Rule Change: Publication of Infraction Appeal Threads

APPEALING MODERATOR ACTIONS
The Process
If, after having made a genuine attempt to resolve their concerns with the relevant moderator via private messages, a poster still feels that they have been wrongly infracted or banned, they may ask for a review of the infraction or the ban by the SUPERMODS. All reviews follow the same steps.

1. Member PMs a supermod.
2. The supermod acknowledges the PM and posts the request in the supermod infraction review subforum (a non public forum).
3. The mod who issued the infraction is asked to clarify their reasoning on the infraction.
4. Clearly frivolous requests are dismissed and the poster notified that their request has been denied.
5. Non frivolous requests are reviewed by a panel of available supermods and admins.
6. The panel reaches a final decision, from which no further appeals will be considered by the supermods or admins.
7. The poster is notified of the outcome.
8. A copy of the appeal thread is published in the infraction review subforum (a public forum).

The Details
Send a PM to one of the Super Moderators. You can find a list of all supermods at the bottom of this page. The supermod you contact will preside over the review. If you have not received an acknowledgement of your request within 24 hours, you may resend your request to a different supermod. Warnings are not reviewable; don’t waste our time.

Requests for review are required to be presented in a polite manner. Requests which are not presented politely will be denied. This initial PM is your opportunity to tell your side of the story. Once the process starts, you may not be contacted until a decision has been made. Incivility or abusive language will not help your cause.

Posters should include the following with a request for review. Failure to include all of this information may result in your request being denied out of hand.

• Reference to infraction in question.
• All previous PMs regarding the infraction.
• Why you think that the infraction is wrong.
• What outcome you are seeking.

IMPORTANT! - Please note that the requests of posters who persistently ask for a review for all, almost all, or most of their infractions (you know who you are) will not be granted, and those posters will generally be dealt with in the same manner as those who abuse the report posts function. The appeals system is designed to provide an opportunity for people who genuinely feel they have been wrongly infracted to have that infraction re-examined by a panel of the more experienced staff members; we will not allow frivolous requests to clog up the infraction system with even more unnecessary paperwork.

Publication of appeal threads
Once a review has been finalised, the appeal thread will be published in the infraction review subforum. The thread will be locked, and all posts within should be considered moderator actions; please remember that Public Discussion of Moderator Action is strictly prohibited. The aim of publication is to provide an insight into the appeals process and infraction system, not to provide discussion material.

Certain material will be redacted from the published thread. For starters, PMs between poster and moderator will be redacted unless both parties consent to their inclusion; these messages are intended to be private, after all. Other material which may be redacted includes, but is not limited to, particularly inappropriate content and discussion of third parties. We acknowledge that removing too much material would defeat the purpose of publication, so redaction will be conducted sparingly.

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Camakaze said:

5. Non frivolous requests are reviewed by a panel of available supermods and admins.
6. The panel reaches a final decision, from which no further appeals will be considered by the supermods or admins.
7. The poster is notified of the outcome.
8. A copy of the appeal thread is published in the infraction review subforum (a public forum).

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