Is GAF too strict?

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I'm seeing 17 bans where "prison rape" was explicitly noted as the reason in the ban log (versus just a link to the post or "offensive comment" or "hateful comment" or any other general version. If I search "prison" or "prisoner", I see 26. Obviously it's not possible to calculate an exact statistic, but let's not pretend we don't ban for that on a regular basis.
 
yeah, i think we need to stop taking things so seriously on here. Personal attacks toward other members or truly offensive statements toward a group of people should not be tolerated, but its getting harder and harder to see where the line is lately.

I don't know if I consider it banworthy, but I think wishing harm/retribution/rape on someone in prison is disgusting and shouldn't be dismissed.
 
I don't know if I consider it banworthy, but I think wishing harm/retribution/rape on someone in prison is disgusting and shouldn't be dismissed.

my post was in reference to the guy who seemed genuinely excited to go find other posts to PM mods about to bring on bans. I agree with everything you said. The guy who made that thread got banned for a reason, hope its not a lengthy vacation for him.
 
This is bordering on censorship at this point. Jon Stewart would say that and everyone would think its hilarious. But on Gaf its horribly sexist and worthy of a ban. This is an internet forum designed for fun, not the damn UN.

It's not bordering on censorship; it is censorship.
 
I'm seeing 17 bans where "prison rape" was explicitly noted as the reason in the ban log (versus just a link to the post or "offensive comment" or "hateful comment" or any other general version. If I search "prison" or "prisoner", I see 26. Obviously it's not possible to calculate an exact statistic, but let's not pretend we don't ban for that on a regular basis.

Were these people banned back when this happened Stumpo? I'm just curious.
I know it's easy to miss them since the threads moves really fast on gaf:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=39419886&postcount=452
 
I remember there were quite a few people saying Geohotz (or maybe it was other hackers) should be bum raped in prison back when they hacked the ps3, I don't think they were banned, I was still lurking at the time though and I'm not sure if I remember correctly.

I cannot be certain without looking up each individual ban, but the PS3 hacker topic(s) (I don't remember if it was one or several) had multiple mods going through them and banning people for various offenses, and over 100 people caught bans of some length. I somehow doubt that posts advocating raping hackers got a pass while other people were banned for relatively mild consolewarrior trolling. I suspect that you are misremembering, looked at them before they were banned or after the ban period was over, or are referring to a post that was simply missed in the mess.

Edit: And per your question, four of those posters caught lengthy bans. Ilias78 was missed.
 
This is bordering on censorship at this point. Jon Stewart would say that and everyone would think its hilarious. But on Gaf its horribly sexist and worthy of a ban. This is an internet forum designed for fun, not the damn UN.

Jon Stewart would call the driver a dumb bitch?

my post was in reference to the guy who seemed genuinely excited to go find other posts to PM mods about to bring on bans. I agree with everything you said. The guy who made that thread got banned for a reason, hope its not a lengthy vacation for him.

My mistake, I misunderstood.
 
I cannot be certain without looking up each individual ban, but the PS3 hacker topic(s) (I don't remember if it was one or several) had multiple mods going through them and banning people for various offenses, and over 100 people caught bans of some length. I somehow doubt that posts advocating raping hackers got a pass while other people were banned for relatively mild consolewarrior trolling. I suspect that you are misremembering, looked at them before they were banned or after the ban period was over, or are referring to a post that was simply missed in the mess.

I could be remembering wrong, but I believe the mods started seriously cracking down on those comments during that whole fiasco. Some people were really mad about those hackers attacking their favorite corporation, I guess. There were definitely a lot of bans for it, I done seen it with my own eyes.
 
First off, I wanna thank the mods for the way the handle this thread, and for how open they are in their answers. That's very valuable.

But, I kinda agree with this here:

This is bordering on censorship at this point. Jon Stewart would say that and everyone would think its hilarious. But on Gaf its horribly sexist and worthy of a ban. This is an internet forum designed for fun, not the damn UN.

GAF is turning into a weird mix of a liberal haven on the internet and a police state where you have to watch every single word you say.

And I think it's totally unnecessary in so many cases. Stubbornly calling a transgender woman "him" is hurting someone and I agree with banning someone for it. Calling someone a "bitch" when that would be the normal gut reaction of 80 percent of the english speaking world is hurting no one, and a ban is wholly unnecessary, IMO. It's a moral crusade that's doomed to fail because no one outside of GAF would agree with these rules.

I've said it before, I have to watch my mouth less in front of my 80 year old grandma than on GAF sometimes.
 
GAF is turning into a weird mix of a liberal haven on the internet and a police state where you have to watch every single word you say.

