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In general, we believe the community prefers that the site be moderated with a “light hand”. We fully expect that most members will conduct themselves in such a way that they will never, or at most very rarely, find their posts moderated. That being said, there are times when posters violate the Terms of Service, and cross lines into personal attacks or post offensive content. When that occurs, the moderating team will need to step in.
If you have any questions about the functionality of this policy, please ask. If you do not agree with a moderation decision made by the staff, you may request that the site administrator review the decision by contacting her at - admin@soulofadoption.com The administrator’s decision is final. The staff of SofA will not discuss issues of moderation with anyone but the specific member on the receiving end of the moderation decision.
What follows is a revision (dated 09/13/06) of the Escalation Policy for Soul of Adoption. All previous versions are considered obsolete. This document describes how issues of moderation will be handled both publicly and “behind the scenes.” It is important to note that any attempts to circumvent moderator activity by creating a new account or through any other means not specifically outlined here will result in an immediate permanent ban of your user name, email address, host and IP address and may include a public explanation to the membership outlining your attempts to deceive the staff and membership.
To ensure that moderating actions are fair and taken only after careful consideration, whenever possible, the moderating actions explained below will be implemented by the agreement of at least two members of the moderating team. In extreme situations of grossly offensive content that must be removed immediately or when no other moderator is available, a moderator may act independently, but their actions are subject to ex post review and may be amended.
Violations of the TOS sections 1-6 will almost certainly earn an immediate ban. For violations of the TOS sections 1-6, no escalation policy is necessary. What follows addresses violations of the the remainder of the TOS and/or violations of the Posting Guidelines and/or violations of the Category Descriptions.
Level 1 - Edited by Moderator Status
When a post is made that violates the Terms of Service, Posting Guidelines or Category Descriptions, this is how we will proceed:
1. An offending post will be edited by a moderator.
2. A PM will be sent to the author of the post explaining what was edited and why. That PM will include the following information:
a. a quote/copy of the text that is to be edited.
b. a link to the specific section of the Terms of Service, Posting Guidelines or Category Descriptions, which is the basis for the edit, when applicable.
c. a status statement regarding where the member is in the Escalation Process.
d. a statement regarding what the next step in the Escalation Process may be.
3. A thread will be started on the “Moderation Activity” forum which is viewable by moderators only. The thread will have the member’s name as the subject line. All moderation activity relating to that member, present and future, will be documented in that thread.
4. Each “Moderation Activity” post will contain the following information -
a. a link to the original reported post
b. a link to the moderator notification report automatically generated on the “Reported Posts” (viewable by moderators only) forum when the “Report to Moderator” tool is used.
c. a quote/copy of the text that is to be edited.
d. a copy of the PM sent to the member about the edit.
e. a copy of any response received from the member about the edit.
5. A member may be “edited by moderator” 5 (five) times in a 3 (three) month period or 8 (eight) times in a 6 (six) month period without additional escalation occuring. Thus, a member who simply has “a bad day” need never go any further in the escalation process while at the same time, a member who seems to be chronically involved in conflict will find themselves moving further along in the escalation process. Any member who has been moderated over 8 (eight) times during the course of their membership will immediately move to Level 2 in the Escalation Policy upon their next occurance. The SofA staff reserves the right to bypass the escalation policy entirely for extreme violations of the Terms of Service, Posting Guidelines or Category Descriptions by a majority vote of the moderators.
Level 1a - Disregarding Moderator Instructions
At times it may be necessary for a moderator to instruct a member to place an individual or a forum on “ignore” status for a set period of time. These are not suggestions, they are a condition for continued membership on SofA. When a member is instructed to place an individual or a forum on “ignore” status, the following will occur:
1. The moderator will PM the member with their instructions, including the length of time an individual or forum is to be on “ignore” status. The expiration date of the “ignore” status will be clearly spelled out in the PM.
a. When it is an individual who is to be ignored, that individual will also be sent a PM by the moderator. In the PM, the moderator will inform the individual of the time frame in which they are being “ignored.” Individuals who are informed that a member has them on ignore are not to address the member “ignoring” them directly. Doing so can only be interpreted as an attempt to elicit a response from the moderated member.
i. Posts from an “ignored” individual directed to a member on “ignore status” will be deleted in their entirety regardless of additional content.
ii. A PM will be sent to the “ignored” individual informing them of the deletion. The PM will contain a reminder of section iii.
iii. Repeated need for deletion of posts directed to a member on “ignore status” will be considered in the same light as “Edited By Moderator Status” and be counted as such after the first instance.
iiii. If a second post needs to be deleted, the procedure outlined for “Edited by Moderator Status” will be followed.
2. Continuing on from #1 - The moderator will post a copy of that PM on the “Moderation Activity” forum in either an existing thread associated with the member, or in a new thread if the situation has prompted an instruction to ignore without previous moderation activity having occurred, along with any reply from the member.
3. An administrator will verify that the individual/forum has been set to “ignore” status in the member’s profile and note this in the appropriate thread on the “Moderation Activity” forum.
