Why WASN'T this thread deleted?

Fairenuff · 2014-11-16T09:16:15+00:00

[[http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/2236158-Being-accused-of-Rape?pg=1 This thread]] was posted in feminism and was obviously reported very quickly but has been allowed to stand. Why? It just makes a mockery of We Believe You and is quite offensive. There are loads of posters calling OP a troll and that would normally be enough to shut down a thread, even if the content wasn't so awful.

emotionsecho · 17/11/2014 09:44

He most certainly did, but it shouldn't be a feature of the FWR board that you have to put up with either type.

YonicScrewdriver · 17/11/2014 08:00

Ah, no. Probably a similar visitor to yorrick every few days. The OP type is rarer but he showed his true colours further down the thread...

emotionsecho · 17/11/2014 01:00

Yes Yonic in a way I'm glad I saw it too, I was quite shocked and disturbed by that thread. I would hope it's a rare occurrence but I suspect you will tell me otherwise.

YonicScrewdriver · 16/11/2014 22:27

Emotions, I'm quite glad you saw it, in a way. Yes, that happens a lot and second poster was very reminiscent of others...

I think to start with it looked like a goad and run, and when MNHQ posted at first, it was all naval jokes and second poster hadn't arrived.

MNHQ

IonaMumsnet · 16/11/2014 15:52

Hi again. We do our best to have people on the boards at all times. However, this is a big place and we can't be everywhere at once. Reporting always helps. We might be dealing with a long list of reports from all over the site, but we will get to each one as soon as we can. With a thread like this one, the more reports we receive the better. If we can see a long list of reports on the same thread, we know it's one to prioritise. We appreciate it can sometimes seem like a long wait from the outside looking in, but we assure you we do get to things as soon as we can and reporting is the quickest way to get our attention. Shouting 'troll' on the boards, despite the rumours, is not the quickest method!

Original poster

Fairenuff · 16/11/2014 14:25

What is the point in asking people to report threads if there is no-one there to respond?

OP posts:

ballsballsballs · 16/11/2014 14:11

MNHQ can I suggest that, if someone posts on the FWR saying that he's been falsely accused of rape, that it's deleted immediately?

WorraLiberty · 16/11/2014 13:49

To reassure you, no, we certainly don't 'ignore' reports. We do work late into the night and there are people here again first thing, but unfortunately it's just not possible to staff the boards 24/7 and occasionally something like this slips through the net.

Why is it not possible to staff the boards 24/7?

Given how massive MN has become, it absolutely should be possible to pay people a wage to staff the boards at night, instead of relying on the goodwill of the volunteer night watch crew.

I've been here nearly 3 years now and this problem is simply not going away. If anything it's getting worse, given how much MN has grown.

Surely paying a living wage to a couple of people to work a night shift is not impossible?

Even if it has to come out of the gin budget

PacificDogwood · 16/11/2014 13:47

I sympathise with HQ too and of course they cannot be everywhere all the time.

BUT- HQ posted on that thread half a dozen posts in and much as the puns offered some light relief, it was quite obvious that the OP may not be entirely… upfront about his intentions.

Why not at the very least lock the thread?? And then check out in the morning.

It was Not A Pretty Sight and, with respect (honest respect, not sarky) I don't think MNHQ got it right.

Sabrinnnnnnnna · 16/11/2014 13:18

I do sympathise with HQ - but that thread should never have got past page1. I can only imagine that the humorous responses allowed it to stay.

But seriously, the OP itself was just so wrong: "Feminists! Tell me what was going through this woman's head when she falsely accused me of rape!"

And that's before the whole thing got really vile.

MNHQ

IonaMumsnet · 16/11/2014 13:12

Hi there, Fairenuff. It's not really the opposite. As Rowan says, we are rarely overwhelmed. We were quite busy last night, but as mentioned, it's only 'occasionally' that something like this slips through the net. It isn't something that happens frequently.

So most days/evenings we do clear everything that's been reported to us and most nights the Night Watch do deal with egregious trolling overnight. As we said, unfortunately, on this occasion that wasn't the case, and for that we can only apologise, but we're pleased to say this doesn't happen very often.

Original poster

Fairenuff · 16/11/2014 12:59

We do work late into the night and there are people here again first thing, but unfortunately it's just not possible to staff the boards 24/7 and occasionally something like this slips through the net.

Isn't that the opposite of what Rowan posted which was quoted earlier on this thread though?

RowanMumsnet (MNHQ)Wed 29-Oct-14 14:30:31
(Another posters comment is quoted: MNHQ simply don't appear to have the number of bodies to cope with the number of reports or the right HQers in at peak times for useage )
The response: That's not how we see it tbh (though we wouldn't would we grin). Although we're busy, we very rarely overwhelmed - usually only when something ridiculous (like Heartbleed) happens. Most days/evenings we clear almost everything that's been reported to us, and the Night Watch deal with egregious trolling and spamming overnight.