I haven't had to watch a single word I say. Of course, I've been banned twice, but I don't censor myself on GAF because generally I don't say stupid or offensive things.


That isn't what got him banned.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=42855175&postcount=4

That did.
 
I cannot be certain without looking up each individual ban, but the PS3 hacker topic(s) (I don't remember if it was one or several) had multiple mods going through them and banning people for various offenses, and over 100 people caught bans of some length. I somehow doubt that posts advocating raping hackers got a pass while other people were banned for relatively mild consolewarrior trolling. I suspect that you are misremembering, looked at them before they were banned or after the ban period was over, or are referring to a post that was simply missed in the mess.

Edit: And per your question, four of those posters caught lengthy bans. Ilias78 was missed.

ahh I see! Thanks for checking! It was one of the things that bugged me for a while, always wanted to find out :D

Yea I figure some of them probably were missed given how fast those threads were going, it just caught my attention at the time since there were a lot of those posts
 
Jon Stewart would call the driver a dumb bitch?

All the guy who got banned said was "What a bitch".

Stewart and other late night hosts make jokes like this all the time about crazy people or crazy drivers. And they say much worse than "what a bitch" because it is known we're not taking them super seriously, as it should be on Gaf, especially with comments like that. So yeah, he would. He'd probably say worse and make a joke about women drivers too.

The shaming and white knighting on Gaf really needs to chill out. We're all here to have fun and converse.
 
All the guy who got banned said was "What a bitch".

Stewart and other late night hosts make jokes like this all the time about crazy people or crazy drivers. And they say much worse than "what a bitch" because it is known we're not taking them super seriously, as it should be on Gaf, especially with comments like that. So yeah, he would. He'd probably say worse and make a joke about women drivers too.

The shaming and white knighting on Gaf really needs to chill out. We're all here to have fun and converse.

What exactly do you mean by this? I don't think the term 'white knight' has a definitive meaning anymore.
 
What exactly do you mean by this? I don't think the term 'white knight' has a definitive meaning anymore.

Extreme defense of borderline sexist statements and the extreme "shaming" and ban of a person who called a crazy woman driver a bitch is way too extreme in my opinion.

I don't support the "men's rights" or any of that bullshit, but on an internet forum, in a thread about a clearly crazy, dangerous woman driving, it is not wrong to think and then say "what a bitch". At least I don't think so. If Conan O' Brien said that comment in his monologue after reading a blurb about that story, it would get a chuckle and people would move on with their lives, no one would be outside picketing for Conan to be taken off the air.

Maybe instead of "white knight" i should clarify that I'm referring to hyper-sensitivity and defensiveness that has been seemingly all over the OT forum lately.
 
Extreme defense of borderline sexist statements and the extreme "shaming" and ban of a person who called a crazy woman driver a bitch is way too extreme in my opinion.

I don't support the "men's rights" or any of that bullshit, but on an internet forum, in a thread about a clearly crazy, dangerous woman driving, it is not wrong to think and then say "what a bitch". At least I don't think so. If Conan O' Brien said that comment in his monologue after reading a blurb about that story, it would get a chuckle and people would move on with their lives, no one would be outside picketing for Conan to be taken off the air.

Maybe instead of "white knight" i should clarify that I'm referring to hyper-sensitivity and defensiveness that has been seemingly all over the OT forum lately.

Jokes are only funny if they don't offend anybody. Nobody would ever chuckle at somebody calling a dangerous, selfish driver a "bitch." Ever.
 
Well, the only reason why I would object to the b-word banning is because it's a word that's even used even on PG television, while even male equivalents can't be.

However, words can't really be judged by what's on TV. I mean, using "butch" to describe a masculine woman can be used on G rated TV programs, but it sounds like something hurtful and bannable.

Also, there was a time when NeoGAF had a curse filter, so I guess it's sort of like going back to the old days. Furthermore, I don't ever use the word (I've never cursed, actually), so it wouldn't affect me, anyway.

...Eh, I'm just rambling. lol
 
Extreme defense of borderline sexist statements and the extreme "shaming" and ban of a person who called a crazy woman driver a bitch is way too extreme in my opinion.

I don't support the "men's rights" or any of that bullshit, but on an internet forum, in a thread about a clearly crazy, dangerous woman driving, it is not wrong to think and then say "what a bitch". At least I don't think so. If Conan O' Brien said that comment in his monologue after reading a blurb about that story, it would get a chuckle and people would move on with their lives, no one would be outside picketing for Conan to be taken off the air.

