To wish we could block posters on MN

[SailorSerena]

There are a handful of posters who pop up fairly regularly and honestly I've never agreed with a single word they have written, they have some very offensive views and pretty much every time I read one of their posts it infuriates me.

I'll be enjoying a thread then these posters will pop up, I'll see their usernames and I'll instantly think god that's this thread ruined then and leave. It happens enough to make using Mumsnet become far less appealing.

Wouldn't it be great if we could block posters and just carry on enjoying threads with their contributions blacked out like you can on Facebook comment threads?

It's not a tricky one at all; it's required by the Online Safety Act. If you can't block another user, then the site is in breach. That could get really rather expensive for MNHQ.

Are you sure?
I have been on several forums where there was no blocking facility.

There are some posters with whom I agree on some topics and disagree on others - that's normal.

Then there are the two or three who seem to wait until they see where the consensus of opinion is leading and disagree with it every time, making the most ridiculous assertions. Clear examples of the T word that I'm not allowed to use on here.

When I was new to Mumsnet, I got myself a suspension for suggesting that someone was t-lling. Apparently, I had done it twice. I had missed the emails and didn't find out until I contacted support. I have to say that they were very understanding when I apologised - I hadn't been rude in my comments - but I've been very wary of using that word since.

I only mentioned a troll once in a post, and my post was taken off.
It was obvious it was a troll, and if this post is taken off, it will be obvious the word troll is a dirty word around here...even though it's sometimes the only word that fits.🙄

Then those forums will also be in breach. It's the part of the OSA that aims to prevent harassment.

😅 Name and shame OP

I get annoyed if someone starts discussing anything remotely paranormal and people start piling in with the ‘no such things as ghosts’ responses. No one cares, we just want to hear a good ghost story.
I also get annoyed when people are called pearl clutchers for having a sense of public decency although I know they’re probably bot responses

As a mod on a different forum, it's up to me to prevent harassment.
I had no idea (if true) that every forum had to have a blocking facility.
All none registered posters contributions have to be allowed by a moderator before they are allowed to be passed.
Registered members are responsible for their own posts, which are visible to all.

Surely a forum as big as this one should know that and follow the rules.

Well, another thing that not many forum owners seem to know is that moderating private messages is also required functionality. Very few forums even have that functionality...y'know, because private messages are supposed to be private. They mostly don't have the functionality to report private messages either, so that has to be done by messaging the moderators or site owners...and if someone does, then the owners better hope they have direct database access otherwise it's curtains.

Incidentally, "registered members are responsible for their own posts" - this isn't true any more, site owners are also legally responsible for those posts should they be deemed illegal (or "harmful", which is "totally legal, but you can be prosecuted for it anyway").

There's an awful lot in the OSA that people aren't aware of. As a moderator, depending on the site size, you don't have any legal liability. Forum owners (like me) very much do, as does the person named in the OSA risk assessment.

Makes me thankful I dont' 'own' a forum tbh.

Aye, it's a minefield, I won't lie.

I dunno... there's a poster on one of the boards who I really cannot stand... but once (and it was only once!) I agreed 100% with what he said (I know it's a he)... that was a bit of a shock... but it was useful, it pulled me up and made me examine my own perspective

...but the purely goady ones, yeah, wish they'd give it a rest!

So I looked into this and it appears that the site requires a blocking feature where there is a medium or high risk of illegal harm (see below).

Do people think that Mumsnet falls into that category? Grooming? Hate? Stalking? It's pretty easy to change username so I'm not convinced.

You have to read the other 1000 or so pages of documentation. Forums are, by default, considered "high risk" on most metrics by Ofcom for the purposes of the OSA, and you have to really work to justify anything lower. The fact that MNHQ has so little control over the content posted here (as demonstrated by the recent abuse photos posted here) will nullify most arguments along those lines, and they're also high-profile enough that they're definitely going to have Ofcom's attention (unlike a lot of smaller forums which might be able to fly under the radar for a while).

On top of that, MN has way more than 700k users, which is the cutoff for being considered a "large" user-to-user site, which automatically confers an additional level of risk and obligation.

My understanding is that the Ofcom codes of practice are not binding. I'm sure MNHQ has lawyers that are au fait with their obligations... that, or the feature might pop up soon, seeing as how the Act only came into force this month!

I would far rather have a function where we could hide thread titles. There have been several distressing ones recently that pop up to the top repeatedly. The only thing to do is to stay off the site for a few days until the thread has disappeared.

I've tried reporting a couple to have their titles changed or hidden, but nothing ever happens.

You can hide the entire thread and it won’t show for you anymore that’s what I’ve been doing

I disagree. Obviously we all have different thresholds for tolerating opinions and attitudes opposed to our own, but I believe that building resilience to dissent, dispute and challenge is a valuable skill.

I have honestly never thought that a thread is ruined just because someone writes something I don't agree with.

I have no idea you could do that. Thank you so much! I wonder why Mumsnet didn't tell me that when I flagged it.

Most forums have this feature in some capacity, so they could certainly implement it here.

There are a few MRAs that I wouldn’t mind blocking, as well as one poster that is very young, very loud, and very wrong. She’s on maternity leave and spends about 8 hours a day bashing other women on here so it would be rather nice to block that one too. 😂

Surely the point of threads is to get alternative views? Otherwise why post? Online echo chambers are a huge problem, views filtered so we only see the ones we agree with. Zero challenge, zero empathy, zero critical thinking. Is this what you want, OP?

I think the OP is wishing one could individually block a poster, whose posts would still be visible to everyone else.

But 'recommended' is different to 'requires'.