General / Off-Topic Censorship

[Vlodec]

Today, being a little bored, I was trawling through some threads I'd contributed to when I came across this......

"Most people haven't been murdered (and I guess they wouldn't be browsing the internet if they had) or tortured. Approximately 85,000 women are <SNIP> on average in England and Wales every year. I think it's fair to assume it'll be a sensitive subject for a fairly high proportion of people, so a little tact and consideration isn't much to ask. Tact and consideration do not equate to political correctness.

Also, the casual use of the word "<SNIP>" has to be considered against the wider social backdrop. But that's a whole different and lengthy discussion"

....from a person I was having a *cough* forthright exchange of views with in the Alpha forum. You may notice that a couple of terms have been "<SNIP>"ed by a moderator. The term in question is a verb that refers to an action performed by gentlemen - of a sort - upon unwilling ladies. No prizes.

What's the average age of contributors to this forum? I would guess mid thirties at the youngest, and yet we must be prevented from using and even seeing this term.

I hate censorship very much - and I'm not keen on those who feel able to apply it - though I understand some people are allergic to certain terms and we must protect these delicate flowers lest they crumple and die. But there is a limit and this moderator has crossed it, and then walked a few miles.

But that's just my view, and there's the rub.

I'm curious to know how everyone else feels. I'm trying to post a poll here, but as I've never done this before I'll prolly screw (*gasp* will that be censored I wonder?) it up. I know what I'm like. Patience.....

P.S.

Get your votes in quick before the moderator "<SNIP>"s the thread.......

 

[ste]

That word that was deleted has more than one meaning, where on a FPS you can base (snip). It is a perfect definition. Plunder and seize by force. Its used often in games and generally to its correct definition.

People who are fine and rational irl, suddenly become over sensitive snips when a keyboard is put in front of them.

Its really weird, but you have to be more careful what you say on the internet that you do in real life as peoples sensitivity tolerances become much much lower than their real life ones.

I just think its cos people like to have an argument on the internet and this seems like a good enough excuse.

No matter what you say your always going to offend someone and these people are usually on the hunt to find something offensive.

 

[Leonick]

No need to censor that word, or any word really.

Quite frankly, if I had it my way the silly language filter on this forum would be disabled as well (I've looked but there doesn't seem to be an option for it). I mean, the word sh*t gets censored. Seriously... Strangely both darn and damn are OK. Maybe they're just afraid of poop? Huh, nope, that's fine as well. See, silly.

Now, valid topic as it may be, does this really belong in "Elite: Dangerous General"?

If there is a chat filter in Elite: Dangerous it must be optional! Preferable it should be off by default as well. There we go, now it fits in a little bit as least

 

[Vlodec]

Now, valid topic as it may be, does this really belong in "Elite: Dangerous General"?

Yes I understand. Which heading would you put it under?

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

Yes I understand. Which heading would you put it under?

either Frontier Support and Suggestions or Off-Topic Discussion

 

[Vlodec]

either Frontier Support and Suggestions or Off-Topic Discussion

I see the logic, but this is a poll and I'm doubtful - for no good reason that I can articulate, but there it is - that many people wander down those roads.
Also, the incident happened in the Elite: Dangerous section, which has its own clientele. It seems appropriate that this should appear there too.

 

[Cody]

If you have a complaint about moderation, you should take it up with the mod team.

 

[Vlodec]

If you have a complaint about moderation, you should take it up with the mod team.

This is not a complaint., it's a poll. Major difference. If a majority agree with the moderator I won't complain. If a majority agree with me, I will.

 

[noodle]

That's incredible. It's not exactly a swear word. Do we have a list of words that we're not allowed to use? Is there a reason why that word is considered worse than "murder"? We can use words that refer to the brutal killing of another human being, but we can't use words that refer to the violation of another human being - even in the context of a mature discussion?

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

I see the logic, but this is a poll and I'm doubtful - for no good reason that I can articulate, but there it is - that many people wander down those roads.
Also, the incident happened in the Elite: Dangerous section, which has its own clientele. It seems appropriate that this should appear there too.

sorry to steal your fire but the only time a lot of us click on a specific forum is when we want to post a new thread - otherwise the 'new posts' button does the job.

 

[Vlodec]

sorry to steal your fire but the only time a lot of us click on a specific forum is when we want to post a new thread - otherwise the 'new posts' button does the job.

No fire stolen. thanks for the advice. I'll remember next time.

 

[EidLeWeise]

Speaking personally I know multiple women who have been <censored> and even more women and men who have been abused in one for or an other. I'll use many words (just listen to me on team speak to verify that ) I will tell offensive jokes, I'll be racist and abusive to people in game but I will never use that word out of context.

That said I do not believe in censorship. The best rule I've found was that anything goes apart from personal abuse. My old guild used to have a saying about a good **** and a bad ****. Swearing itself wasn't censored but if someone was abusive towards another player then we didn't want anything to do with them. Out of respect we did ask people to not joke using that word when our female members one of whom had been d was online (though we kept her anonymous). We didn't explicitly ban the word though.

