Background:
August 26, 2024 a dbzer0 instance admin instance banned a user, @marcie@lemmy.ml per “Sanctioned mod due to slanderous & unsubstantiated community ban and zero response to appeal. Ban to be lifted once issue is resolved.”
https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/modlog?page=1&actionType=All&userId=9924804
From what I could gather, she received the instance ban after banning an instance member from a community (!transgender@lemmy.ml). Whether or not the community ban is justified doesn’t really seem to be an issue here, an instance ban is an extreme response to a community ban and is inherently an unbalanced action that has vastly different ramifications. This means that no local users can interact with or see the instance banned user compared to one local user not being able to interact with one community on a different instance. The instance ban has much deeper implications than a community ban and should not be used rashly in response to a community ban.
https://lemmy.ml/modlog/14758?page=1&actionType=All&userId=892112
Something that may be worth to note is that the community banned user is a dbzer0 instance admin; however, I don’t see how this could be much of an issue here, especially in terms of moderation, as there are other unbanned instance admins that can access that community. It just seems that this ban was done for personal reasons, possibly in revenge, that perhaps don’t align with this instance’s userbase’s interests.
In fact, being an admin here seems to be part of the reason why it occurred. i.e. Would this instance ban have occurred if the moderator had banned a non-admin user?
If an instance ban on a moderator banning a local user is an appropriate course of action in this instance, then why is this not the case for any other users banned? I have never received an instance ban for community banning users, but should I be banned? Should db0 be banned from dbzer0 for community banning users? Should all community moderators be sanctioned?
Obviously, there isn’t a precedent for this here, and I particularly don’t want one and this is not a proposal to enact one. This is a proposal to reverse an instance ban on a user who I believe is unjustly banned, as an instance ban is not an appropriate response to a single community ban.
Although, if the admin is upset about the community ban, I implore him to visit !yepowertrippinbastards@lemmy.dbzer0.com rather than pinging the user who’s replies cannot even been seen here due to the ban (https://lemmy.ml/post/22023367/14664616) (https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/comment/14455427).
Acknowledged governance topic opened by https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/u/neurospice
This is a simple majority vote. The final tally is as follows:
- For:
- Against:
- Total: -4.0
- Percentage: 30.00%
This vote has concluded on 2025-01-30 09:30:20 UTC
Reminder that this is a pilot process and results of voting are not set in stone.
- For:
I think the ban is less about revenge and more to do with that person spreading libel such as calling someone transphobic for not liking hexbear campists which is patently ridiculous.
Granted, the optics of this are not great though.
Anyway, if the ban is expired as it seems from your screenshot, I will vote to lift the ban and put this behind us.
There is a larger discussion to be had at some point about what to do about campists spreading bad faith libel like this.
At some point, I would like to completely automate ban/unban threads like these via threativore. I.e. open a vote via threativore for ban/unban, and have the effects be handled automatically based on the vote.
Instance banning someone because you’re personally mad they think that you’re transphobic just seems like a straight up abuse of the feature and a personal block would be appropriate.
An instance ban is to protect users from someone who is a hazard. Nobody on this instance can interact with a trans person because the administration doesn’t like that they think he’s not an ally. Absolutely bonkers to defend this lol.
It’s not even a dispute about moderation on this server. Frankly vulnerable communities need protecting from bad users, banning people for their actions elsewhere is fine it doesn’t need to be reactive. If you’re mad that someone thinks you’re transphobic then that’s between you and them, you shouldn’t try and stop anyone on the instance from interacting with them and potentially learning why they think that.
Trans people can be harmful trolls as well. It’s not a free pass to make malicious accusations and is not the reason she was banned. She was banned for making malicious accusations over what was clearly an anti-tankie post and refusing to withdraw them. Marcie has weaponised her identity in order to cause harm to others. If she gets away with doing this to me, an instance admin as you pointed out, then that raises significant concerns for me about who she is going to target for character assassination next.
Even if this vote doesn’t go Marcie’s way, I will take into consideration what you and Eevoltic have said and be more thoughtful about such bans in the future, instead of responding in the heat of the moment.
And finally, after considering your comments, I have decided to take the “personal” element out of the equation and withdraw my vote on this topic so it is not a factor in the decision making.
If she gets away with doing this to me, an instance admin as you pointed out, then that raises significant concerns for me about who she is going to target for character assassination next.
I have no idea who this person is, and if they have a pattern of behaviour of lashing out and harrassing people then I absolutely think banning them to protect users is justified.
It’s just, from the outside this really just looks like a grudge between two individuals which is smol beans in terms of internet stuff. Some people have called me a tankie, I’ve been called an animal abuser by several hundred people on lemmy.world during the ridiculous cat food thing. Should all of those people be instance banned for libel?
I don’t think so. Unless say they had a pattern of doing it.
I appreciate your feedback and will take in on board.
