on TWC as a response meant simply to provoke someone into a flame IIRC.

[KingOfTheIsles]

And how do we second-guess the intentions of members? This motion really needs to be a lot more clearly defined before it is anything like acceptable, imo. Perhaps you could post examples (imaginary or real) of things you would see punished for trolling?

[Lord Condormanius]

Trolling was defined on TWC as a response meant simply to provoke someone into a flame IIRC.

I think the definition needs to be made clearer. There is no way to tell what a person's intention is when he/she posts.

[Empress Meg]

It seems to me from my past experiences on other boards that "trolling" is often accompanied with other insults and aggravations. While trolling does not always have to include such things, it often times does. These other details then call for the thread/topic to be looked at more closely by mods and admins, thus allowing the thread to be moderated for these reasons. It may be a roundabout way of getting a mod to look at a potentially upsetting situation, but the point is it does get looked at and hopefully nipped in the bud.

The ToS do allow for insults, flames and unsavoury conduct to be looked at, though it may not be directly stated in the ToS. That is how I look at it anyways.

Devoirs The Empress