There is a dedicated community on this website for Flat Earth [FE] stuff:
https://scored.co/c/flatearthresearch/new
There is no need for FE here on conspiracies IMO. If people want to explore FE they can easily seek it there or elsewhere on the internet.
My position: FE doesn't belong here. I believe the proponents of FE are ruining any chance this forum has to gain a larger following. They are time wasters and trolls who reject logical and reasonable rebuttable of their assertions. If someone disproves their idea they say it's lies and fakery without justification or evidence. If it's tiresome for me it must be annoying for others too, and perhaps it is dissuading lurkers from taking the leap and interacting here. No one should have to spend time wading through FE madness if they didn't seek it out.
My position wont change through argument. That's not what this post is about. I want to know:
Do individual, regular users on Conspiracies support banning FE posts and "discussion" from this forum?
If this motion of mine passes, the FE users would be allowed to stay, but submissions they make claiming the Earth is flat would be removed and result in a 3 day ban.
Comments arguing for FE would be removed too, if they are reported or I see them.
A note on the side bar would be added, making it clear that FE is banned here, and a link to the scored/communities FE community provided.
I think that's fair.
Since voting is easily manipulated, the way we'll decide is this:
Reply below, a top level comment, with either a YAY or NAY
YAY= I want FE banned
NAY= I want FE allowed
1 vote per user
Caveats:
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Any top level comment without a clear YAY or NAY at the beginning of the comment will be removed.
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YAYS or NAYS as a reply to a top level comment will not count and will be removed.
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Provide justification, opinions or suggestions about all this along with your vote, if you like, but place it on a separate line below your YAY or NAY.
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Replying to users is fine too, as long as you yourself have also made a top level comment with a yay or nay.
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If a top level comment is edited, the edit history will be checked and the comment may not count or may be removed.
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We have about 100 regular users/contributors, my estimate, so I hope everyone replies with a YAY or NAY. We'll give it plenty of time to ensure everyone sees this post.
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Upvotes or Downvotes on comments or on this post will be completely ignored
We're counting YAYs or NAYs from individual users only.
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Top level comments without a clear YAY or NAY will be removed.
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Duplicate YAYs or NAYS will be removed.
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Handshake account YAYs or NAYs are welcome, but they will be scrutinized and possibly ignored if they seem like sock-puppets, regardless of how they are voting. This is to ensure the minimum of vote manipulation.
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Older accounts with little to no history - or where their last comment was several months or years ago - will also be scrutinized and may not count.
I reserve the right to edit this post based on interactions and suggestions below. I may not have thought of everything. Edits will be labelled and placed at the end of this text.
EDIT
Vote over
Minus sock-puppet accounts it's 61 Nay, 44 Yay.
Most of the nays are casual, non-contributing users banging on about censorship and free speech who don't give a damn about quality content nor FE. I encourage those users to engage with FE instead of ignoring it. If you did that you would probably come to regret voting to allow it in this forum.
FE has no basis in fact or reality yet is presented as the ultimate scientific reality. It is a specific topic, with one essential idea, that the earth is flat. It is clear, easily identifiable, unvague, simple to identify.
Antisemitic is a label applied to many different types of comments, people and conspiracies, very liberally. Bankers conspiracy? Antisemitic. Israel conspiracy? Antismeitic. WW2 conspiracy? Antisemitic. Leo Frank, B'nai Birith and the ADL? Antisemtic. The "antisemitic trick" admitted to by that Israeli Minister on Democarcy Now? Antisemitic.
Thanks to such admitted tactics, I consider claims of antisemitism to be almost ungovernable. Too fluid a concept. Too liberally applied. Having said that, if the reported antisemitism contains obscene language or incitement to violence, I will of course remove it.
That's true. Still, I don't want either banned. And because FE is so specific, it so easily argued against and debunked. I don't see the problem. Just limit it to 1 post a day.
That's good and I'll keep it in mind. We don't want this to be another conpro.
This is not true, because FE make very many random assertions about every little thing, and say these all point to flat earth. it easy enough to do but takes time to sufficiently and clearly debunk each of their minor nitpicks with reality. And if you spend the time and energy to do so, that could be devoted to better things, and you reply in good faith, hoping to show them the error of their ways, they will simply call you a liar and everything you presented as fake. So it may be easily debunked, but you can't convince them of that, and they persist in their grooming attempts. Successful, irrefutable debunking does nothing to dissuade them in the least. They will declare themselves right regardless of all logic or factual rebuttle.
Most posts on here do that.
Then ignore them. Non-mods can block them.
Welcome to my world when I debate theists. Still, I don't want religion banned from the site or any boards.
It's clear you have a deep issue with FE and are tired of dealing with them. But sorry, you're a mod and can't let your bias get in the way, not if you want to be a good mod. You do get props for making this thread instead of simply acting, but a great mod does the right thing for free speech even if he's opposed by the majority. As there's a disturbing amount of people voting yay.
People voting yay are not by definition against free speech or pro censorship. This is a vote on whether the topic is complete and utter trash or not. Trash gets taken out. No one wants trash scattered around where they live for fear of infringing on it's rights. You get rid of trash regularly, before it starts to stink, ideally. I'm the trash man.