Should the member decide to remove the “ignore” status before expiration of the time frame set by the moderator, the following will occur:
4. A notation will be made in the appropriate thread on the “Moderation Activity” forum. The action of having removed a moderator-imposed “ignore” status will count as five instances of “Level 1 - Edited by Moderator Status” actions for the purpose of escalation.
5. An administrator will reestablish the “ignore” status in the member’s profile and a PM will be sent to the member indicating the escalation and extending the period of “ignore status” by the original time frame set by a moderator. In other words, if a member is on day 5 of a 7 day “ignore” status and chooses to remove the “ignore” status, they go back to having 7 days left.
6. The member will be monitored to ensure the “ignore” status remains.
7. Should the “ignore” status again be removed by the member before expiration of the time frame set by the moderator/administrator, the member will be banned permanently for deliberately and willfully disregarding the instructions of site staff. This will demonstrate to us an unwillingness to cooperate with site policy and a desire to cause trouble for trouble’s sake.
Level 2 - Post Moderated Status
If a member has been through Level 1 or Level 1a, the next step in the Escalation Process is Post Moderated Status. This means that all posts by the member must be approved by a staff member before appearing on the site for a set period of time lasting between 1 and 30 days. Once a member has been in “Post Moderated Status,” they must remain free from ANY moderator intervention for a period of 6 (six) months in order to start back in “Edited by Moderator Status.”
1. The first time a member is moved to “Post Moderated Status,” a PM will be sent to the member explaining the steps that led up to the advancement in the Escalation Policy, along with a defined time frame that the member will remain in “Post Moderated Status.”
2. A copy of the PM will be posted in the appropriate “Moderation Activity” thread.
3. While on “Post Moderated Status” all posts must be approved by a staff member before appearing on the site.
a. If a post submitted for approval must be edited before appearing on the site, the steps outlined in “Level 1 - Edited by Moderator Status” will ensue with the following exception: instead of having 5 (five) or 8 (eight) instances where a post needs to be edited, a member already in “Post Moderated Status” is only allowed 1 (one) instance.
b. Upon occurance of a second instance where a post needs to be edited before approval, the member will be moved immediately to “Level 3 - Read Only Status.”
4. If the “Post Moderated Status” expires without any instances of a submitted post needing to be edited, the member must remain free from ANY moderator intervention for a period of 6 months in order to start back in “Edited by Moderator Status.”
5. If the “Post Moderated Status” expires without any instances of a submitted post needing to be edited, and the member does cause moderator intervention to be taken regarding them anytime within 6 months, they will again be placed in “Post Moderated Status” for double the amount of time of the first offense. In other words, if your first time in “Post Moderated Status” was for 30 days, the second time will be 60 days.
6. If while in “Post Moderated Status” for the second time any submitted post made by the member needs to be edited, the member will immediately move to “Level 3 - Read Only Status.”
Level 3 - Read Only Status
If a member has been through Levels 1, 1a and 2 and continues to require moderator intervention, they may be placed in “Level 3 - Read Only Status” for anywhere from 1 to 60 days. While in “Read Only Status” a member is able to view most of the site, but unable to respond. During this status, a member’s ability to view a number of the more “heated” forums is removed. They may also be restricted from sending or receiving Private Messages to/from anyone but the moderation team. In addition, the search feature, member list, the ability to vote in polls or view attachments will be suspended.
1. When a member is placed on “Read Only Status,” an email will be sent to them by the administrator explaining what restrictions have been imposed and how long they are to remain in “Read Only Status.”
2. The administrator will make a note in the appropriate “Moderation Activity” thread.
3. Once the term of “Read Only Status” has expired, the member will have their ability to participate in the forum returned to them on a provisional basis.
4. Any need for moderator intervention for a period of 1 (one) year after expiration of “Read Only Status” may result in an immediate return to “Read Only Status” for double the original time frame. In other words, if your first experience in “Read Only Status” was 30 days, your second will be for 60 days.
5. Any need for moderator intervention for a period of 2 (two) years after expiration of a second “Read Only Status” may result in an immediate escalation to “Level 4 - Ban Status.”
Level 4 - Ban Status
If a member has been through levels 1, 1a, 2 and 3 and continues to require moderator intervention, they may be placed in “Level 4 - Ban Status” for anywhere from 1 day to a permanent ban from the site. While in “Ban Status” a member is unable to access any part of the SofA discussion forums. They cannot view posts, read/send PMs, or in any way utilize the forum tools including editing their profile or past posts.
1. When a member is placed on “Ban Status,” an email will be sent to them by the administrator explaining how long the member will remain in “Ban Status.”
2. The administrator will make a note in the appropriate “Moderation Activity” thread.
3. Once the term of “Ban Status” has expired, the member will have their ability to participate on the forum returned to them on a provisional basis.
4. Any need for moderator intervention for a period of 2 (two) years after expiration of a “Ban Status” may result in a permanent ban without warning.
In all instances where a time frame is stated during which a member must remain free from moderator activity, upon expiration of that time period, members revert to having zero counts against them except where otherwise specified. The thread relating to their membership on the “Moderation Activity” forum will be archived and they start again with a fresh slate.
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