ADMIN LOG WATCH 2

The guy's a friend. He's stayed at my house, he's eaten my food, I've played his instruments, multiple times. I feel I have a reasonably good idea of what he's comfortable sharing with other people who also know him.

It's not like I shared the story of how ~omnipotent baby~ came to throw a pint at a funeral, or anything! ;)

(Now that last bit was shit-stirring and I am going to go administer a database instead!)

I think ultimately, regardless of context, it's bad form to post anything that might be construed as a physical threat against a public figure if for no other reason than it makes ILX and those who run ILX a potential target for scrutiny or worse.

OK, this is difficult for me to talk about, but I have experience in this area.

In 1996 someone using my Internet login (not me) made direct threats against a United States politician. There were serious and long-lasting personal consequences to me from that act.

I understand having certain feelings about the people in power now. I have fairly strong feelings about it myself. I am extremely careful about how I express those feelings on the public Internet.

Matt DC, I believe you did the right thing in this instance. Thank you.

if for no other reason than it makes ILX and those who run ILX a potential target for scrutiny or worse.

also because it is gross and dehumanizing and upsetting for the people who have to read it.

wow Rush! that's shocking

it's bad form to post anything that might be construed as a physical threat against a public figure

p sure this board has multiple instances of people literally wishing assassination on the most public of public political figures

those posts wig me out too for the reasons just sketched out by Kate and Old Lunch

Maybe a bad look for the board in general then, onimo

guys as long as we say that we sincerely hope Keir Starmer doesn't contract leprosy i think we're ok

i for one bear no ill will to the countless politicians and public figures who go about their business every day to the best of their abilities and certainly don't have any responsibility for countless deaths and ruined lives, it would be terrible to express bad thoughts about them or wish them any harm that might interrupt their relentless pursuit of not killing people or destroying the planet

Sorry, but did I imagine all those posts from pearl-clutching US ILXors wishing death, disease, COVID-19, cardiac arrests, strokes, brain tumours, torture, assassination, disembowellment, you name it, on Donald Trump for virtually every day for the last four years? I must have.

Maybe a bad look for the board in general then, onimo

― treeship., Monday, 10 August 2020 16:32 (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Maybe so. I'd like some consistency in modding (see my previous on the FP thread re killing with guns and stabbing a hobo being lolz catchphrases used by beloved posters) but I appreciate I'm board lawyering and that's not a good look either.

yeahhhhhh.... i totally get Kate and Old Lunch's paranoia, because that's my instinct as well in the current state of lyfe in America!

in this case, I am glad I am not a mod!

I had no idea Huddersfield was in America.

maybe we should have a "people you really hope don't die in gruelling agony" thread to avoid misunderstandings

but both Kate and Old Lunch are in America ...

They haven't just been banned from ILX for threatening to stab Keir Starmer - well, not yet anyway.

Make no mistake, I wish all kinds of horrible things upon a certain august personage in our American midst, but to the extent that I ever post my ill wishes, I am always exceedingly avoidant of wording those wishes in a way that might potentially bring the hammer down on the board. It shouldn't be that hard for the wordy folks 'round here to vent their spleen without issuing explicit threats.

maybe we should have a "people you really hope don't die in gruelling agony" thread to avoid misunderstanding

Or "people you're allowed to hope die in gruelling agony". Pretty short thread though. Just one name.

i was just bringing up the "lyfe in America" thing because our current horrible leadership definitely amplifies any paranoia about being punished for threatening harm on a member of government leadership ...

but ... i'll just back away, let English ppl fight English wars ... idk

English ppl

Poor Tom. :(

(Among others.)

LOL.

Sorry, but did I imagine all those posts from pearl-clutching US ILXors wishing death, disease, COVID-19, cardiac arrests, strokes, brain tumours, torture, assassination, disembowellment, you name it, on Donald Trump for virtually every day for the last four years? I must have.

― Young Boys of Bernie (Tom D.)