So... which is it

OP posts:

StickEm · 16/11/2014 12:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MNHQ

IonaMumsnet · 16/11/2014 12:34

Hi again,

To reassure you, no, we certainly don't 'ignore' reports. We do work late into the night and there are people here again first thing, but unfortunately it's just not possible to staff the boards 24/7 and occasionally something like this slips through the net.

In retrospect, we probably should have deleted this when it first appeared. It was a busy night elsewhere on the boards, and we were a bit preoccupied sorting out other threads and didn't have time to give enough thought to this one, perhaps.

All we can do is hold our hands up and say: 'Sorry, we're only human, we do make mistakes sometimes. We made the wrong call on this occasion, and were too slow off the mark'. We do hope we get it right most of the time but we're sorry if we fouled up on this one.

As regards the deletion message, we felt the question of whether the OP was 'genuinely' a troll or 'genuinely' just a deeply unpleasant human being was not so relevant as the fact that the messages he posted during the night were offensive in the extreme and that is what we deleted the thread for. We have obviously banned him, as well as his 'supporter' on that thread.

Thanks again for taking the time to report. We do appreciate it very much.

FrauHelgaMissMarpleandaChuckle · 16/11/2014 12:12

Yip emotions - I agree.

emotionsecho · 16/11/2014 12:11

You need a better system then Iona that thread should never have made it past the first few posts or reports, I am shocked that it did. Quite apart from the repellent nature of the thread it was also questionable from a legal standpoint.

FrauHelgaMissMarpleandaChuckle · 16/11/2014 12:08

I am a bit shocked - what you're saying Iona is that if someone posts a shitty goady triggery thread on a Saturday night and they then twat about on it all night, it won't be looked at til the morning?

Original poster

Fairenuff · 16/11/2014 12:05

Also, how can a thread with so many reports, not be watched overnight?

You are basically saying that you will ignore overnight reports and deal with them in the morning and that's not good enough is it?

OP posts:

ballsballsballs · 16/11/2014 12:01

Me too Frau.

FrauHelgaMissMarpleandaChuckle · 16/11/2014 11:58

It's not just that you were slow off the mark, Iona, which you were, it's also that the first post from HQ on the thread was obviously going to let it stand as it was so funny, with all the naval puns and all.

I just thought that hit the wrong tone or something.

Original poster

Fairenuff · 16/11/2014 11:56

It was immediately clear to most posters Iona. Don't you think it's suspicious that he posted in the FWR section of a parenting website? Surely HQ are not that naive?

OP posts:

MNHQ

IonaMumsnet · 16/11/2014 11:50

Hi everyone. Yes, as mentioned upthread, this has gone now. We're sorry it took a while to delete. Sometimes, as with this one, it's not immediately clear what the nature of a thread is and things get much worse overnight, so we review in the morning. We did get onto it as soon as we could this morning. Thank you to everyone who reported - it does make it easier for us to see the real trouble spots quickly when a particular thread has had lots of reports. Apologies that we were a bit slower off the mark than we sometimes are with this one.

DuelingFanjo · 16/11/2014 10:52

Sorry, I did get a bit sweary on the thread when the sock puppet arrived (as well as answering sensibly). It was obvious that this was about Ched Evans as the scenario he described was the same - from the point of view iof the rapist.

When it was clear people weren't biting, the sock puppet arrived with increasingly vile rape apology and a glaringly obvious lack of understanding RE how crime is dealt with. He wanted rapists to be the only criminals to get anonymity and the ''well believe you' campaign to be attacked.

PacificDogwood · 16/11/2014 10:47

FWR posters are called nasty and unwelcoming. It can be rather galling

Quite.

I did think all the naval puns did prove the point that you can be a feminist and yet, still, have a GSOH

balls, yes to all 4 of your points.
Naval puns aside, I too reported to get this pulled, NOT to continue messing about which was just a defence mechanism IMO.

ballsballsballs · 16/11/2014 10:43

Damn phone :)

Four reasons the thread should have been killed early in the evening:

If the OP was genuine, he was clearly identifiable across the internet from his username. I found Twitter and other forums, a photograph of the guy, his full name and location. If the prosecution barrister had found out then MN could have been dragged into a criminal court.

I've just seen the email from MNHQ chuckling at the naval puns, having commented on the thread. MNHQ I reported it because I thought it should be deleted, not so we could throw buns at the poster and laugh. As you know FWR is regularly invaded by dickheads: we were invaded by two last night. And MNHQ did not listen when members of FWR told them.

There are trigger warnings on AIBU for everything from heavy periods to decapitation. Are MNHQ sure that no FWR regulars are rape survivors? Where was MNHQ's concern? (Disclaimer: I'm not a rape survivor.)

There was more than a hint of 'you fems will understand why a lying bitch lied about rape' to the OP and subsequent posts. So why was it left to stand?