Maybe instead of "white knight" i should clarify that I'm referring to hyper-sensitivity and defensiveness that has been seemingly all over the OT forum lately.

You should really stop using what a comedian *might* say as a defense of something that's been said. Furthermore, just because something is acceptable by mainstream standards doesn't mean it has to be acceptable everywhere else. Many times, the mainstream enables offensive language/jokes. See early Eddie Murphy standup and try not to cringe at all the homophobic jokes, the same jokes that the audience ate up.

The word "bitch" isn't bannable. Using it in a gendered context or as a gendered insult is.
 
Extreme defense of borderline sexist statements and the extreme "shaming" and ban of a person who called a crazy woman driver a bitch is way too extreme in my opinion.

I don't support the "men's rights" or any of that bullshit, but on an internet forum, in a thread about a clearly crazy, dangerous woman driving, it is not wrong to think and then say "what a bitch". At least I don't think so. If Conan O' Brien said that comment in his monologue after reading a blurb about that story, it would get a chuckle and people would move on with their lives, no one would be outside picketing for Conan to be taken off the air.

Maybe instead of "white knight" i should clarify that I'm referring to hyper-sensitivity and defensiveness that has been seemingly all over the OT forum lately.

Right, but the important part to remember is that this isn't a late night talk show. It's a weird parallel that you're drawing here.

Also, @Why would you do that?:

Bitch is not bannable, only when it's directed at a specific user as an insult or used as a general gendered insult. I believe.
 
If Conan O' Brien said that comment in his monologue after reading a blurb about that story, it would get a chuckle and people would move on with their lives, no one would be outside picketing for Conan to be taken off the air.

Actually, I would be pretty annoyed, since that would a) be offensive, b) not actually be funny and c) be way below Conan's standards.
 
I don't support the "men's rights" or any of that bullshit, but on an internet forum, in a thread about a clearly crazy, dangerous woman driving, it is not wrong to think and then say "what a bitch". At least I don't think so. If Conan O' Brien said that comment in his monologue after reading a blurb about that story, it would get a chuckle and people would move on with their lives, no one would be outside picketing for Conan to be taken off the air.

Personally, I don't really care all that much either way. On the one hand, I don't see it as terribly offensive and needing a ban. But on the other, I understand the movement towards promoting inclusion and why some -- obviously not all -- women might be a little uncomfortable with a male dominated forum throwing around words that are derogatory towards women so casually.
 
Actually, I would be pretty annoyed, since that would a) be offensive, b) not actually be funny and c) be way below Conan's standards.

If you think Conan, Letterman, etc haven't made jokes about women drivers, you're not watching very closely.

Whether he ever said it or not, nobody would be super up in arms about it, it would be dismissed as a dumb joke. Which the statement in the thread I'm referring to should have been, in my opinion. Gaf shouldn't be the kind of place where we have to keep things G rated. Its not disrespectful to women as a whole to call one clearly crazy person who put lots of people in danger a bitch.
 
I haven't had to watch a single word I say. Of course, I've been banned twice, but I don't censor myself on GAF because generally I don't say stupid or offensive things.

I would like to think of myself as a pretty level headed guy, and I don't try to say offensive things either. But "bitch" is so ubiquitous, it's used on TV, in real life, by men, by women, by kids, everywhere, I just don't think it's reasonable to ban it.

And I hope no one tries to turn this into a "well, nigger/cunt/faggot was accepted at one point too", because that's just false equivalency.

FrenchMovieTheme was famously banned for one of his "I don't give a fuck, BIIIIIIIITCH" posts that don't target anyone in particular once. In a sports thread. For me, that's just unreasonable.
 
Personally, I don't really care all that much either way. On the one hand, I don't see it as terribly offensive and needing a ban. But on the other, I understand the movement towards promoting inclusion and why some -- obviously not all -- women might be a little uncomfortable with a male dominated forum throwing around words that are derogatory towards women so casually.

This. I like the fact that GAF isn't another boys' club that lets people run wild just because it's "tha internets" and "everyone else is doing it."
 
If you think Conan, Letterman, etc haven't made jokes about women drivers, you're not watching very closely.

Whether he ever said it or not, nobody would be super up in arms about it, it would be dismissed as a dumb joke. Which the statement in the thread I'm referring to should have been, in my opinion. Gaf shouldn't be the kind of place where we have to keep things G rated. Its not disrespectful to women as a whole to call one clearly crazy person who put lots of people in danger a bitch.

You're missing the obvious point.

This forum isn't about performing for people to make them laugh, it's about discussion. If you want to tell stupid jokes to make people laugh then A) Make them within the clearly defined rules or B) Go somewhere else.
 
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