Censorship vs Moderating in an Online Community

Earthewen

censorship
[ˈsensərSHip]

NOUN
the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.
"the regulation imposes censorship on all media" · [more]
(in ancient Rome) the office or position of censor.

moderate
[moderate]

VERB
moderating (present participle)
make or become less extreme, intense, rigorous, or violent.
"I shall not moderate my criticism" · [more]
synonyms:
die down · abate · let up · calm down · lessen · grow less · decrease · [more]
(in academic and ecclesiastical contexts) preside over (a deliberative body) or at (a debate).
"a panel moderated by a Harvard University law professor"
synonyms:
chair · take the chair of · preside over · arbitrate · mediate · referee · judge
monitor (an Internet forum or online discussion) for inappropriate or offensive content.

Dear Community Moderators,

First, I would like to submit that people can be very passionate about their game when they spend hours on end playing it. The forums can attest to that for sure. Sometimes, things can get a little out of hand and calls for some MODERATING to take place.

However, I would submit to you that censorship and moderation are to different things. If you change anything because you simply disagreed with it, that is not moderating. That is censoring. If you change something simply because "someone might get offended" even though nothing was directed at anyone specifically, that is not moderating. That is censoring. Politically unacceptable has nothing to do with moderation. It DOES have to do with censorship.

Please take a close look at what you delete from peoples posts or entire posts BEFORE you take that plunge. I've been watching what some of the moderators are doing, and I can promise you as a former educator that a few of your employees are no longer MODERATING but have cross the line into CENSORSHIP. This post will be copied and pasted to reddit as well just in case.

Sincerely, a player who loves this game!

StormeReigns

To add... due to many not understanding it (mods and players).

Man, that poor word. Censorship. Nearly lost all meaning. So misused and abused. Sadly becoming more and more just a hip slang buzz word and when the time is needed for it.

The word will mean nothing.

CassandraGemini

Earthewen wrote: »

censorship
[ˈsensərSHip]

NOUN
the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.
"the regulation imposes censorship on all media" · [more]
(in ancient Rome) the office or position of censor.

moderate
[moderate]

VERB
moderating (present participle)
make or become less extreme, intense, rigorous, or violent.
"I shall not moderate my criticism" · [more]
synonyms:
die down · abate · let up · calm down · lessen · grow less · decrease · [more]
(in academic and ecclesiastical contexts) preside over (a deliberative body) or at (a debate).
"a panel moderated by a Harvard University law professor"
synonyms:
chair · take the chair of · preside over · arbitrate · mediate · referee · judge
monitor (an Internet forum or online discussion) for inappropriate or offensive content.

Dear Community Moderators,

First, I would like to submit that people can be very passionate about their game when they spend hours on end playing it. The forums can attest to that for sure. Sometimes, things can get a little out of hand and calls for some MODERATING to take place.

However, I would submit to you that censorship and moderation are to different things. If you change anything because you simply disagreed with it, that is not moderating. That is censoring. If you change something simply because "someone might get offended" even though nothing was directed at anyone specifically, that is not moderating. That is censoring. Politically unacceptable has nothing to do with moderation. It DOES have to do with censorship.

Please take a close look at what you delete from peoples posts or entire posts BEFORE you take that plunge. I've been watching what some of the moderators are doing, and I can promise you as a former educator that a few of your employees are no longer MODERATING but have cross the line into CENSORSHIP. This post will be copied and pasted to reddit as well just in case.

Sincerely, a player who loves this game!

Which is probably a good idea, since this thread is going to be closed down in the blink of an eye - pretty much as a "q.e.d." to your post. That I fully and wholeheartedly agree with, just to point that out, and, even though I can obviously not name names here, I do have the same feeling that some "mods" are definitely taking themselves way too seriously and are not only overzealous but also overstep their bounds regularly.

And of course this post of mine is going to get deleted, as well, no doubt about it. Maybe I'll even get reprimanded. Who cares.

Elsonso

It is not about what you say when it is critical to ZOS and the game. It is about how you say it.

Kahnak

CassandraGemini wrote: »

Earthewen wrote: »

censorship
[ˈsensərSHip]

NOUN
the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.
"the regulation imposes censorship on all media" · [more]
(in ancient Rome) the office or position of censor.

moderate
[moderate]

VERB
moderating (present participle)
make or become less extreme, intense, rigorous, or violent.
"I shall not moderate my criticism" · [more]
synonyms:
die down · abate · let up · calm down · lessen · grow less · decrease · [more]
(in academic and ecclesiastical contexts) preside over (a deliberative body) or at (a debate).
"a panel moderated by a Harvard University law professor"
synonyms:
chair · take the chair of · preside over · arbitrate · mediate · referee · judge
monitor (an Internet forum or online discussion) for inappropriate or offensive content.

Dear Community Moderators,

First, I would like to submit that people can be very passionate about their game when they spend hours on end playing it. The forums can attest to that for sure. Sometimes, things can get a little out of hand and calls for some MODERATING to take place.

