MOD POST: Accusatory Posts

[lavajin]

Hey everyone, as you may have noticed, we've had some more posts accusing someone of a serious crime, and they've been deleted. The last time this happened, us mods decided that since this is such a serious matter, we don't want to allow these posts without serious consideration and discussion with us mods. When the only evidence the accuser has

Comments

[bitspike]

In response to your last line, I feel it is great for members to come to us with more information if they believe it may help. However, simply adding more detail to anecdotal evidence (even personal experiences conveyed to us through text is anecdotal in this context, as we weren't there) is not going to make much of a difference. If we allowed such information in this community just because the number of people who have heard stories reaches a certain amount, or if we receive a message from a person who claims to be a direct victim, where are we to draw the line.

All we believe we can do is to not allow allegations unless we feel there is an adequate amount of evidence, which obviously depends on the individual case. But I don't think any of us would be comfortable with it unless we did have a level of certainty, which, unfortunately, usually only comes through public results of criminal prosecution.

I just needed to make sure this was very clear. More information given to the moderators is a good thing, but we need a level of evidence which we believe is adequate. But because I don't believe much would qualify, it may be best to regard this as a general 'never post allegations about anyone' rule, which may have rare exceptions.