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PBP gets thread shut down

3 replies

GCAcademic · 21/02/2021 09:10

Message from MNHQ: Thanks for the many reports about this thread. We've no concerns with the OP, but we can see that a previously banned poster is causing trouble and sock puppeting on the thread. We're taking the whole thing down now.

So the antics of a PBP can get a thread shut down now? Which no doubt will have pleased them mightily. Surely the answer to this problem is to have better moderation, not to shut down a thread started for support? You’ve basically just told the trolls and MRAs that all they need to do is derail a thread in FWR and it will get deleted.

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MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 21/02/2021 09:42

Hi @GCAcademic,

Thanks for raising this - we do understand your concerns here.

Unfortunately this wasn't a simple case of a troll trying to derail a thread - which ordinarily we'd deal with by deleting any inflammatory posts and suspending the troublemaker.

In this instance, the poster in question was also sock puppeting, and had chosen a username that was almost indistinguishable from that of a long-term member of the site, in order to post offensive messages.

We took the decision to remove the whole thread in order to protect the poster whose name had been appropriated, and to prevent any of these inflammatory posts from being shared on other social media sites as evidence of alleged hate speech.

We contacted the OP late last night to explain why we'd had to take her thread down, and encouraged her to start a new thread.

We're really not trying to cut off anyone's means of support - this was a late-night decision which we felt was necessary in these fairly exceptional circumstances in order to protect the genuine members of our site.

MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 21/02/2021 14:38

@ErrolTheDragon

Choosing a font which didn't make some letters almost indistinguishable might help! Presumably you've contacted the person who was spoofed too?

Point take re. the font. Will definitely pass your concerns on up.

'Presumably you've contacted the person who was spoofed too?'
Yes. We mailed last night to explain exactly what had gone on.

MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 21/02/2021 14:53

@GCAcademic

Thanks for the explanation Dawn. That's a good point, Errol - this sort of thing should be possible to clamp down on. I'm still concerned that the message has been given out that sock puppeting can be a way of ensuring that threads get shut down.

We do understand these concerns, but this really was a fairly exceptional set of circumstances so hopefully not something that will occur terribly often.

The poster we banned was responsible for about a third of the posts on the thread (under different usernames) and many of the subsequent posts were a reaction to the inflammatory posts themselves, so we just didn't feel we could salvage the thread. Plus, we really wanted to protect the poster whose 'name' had been used maliciously.

It's a bit of a tough line we're treading here and we know we don't always get it right, but it's honestly not for lack of trying!

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