Political Threads Getting Tagged Non-Political

[surferfb]

How do articles get tagged/not tagged political? It seems that articles that should be in political are sometimes not (see today's TikTok thread). A friend of mine posted something in that thread that wasn't outside the rules of the Political forum, but because it wasn't in a political thread, he got a lengthy suspension, despite the fact that almost every other post in the thread said similar things and were untouched (at least at time he was suspended). To be clear, I know we can't discuss others' moderation and so this post isn't about that decision, but personally speaking, I admit to just assuming that thread was in political, and wouldn't have thought to check before posting something political in it.

I'd argue an article about a politically-motivated forced ownership change of a major tech company ought to be put in the "political news" subforum because everything about the story is political. Even if the mods disagree with that for some reason, at the very least shouldn't there be a difference, and maybe some consideration, that posting something political in a "iPhone 17 released" thread is different (and a worse offense) than posting something political in a "President Helps Negotiate Sale of an App That Was Banned By Congress" thread that for some reason isn't in the "political news" subform?

 

[jclo]

Editors tag them with the political news tag when writing the article, and sometimes we (read: me) forget to check the box or don't realize how a discussion is going to spiral. When articles aren't in the political section, it's up to the mods to make sure they don't include political discussion because putting a thread in that section is done on the editorial side.

I agree that the TikTok article should have been in the political section, and that's fully my mistake. Sometimes it's hard to decide when an article should be in politics, but in this case, I forgot to add the tag.

 

[surferfb]

Editors tag them with the political news tag when writing the article, and sometimes we (read: me) forget to check the box or don't realize how a discussion is going to spiral. When articles aren't in the political section, it's up to the mods to make sure they don't include political discussion because putting a thread in that section is done on the editorial side.

I agree that the TikTok article should have been in the political section, and that's fully my mistake. Sometimes it's hard to decide when an article should be in politics, but in this case, I forgot to add the tag.

Appreciate the quick response and peek behind the curtain.

 

[surferfb]

Is there any way everyone who dinged on that thread could have it removed/have their accounts reinstated? Or at least have a mod take another look at the comment to see if it still warrants action given it should have been in political?

It seems unfair for anyone to get a warning or a suspension if their comment would have been fine had the thread been appropriately tagged.

Full disclosure, asking because a friend got a long suspension for posting in that thread. I didn’t see the comment that led to the suspension, but I seriously doubt it would have been rule breaking. (To be clear I’m doing this of my own volition, he doesn’t know I’m asking this and can’t see the thread because he’s suspended). Happy to give details over DMs if that’s needed - don’t want this to turn into prohibited discussions about moderation.

Thanks for considering!

 

[jclo]

Is there any way everyone who dinged on that thread could have it removed/have their accounts reinstated? Or at least have a mod take another look at the comment to see if it still warrants action given it should have been in political?

It seems unfair for anyone to get a warning or a suspension if their comment would have been fine had the thread been appropriately tagged.

Full disclosure, asking because a friend got a long suspension for posting in that thread. I didn’t see the comment that led to the suspension, but I seriously doubt it would have been rule breaking. (To be clear I’m doing this of my own volition, he doesn’t know I’m asking this and can’t see the thread because he’s suspended). Happy to give details over DMs if that’s needed - don’t want this to turn into prohibited discussions about moderation.

Thanks for considering!

Yes, we've asked the moderators to look at reversing those suspensions. Forum members are responsible for making sure not to post political content in threads that are not in the political section, but since I did intend to put it in politics, a one-time exception makes sense.

 

[WildCowboy]

Our mods have reversed any suspensions that were issued related to the political nature of posts while the thread was not in Political News.

 

[surferfb]

Thanks to the staff!