Eid

 

[Kipper]

This thread has been moved to 'off topic' because it's nothing to do with Elite: Dangerous specifically.

The moderation team don't specifically make the rules, we merely volunteer our time to try and apply them with a view to keeping this forum a nice, clean and friendly place.

If you want to discuss the rules with a view to understanding why something is, and whether it should be changed - a public thread is not really the best way to do it. An email or private message to Mark Boss, Frontier's community manager is much more likely to yield some kind of result.

Do bear in mind that whilst the internet itself is a place of free speech and openness; individuals or organisations owning websites are entitled to moderate the content posted to them as they see fit.

 

[noodle]

Speaking personally I know multiple women who have been <censored> and even more women and men who have been abused in one for or an other. I'll use many words (just listen to me on team speak to verify that ) I will tell offensive jokes, I'll be racist and abusive to people in game but I will never use that word out of context.

That said I do not believe in censorship. The best rule I've found was that anything goes apart from personal abuse. My old guild used to have a saying about a good **** and a bad ****. Swearing itself wasn't censored but if someone was abusive towards another player then we didn't want anything to do with them. Out of respect we did ask people to not joke using that word when our female members one of whom had been d was online (though we kept her anonymous). We didn't explicitly ban the word though.

Eid

The quoted post wasn't using the word out of context though. It was discussing whether it was appropriate to use it out of context.

 

[noodle]

This thread has been moved to 'off topic' because it's nothing to do with Elite: Dangerous specifically.

The moderation team don't specifically make the rules, we merely volunteer our time to try and apply them with a view to keeping this forum a nice, clean and friendly place.

If you want to discuss the rules with a view to understanding why something is, and whether it should be changed - a public thread is not really the best way to do it. An email or private message to Mark Boss, Frontier's community manager is much more likely to yield some kind of result.

Do bear in mind that whilst the internet itself is a place of free speech and openness; individuals or organisations owning websites are entitled to moderate the content posted to them as they see fit.

Problem is, I'm not aware what rule has been broken? Profanities are removed by the language filter. Is there another list of words that we're not allowed to use?

 

[Vlodec]

This thread has been moved to 'off topic' because it's nothing to do with Elite: Dangerous specifically.

Censorship was applied in "Elite: Dangerous specifically" which, as I mentioned, has its own clientele. Moving the thread to this spot will not remove the problem. Regard this as a promise.

If you want to discuss the rules with a view to understanding why something is, and whether it should be changed - a public thread is not really the best way to do it. An email or private message to Mark Boss, Frontier's community manager is much more likely to yield some kind of result.

Wrong. this is a poll. Or perhaps you think the opinions of contributors don't matter. In fact they're an essential precursor to effective action.

Do bear in mind that whilst the internet itself is a place of free speech and openness; individuals or organisations owning websites are entitled to moderate the content posted to them as they see fit.

Correct, but also, strangely, nonsensical.

 

[Vlodec]

Problem is, I'm not aware what rule has been broken? Profanities are removed by the language filter. Is there another list of words that we're not allowed to use?

Evidently. The private list every moderator has in his own head which is not subject to scrutiny or, apparently, criticism. Note how this thread has been moved to a backwater where few will read it.

Clever censorship. Don't actually ban it, just quietly shift it out of the way.......

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

i feel that is a bit unwarranted, this thread has had 277 views in 2 hours so it is being read.

 

[Hamerstein]

Specific words aside, I consider the general non-profanity filter/moderation as a positive addition to this forum. Call me old fashioned but I've frequented boards in the past where there is little or no moderation on language and the post quality is far higher here (and more palatable to read too). Not having the easy option of inserting swear-word of choice to emphasise or express a particular sentiment has encouraged people to express themselves more fully and lead to better understanding and more meaningful dialogue.

EDIT - I realise that this doesn't really answer the OPs question, but I consider it a short step from relaxing protocols on certain words that are considered offensive to not bothering to have any form of control on language at all.

 

[Vlodec]

Specific words aside, I consider the general non-profanity filter/moderation as a positive addition to this forum. Call me old fashioned but I've frequented boards in the past where there is little or no moderation on language and the post quality is far higher here (and more palatable to read too). Not having the easy option of inserting swear-word of choice to emphasise or express a particular sentiment has encouraged people to express themselves more fully and lead to better understanding and more meaningful dialogue.

EDIT - I realise that this doesn't really answer the OPs question, but I consider it a short step from relaxing protocols on certain words that are considered offensive to not bothering to have any form of control on language at all.

Kindly reflect on that argument and see where it leads to. Also, and as has been mentioned already, this particular term was not removed by the language filter. Which begs the question, why was it removed at all? Are we at the mercy of every moderator's particular predjudices? Well, yes.