Our current moderation policy is as follows:
The rules of /r/UUReddit are:
No spam
No doxxing
No threats
No slurs
In addition to those three hard and fast rules, the moderators have written this statement which we hope will guide our community:
In this space, we are encouraged to be in covenant with each other. Be generous in your reading of others comments - assume and extend good faith. If you wouldn't say it to someone in your congregation*, consider whether or not you would say it here.
Our participation should reflect the anti-oppression values of our faith. Members are encouraged to learn about the history of oppressive systems and commit to dismantling them. The work of the Journey Toward Wholeness Committee is one place to start.
No member will be banned without at least one warning, unless the account is clearly a spam account. Comments may be deleted at the moderators discretion if:
they are blatantly bigoted in any way, meaning they disparage or deny the fundamental equality of some group of human beings
they detract from the community's ability to have a respectful and robust conversation
*Sometimes people use this space to talk about issues within their congregation. It's good that people feel comfortable sharing here, and it can be very helpful, even healing to get a fresh perspective on a problem. However, be advised that this is a public forum and it is accessible to everyone.
You can read more about what prompted this policy here.
As was the case a few years ago, it has again come to my attention that a person has left this subreddit because they felt the community was not welcoming to people with marginalized identities, and was, to use the language above, supporting rather than working to dismantle oppressive structures. In addition to the public post, I have received requests from other forum members to step in as a moderator.
I would like to have some more input from the community. This subreddit has grown a lot in a few years. We were far under 2,000 subscribers the last time we had this discussion.
As a reminder, if you are reporting comments on any post, please message the moderators with some more information as to why you believe that comment should be deleted.
I have banned some people from this subreddit, a few for spam and one person for repeatedly posting anti-atheist rants. I have also issued warnings to posters for comments that were detrimental to a welcoming atmosphere.
Right now I have been getting requests for a stricter comment moderation policy. I would like to know more about what people would like to see - what rules do we need now that we don't have? What other communities on Reddit or other UU Websites have policies you would like us to enact? There are communities I have participated in where people are banned more easily but I hesitate to do so in this space because although I strongly disagree with many of the comments that are posted, I know that there are people in my own congregation with similar views. I wouldn't necessarily want them banned from my real life congregation so I don't know if I'd want to do that here. What are people's thoughts on that comparison?
We could enact a stricter policy, requiring people to read certain documents before subscribing or commenting. We could have rules against "sea lioning" or "JAQing off." However we need to keep in mind that many of the people coming here are brand new to Unitarian Universalism, and know nothing about it. I would like to keep the bar to entry and participation as low as possible to encourage people to join and get involved.
Some more questions for discussion: What's the goal of having rules for discussion? To encourage a better conversation? To uphold our principles? To attract a certain commenters and discourage others? To reduce the harm that internet comments can cause?
How should this be done?