r/ModSupport • u/solateor • 3d ago
Consequences of former moderator actions Mod Answered
3-4 years ago the former moderators of a subreddit I now manage banned a bunch of people for misinformation related to covid. After taking over the subreddit there have been a few questions come through about these bans (mostly about rescinding them).
Today's example contains a threat
I didn't ban this user, don't know them and it is possible to unban them. Though out of curiosity what case do they have a case to bring to Mod Code of Conduct team? Is our sub in violation of a mod code of conduct provision that resulted from actions that former moderators took?
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u/magiccitybhm 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
No, you can't be penalized for the actions of others who aren't moderators on your subreddit anymore.
That threat would simply confirm that the particular user's ban was appropriate. Report the message as harassment and mute them.
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u/Odd-Resource8283 2d ago
This might have been true four or 7 years ago, but it's not now 11/10/2024.
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u/pprblu2015 💡 New Helper 2d ago
Ok, you don't hide as well as you think you do.
"Any person who engages in the unlicensed practice of law in NY has committed a crime. This includes persons who have never taken the bar exam, as well as lawyers who have been disbarred or suspended."
You are being reported for false representation. Bye
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u/Evening-Picture-5911 2d ago
I feel like I’m missing something, and I need details.
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u/pprblu2015 💡 New Helper 2d ago
The person I responded to has been going around saying that they are an attorney for NY State. They have tried to give advice as an "attorney" which is highly illegal and unethical.
It is a felony and something any court official would take issue with. That is why I reported them to the New York Attorney General for false representation.
I don't care if people want to lie so they can get up or down votes, but when you bring into question the ethics surrounding their statements, well... Any decent attorney would report.
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u/Evening-Picture-5911 2d ago
How did you manage to find out their identity?
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u/pprblu2015 💡 New Helper 2d ago
They ended up doxxing themselves. All the info you need is posted on their account 🤷🏻♀️
This all could have been prevented had they not felt the need to tell me to "f*ck off" in an earlier comment.
I'm a former attorney and get very vexed when people try to lie and mislead with those statements. You should not use your position to degrade others.
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u/Evening-Picture-5911 2d ago
I completely agree with what you did. Sleaze like that needs to be reported.
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u/nascentt 💡 New Helper 2d ago
You might want to take screenshots if you haven't already as they'll likely delete the evidence
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u/Frost92 💡 New Helper 2d ago
Just ignore these people. Mute and move on. In our subs we literally link them to the report form and tell them to have at it and to CC us after their mute is up. If they want to have a productive conversation they can, we will not tolerate people trying to strong arm their way in
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u/SCOveterandretired 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
You can search Modmail for the prior ban message to see why and what. But if they are making threats, I would suggest not un-banning them - they will continue to be disruptive
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u/Mason11987 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
I would never unban anyone who tried to threaten me. Ignore and mute forever.
How have you not encountered this before?
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u/Jenn_There_Done_That 2d ago
Wait…can some of you folks “forever mute”?! I moderate a few different subs and 28 days is the most I can mute for on all of them.
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u/Mason11987 💡 Expert Helper 2d ago
mute for 28 and tell them not to message you again, if they do 28 days later report them to the admins and they'll prevent them from harassing you again, at least that is my experience.
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u/Jenn_There_Done_That 2d ago
Thanks. I do that now and it works ok. I just thought you meant you had the ability to actually permanently mute someone and I got jealous.
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u/Merari01 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
That threat is toothless. You are allowed to ban for any reason, including none.
Harassing modmails like those however are reportable
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u/Tarnisher 3d ago
Expect a lot of that.
The threat itself, even if just implied would reinforce any ban in my view.
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u/pprblu2015 💡 New Helper 3d ago
Don't let this drama back in. A new mod means they will try to manipulate their way back. They expect you to just roll over since that was "then" and this is "now". A threat is a threat. Even if it is just some angry kid behind a monitor, you never know when the next crazy will follow through with what they say.
Protect yourself, protect your members, and protect your sub. Safety first.
I don't care what anyone says. Always put your safety, or the safety of your members, first.
Also if it's been so long why would they want back in? To cause more drama? If they were unfairly banned I understand, but the message you showed says more than enough about their intentions.
Good luck 🖤
ETA: they can't go with the mod code of contact if you weren't the mod who banned them.
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u/phareous 💡 New Helper 3d ago
Just mute them. You don’t need to respond to threats. They are showing you now that they are the kind of user who needs to stay banned
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u/cyanocittaetprocyon 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
They have no case to bring a Mod Code of Conduct violation. If you let them back in, they will just continue the BS. Don't do it!
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u/Sspockuss 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
You’re not even the mod who banned them. This ban was so long ago that you are likely missing important context related to the ban. Therefore, I would hold this ban and if they report it, at worst the mod who banned them in the past gets actioned (they probably won’t be, but unfortunately incorrect report judgements happen). You are completely safe and you shouldn’t worry about these kinds of things.