I can't speak for how things are done in the UK, but in the US, there are lines. Cross the line, and there are consequences. Malediction does not cross the line. Threats do.

hoping a horrible and dangerous public figure dies is different from describing fantasies of how you'd personally like to kill them. both in terms of tone/vibe "in the room," and what kind of negative attention it could attract.

xpost

OK, we'll be sure and tell calz when he comes back that he can hope that Keir Starmer is fed into a wood chipper but just to make sure it's someone else who is doing it, then it'll all be hunky dory.

sigh

OK, we'll be sure and tell calz when he comes back that he can hope that Keir Starmer is fed into a wood chipper but just to make sure it's someone else who is doing it, then it'll all be hunky dory.

― Young Boys of Bernie (Tom D.)

why are you arguing with me? you think i made these fucking rules? i'm telling you about some life experiences i have had, even though i would rather no, even though reliving those experiences is extremely personally unpleasant for me, in the hopes that others might avoid going through what i went through. what are you fucking telling me here, that what happened to me was stupid and pointless? great, thanks for your fucking input.

But I'm not arguing with you?

Simply put: this is a shared space run by people other than myself, so I'm going to avoid putting those other people in a position where they may be liable for something inflammatory that I've written. Again, if you're creative, you can say what you want to say without actually saying the thing ('please pass away peacefully in your sleep this evening' is, for instance, a workable alternative in this particular instance, I find).

Are you sure about that OL?

I've read plenty of inflammatory stuff from you in the past!

Most Hilarious Way for Toby Young to Die Although God Forbid It Should Ever Happen

I'll slip on the mea culpa hairshirt if you're aware of specific instances, Tom, but I always post from the mindset described above and am consequently careful of my wording however inflamed I may be in a moment. Also I'm just a paranoid weenie who doesn't want to wind up on a watchlist, generally speaking.

I hate to say it but the only reason I mentioned the wood chipper thing at all - wood chippers are not common in the UK - is because I remember reading someone on ILX talking about Trump being fed into a wood chipper and I remember thinking, "That's a bit strong". I think it was before violent fantasies about Trump became so commonplace on ILX so I was a bit taken aback by it and, on searching for the quote in question... well, can you guess who posted it?

I have to say that I had never before seen an ILX post in which someone has said 'I would stab X public figure with a knife'. As mentioned before I don't believe it was a genuine death threat, I have no animosity towards Calz as a poster at all, I think he was just ranting as he usually does and went over a line. It wasn't a death threat but it could have been taken as one by someone not familiar with the ins and outs of these boards and as a result it obviously couldn't stay where it was.

It was on the thread in question for three or four minutes max and I'm not sure anyone else here read it because the other examples being given here just aren't comparing like for like.

surely the uncommon nature of the wood chipper is part of what makes it ridiculous

xxpost Although I shan't defend the tone of the post in question, I'd argue that there's a distinction between gruesome fantasia and statements of intent. Still, a little time in the hairshirt would probably do me some good.

I don't know what the weather's like there but it's far too hot for hairshirts here.

what if the FBI cross-reference your DN with known owners of wood chippers?

I'm fairly certain I've never actually seen a woodchipper in person, and only slightly less certain that I'd wind up accidentally feeding myself into one if I ever made the mistake of trying to operate one. Some might call that poetic justice.

i know a couple guys with woodchippers

(and nw, anyone reading this has connections to multiple people with woodchippers. the nexus to criminal elements is established!)

they'd probably do a logical 'and' on this list: gruesome fantasia & owner of wood chipper & has not seen Fargo & has not participated in banter with anyone who has seen Fargo & FPs below 50

(only a criminal mind is savvy enough to keep the FPs below 50. i didn't fuck that up.)

In the US, at least, "wishing" a public figure was dead is protected speech. There's case law behind this, where if it's worded like "God, I wish he'd stroke out and die already", it's understood that this isn't a threat. Whereas "Would be a shame if someone shot you, <name>" could be considered a threat even if it's worded in the hypothetical.

saying "I would stab X public figure with a knife" would be likely to get you a visit from the FBI here, on the other hand. Obviously, I don't know how it works in the UK, but for the snark regarding the difference between the two upthread, there is actually a very big difference between the two statements, legally speaking, in the US.

neither is an enjoyable post to read tbh