/canterlot/ - Canterlot

For about 6 months I was under what was called a "political ban", where I was banned from discussing "political" topics. This ban has since expired, and I am currently operating under the assumption that I am no longer under it's restrictions. However, I have not received any official statement from any of the modstaff on the matter, and I have heard that they are considering reinstating the ban. I am making this thread to officially state my position that I feel it should NOT be reinstated. This thread can also serve as a place to discuss the issue publicly for the sake of transparency.

There were many issues this created for me and I feel that the ban did little good and much harm. For one thing, I was not allowed to defend my viewpoints on certain topics or discuss things as any other poster was allowed. This was alienating and stressful for me on many levels. Not only that, it allowed other posters to harass me by saying I was refusing to defend my position because I could not defend my position, rather than because I was not allowed to. This happened to me on a few occasions and was very hurtful and often felt like baiting. The parameters of the ban and what is and isn't considered “political" were never clearly defined, making it difficult to adhere to from the start. I often got no response or contradictory statements when seeking for this to be more clearly defined.  My second and probably most important point, is that despite all the stresses following it caused me, the political ban did not actually accomplish what it was created to achieve. My understanding is that it was created to lessen the heated arguments that were becoming a problem on the board. But preventing me from defending my position on political topics did not stop this from happening. People still reacted in the same ways and caused big arguments on other topics, such as video games and "SJWs". What is the point of extending a ban that did not achieve what it was created for? There are already rules in place to prevent harassment and derailing, the things this political ban attempted and failed to prevent, making it redundant. But beyond just the issues and stresses the ban caused me personally, banning specific people from discussing specific topic sets a bad precedent on the board. Almost anything can cause a heated debate. Someone's opinion on Star Wars characters could create a heated debate depending on how others react to it. Are we going to pick and choose what topics EVERY person on the board is allowed to discuss? That sounds like a bad path to go down. We run the risk of alienating people whose opinions go against the opinions of the site's majority, even on harmless or benign topics like Star Wars characters. Banning one poster from discussing a particular topic sets a bad precedent because it's either singling them out unfairly, or it is setting us up to be a place that harshly polices everyone's opinions.

In summary, the ban prevented me from conversing normally or defending my positions and makes me vulnerable to harassment. What was banned was ill-defined from the start and caused me stress trying to follow it. The ban did not accomplish what it was created for and everything it was designed to stop is already against the rules. And the ban sets a bad precedent on the board for policing people's opinions. For these reasons I feel it would be both unfair and unwise of the modstaff to reinstate this ban. I would like a public, official statement addressing this and stating whether or not the ban will be reinstated.