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.
Tbh you are wasting time engaging with a group of shills.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking their arguments are genuine, or that they care about reason or debates.
If anything, use this post to ban users in favor of FE content. Easiest thing you can do to maintain the integrity of the site.
What’s the worst case scenario? A few useful idiots get washed to sea? Let them go out with the tide, I say.
Good riddance, if anything.
NAYS seem mostly to be coming from a a "free speech" stand point rather than "FE could be right" stand point. Pity, FE doesn't deserve any such defenses.
Replied to the wrong person lol. But I don’t think this is an intellectually valid perspective.
The most hardcore free speech intellectuals would have separated speech and speech acts.
No one has the right to yell fire in a crowded theatre, or to foment a riot. These are reasonable restrictions.
FE debate has already had its time. The ideas have not been censored. Advocates have put out enough content for reasonable people to ascertain that it’s all nonsense.
A bad idea was allowed it’s time and the public square is better off after it’s thorough debunking and ridicule of its proponents.
But the reality is that FE is a psyop designed to HURT sites like this. You are smart enough to realize this.
Once you have that realization… it’s simple to see you’re dealing with speech acts, and not actual speech.
It’s more like an attempt to foment a riot than it is an actual attempt at debate or discussion. It’s a subversive and harmful act.
The responsible thing is to ban it.
If these people don’t like it, then fuck them! They are either idiots or shills, neither of which deserves your respect or time.