However, I would submit to you that censorship and moderation are to different things. If you change anything because you simply disagreed with it, that is not moderating. That is censoring. If you change something simply because "someone might get offended" even though nothing was directed at anyone specifically, that is not moderating. That is censoring. Politically unacceptable has nothing to do with moderation. It DOES have to do with censorship.

Please take a close look at what you delete from peoples posts or entire posts BEFORE you take that plunge. I've been watching what some of the moderators are doing, and I can promise you as a former educator that a few of your employees are no longer MODERATING but have cross the line into CENSORSHIP. This post will be copied and pasted to reddit as well just in case.

Sincerely, a player who loves this game!

Which is probably a good idea, since this thread is going to be closed down in the blink of an eye - pretty much as a "q.e.d." to your post. That I fully and wholeheartedly agree with, just to point that out, and, even though I can obviously not name names here, I do have the same feeling that some "mods" are definitely taking themselves way too seriously and are not only overzealous but also overstep their bounds regularly.

And of course this post of mine is going to get deleted, as well, no doubt about it. Maybe I'll even get reprimanded. Who cares.

*checks watch*

Blink of an eye, huh? No doubt about it, huh? I won't hold my breath.

CassandraGemini

Kahnak wrote: »

CassandraGemini wrote: »

Earthewen wrote: »

censorship
[ˈsensərSHip]

NOUN
the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security.
"the regulation imposes censorship on all media" · [more]
(in ancient Rome) the office or position of censor.

moderate
[moderate]

VERB
moderating (present participle)
make or become less extreme, intense, rigorous, or violent.
"I shall not moderate my criticism" · [more]
synonyms:
die down · abate · let up · calm down · lessen · grow less · decrease · [more]
(in academic and ecclesiastical contexts) preside over (a deliberative body) or at (a debate).
"a panel moderated by a Harvard University law professor"
synonyms:
chair · take the chair of · preside over · arbitrate · mediate · referee · judge
monitor (an Internet forum or online discussion) for inappropriate or offensive content.

Dear Community Moderators,

First, I would like to submit that people can be very passionate about their game when they spend hours on end playing it. The forums can attest to that for sure. Sometimes, things can get a little out of hand and calls for some MODERATING to take place.

However, I would submit to you that censorship and moderation are to different things. If you change anything because you simply disagreed with it, that is not moderating. That is censoring. If you change something simply because "someone might get offended" even though nothing was directed at anyone specifically, that is not moderating. That is censoring. Politically unacceptable has nothing to do with moderation. It DOES have to do with censorship.

Please take a close look at what you delete from peoples posts or entire posts BEFORE you take that plunge. I've been watching what some of the moderators are doing, and I can promise you as a former educator that a few of your employees are no longer MODERATING but have cross the line into CENSORSHIP. This post will be copied and pasted to reddit as well just in case.

Sincerely, a player who loves this game!

Which is probably a good idea, since this thread is going to be closed down in the blink of an eye - pretty much as a "q.e.d." to your post. That I fully and wholeheartedly agree with, just to point that out, and, even though I can obviously not name names here, I do have the same feeling that some "mods" are definitely taking themselves way too seriously and are not only overzealous but also overstep their bounds regularly.

And of course this post of mine is going to get deleted, as well, no doubt about it. Maybe I'll even get reprimanded. Who cares.

*checks watch*

Blink of an eye, huh? No doubt about it, huh? I won't hold my breath.

Don't think so? Discussing disciplinary actions taken by moderators is against the TOS, which is basically what this thread does, albeit in a general sort of way, instead of focusing on something specific. Pretty damn sure they won't like it.

Wing

forums don't care and are not regulated by any law, same with the game. (within reason)

ZOS owns everything here and in game, you post and play at their discretion, and they can revoke that privilege at any time for any reason.

you can argue definitions and semantics all you want, changes nothing, also the meaning of words change, for instance literally was changed to also mean figuratively because people were misusing it.

FierceSam

Dude, the vast majority of ‘censorship’ issues would vanish if people spent a couple of seconds re-reading their comments before posting.

It’s posters and forum users who are the problem, not the moderators.

Our points would have far more weight if only we could express ourselves more politely.

ZOS_Mika

Greetings,

We have gone ahead and closed this thread down because, as stated in our Community Rules, "we do not allow discussion of any moderation actions or decisions on our forums."

With that being said, we are more than happy to discuss any specific moderator action with you if you submit a ticket at help.elderscrollsonline.com

As a moderation team, our goal is never to silence community members or try to sweep concerns that they have under the rug. Feedback is a vital function of our forums, but we do ask that all feedback remains civil and constructive. Bashing, rude comments, and abusive language are all violations of our Community Rules and can result in moderator action.

Thank you for your understanding and we hope you will reach out to us via our help portal if you have any concerns related to a moderator action.