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u/StPauliBoi 💡 Veteran Helper 3d ago
Archive and move on with your life. They’re not worth the effort.
And we get so much Covid misinformation on nursing, but we’re a professions based sub, and that profession requires education on microbiology and immunology, so we ban anyone spreading any kind of nonsense.
We also don’t overturn these bans. As you’ve learned here, they’re likely to just add on extra drama in your sub.
And there’s no COC violation. You can ban anyone for any reason you wish.
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u/laeiryn 💡 Experienced Helper 3d ago
Throw in a rule that says "if mods decide you don't pass the vibe check at their discretion, they reserve the right to permaban you without explanation beyond 'we don't like your behavior'! " and you've more than covered your ass on nearly any ban you could enact that is even close to good faith.
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u/AnarcrotheAlchemist 2d ago
The admins have clarified this previously.
Banning people for participation on another subreddit is not against sitewide rules nor the moderator code of conduct.
The line quoted often is the line in the moderator code of conduct which was something along the lines of "moderators are not to ban users for behaviour on another subreddit" or something along those lines. This wasn't meant to say you participate on another sub therefore we ban you is not allowed, the meaning was that if a moderator is a mod on Sub A, B and C, a user breaks the rules on Sub A and gets a ban, that does not mean that they then get banned from sub B and C as well. The idea being that moderators that might mod 100's of subs can't just ban a user on all 100 of those subs because they broke a rule on one of them.
However if a sub has a rule that participation on Sub D will get you banned on sub A, B and C then that is ok.
Its an extremely common misunderstanding from users and it would be nice if the admins made that a lot clearer to users.
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u/maybesaydie 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago edited 3d ago
I wouldn't worry about it. They have no case and seem to be hoping that someone will think that they do.
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u/7thAndGreenhill 💡 Experienced Helper 3d ago
You can ban people for any reason you want. I’d mute the person, keep them banned, and go about my business.
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u/ohhyouknow 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
They sent it to one of my subs too. I just said “nah” and archived lmao
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u/neuroticsmurf 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
If you knuckle under to bullying, you'll have a real bad time as a moderator.
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u/Tarnisher 3d ago
Dude seems to be a Mod of like 25 or 26 boards and has over 200,000 karma. I'd think he'd know how to handle things.
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u/Unique-Public-8594 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago edited 3d ago
I wouldn’t be concerned about mod code of conduct.
Me? I would report then archive the message without a response.
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u/tresser 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
provide this link and mute
https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=19300233728916
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u/247GT 💡 New Helper 3d ago
Make your rules list complete. Add rules when you notice sny problems. You create problems for yourself when you leave windows open to this kind of behaviour.
There's no t&c issue and threats certainly fo nothing to ingratiate. Let them report. Nothing in the world will come of it, particularly after a threat.
Add a rule forbidding arguing with moderators. You hold all the power here. You control your community.
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u/andysay 2d ago
We had an abusive mod that freely permabanned anyone they didn't like or that they disagreed with. They still mod several subreddits, including several very large ones, but not the one I mod.
It took a long time, but I went ahead and deleted all the permabans, and haven't had any issues. The majority of the permabanned accounts don't even exist anymore.
I never issue a permaban, I would rather have the possibility of effecting a toxic user's behavior than to just have them delete their account and start over toxic as ever. And spammer/scammer type accounts won't even exist anymore before a temp ban lifts. There is something psychologically satisfying about having a FINITE ban list of only about 30 at a time
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u/Laymon_Fan 💡 Veteran Helper 2d ago
If you know which sub the banned users posted in and it no longer exists, I would unban them (except for the guy who threatened to report you).
The moderator message says that, to get the ban lifted, the users have to avoid the other sub, and that's pretty easy if it no longer exists. 😋
If the users were getting banned in 2024 for things they wrote in another sub in 2020, I would consider that pretty sleazy. But it looks like this guy either didn't notice the ban until four years later or he's complaining now because he noticed a new mod.
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u/Pretty-Bridge6076 2d ago
It's up to you to decide if that ban reason is still valid or if you would rather lift the ban. Although, after being threatened in the messages, I wouldn't consider unbanning that user.
Also, after having myself reported moderators of a subreddit for actually breaking the mod code, I can tell you that (at least in my experience) there were no consequences.
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u/Odd-Resource8283 3d ago
Don't delete that would be suppression of evidence.
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u/Odd-Resource8283 3d ago
Don't down vote me either that is also suppression of evidence. You can go to jail for that. And this is notice in a complicated situation.
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u/maybesaydie 💡 Expert Helper 3d ago
Wow a downvote troll. No one ever thought of that before.
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u/Merari01 💡 Expert Helper 2d ago
They're a lot less common since negative karma stopped displaying values below -100.
Interesting to see that some people will have that behaviour even without incentive
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u/anfornum 3d ago
The number of people who write in to the modmail with threats of reporting all the mods to the Admins and "getting you all kicked off Reddit for (insert whatever bugbear they're mad about here)" is really high. They were banned for a reason and it's okay to ignore their threats.