Suggestion Should we ban religious / LGBT / political threads?

MadMageKefka · Apr 20, 2017

This started as a status message, but it sparked some interesting discussion, so at the advice of someone on my status, I made a thread to see what everyone else thinks.

Now, its not my place to decide the rules of this site, nor am I the kind of person to usually censor what people talk about. However, I am seeing more and more of these threads every day, and its getting out of hand. They always, without fail, devolve into bigotry and arguing. With this being a video game website, and these sorts of threads causing so much drama, maybe it would be for the best?

An example I would like to give is the thread from the other day about the Afghanistan bombing. After several pages it devolved into several people saying how gays should be executed. The thread was deleted shortly after. My question is, why aren't those people being punished and having their comments deleted? Why was the entire thread removed? Some of that conversation was legit discussion. I have a feeling the staff here is tired of the crap too (please correct me if I am wrong).

So what do you all think? I don't wanna censor people really, but at the same time I think it would make the site a more friendly, enjoyable experience for everyone. Maybe another option would be to create a separate forum for this stuff, so at least it doesn't appear on the front page? Please, let me know how you all feel too.

EDIT: At this point, after discussing this for so many hours, my opinion on the matter is that outright banning this sort of thing is not the answer. I do, however, feel that off-topic discussions of this nature don't belong on the front page of a gaming / hacking forum. A lot of people are tired of seeing it and it just plain makes us looks bad as a community when 4 out of the 10 topics on the front page are off-topic shit shows of bigotry and hate. This is obviously not too often the case, but it does seem to be happening more frequently.

DBlaze · Apr 20, 2017

In my opinion, yes and no.
Considering this is a forum related to video games / hardware / the likes, yes when it comes to any of the 3 coming into play in a related topic. For example politics banning a violent game or developers making certain design decisions like shoving things down your throat because yay diversity in muh video games!

However, no when it comes to topics like Brexit, Trump being president, North Korea being North Korea. Those things have nothing to do on a gaming related forum.

And to those with replies like "CENSORSHIP IS THE ANSWER AMIRITE!?"
There is a difference between censorship and a site having a certain goal. Some topics simply don't fit the target of a site, so why would it be discussed here?
If you give this as an argument why something should or should not be allowed to be discussed on a site that is targeted to something completely different, think for a second about what you're saying. You might as well also start allowing posting porn because CENSORSHIP AMIRITE!?

greenDarkness555 · Apr 20, 2017

BIFFTAZ · Apr 20, 2017

This is the only gaming site I know of where these types of threads or conversations happen regularly. I report them & nothing happens... if I post about them not being appropriate for the site, My post gets deleted.. Weird.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/adult-why-do-people-like-furries.465123/

MadMageKefka · Apr 20, 2017

s157 said:
I've already thrown in my two cents for the vote of "no" as within almost every flame war shitstorm there's some good debatable points. Using the poll as a way to say more people vote on yes is fallacious. The options should have been a mere "Yes" and "no". Or "yes" should have been split with another option "yes but only for certain topics and at a certain point" if you want to be more specific.

That's kinda the intent of the 3rd option, both a yes and no. I really couldn't think of any other options at the time. If you can give me a good one, I can add it to the poll. Changing your vote is allowed and its not like the poll REALLY means anything important. More of a survey than anything.

s157 · Apr 20, 2017

MadMageKefka said:
That's kinda the intent of the 3rd option, both a yes and no. I really couldn't think of any other options at the time. If you can give me a good one, I can add it to the poll. Changing your vote is allowed and its not like the poll REALLY means anything important. More of a survey than anything.

That's not what I meant. I should've quoted your post earlier when you said numbers showed people voted "yes" when there was only 1 yes option with 2 no options and the last option almost being a no. Using results from an unbalanced poll to make a point is erroneous at best.

MadMageKefka · Apr 20, 2017

s157 said:
That's not what I meant. I should've quoted your post earlier when you said numbers showed people voted "yes" when there was only 1 yes option with 2 no options and the last option almost being a no. Using results from an unbalanced poll to make a point is erroneous at best.

When I gave those numbers, I lumped both option 1 and 3 together, as "something should happen," and options 2 and 4 together as "no, things are fine as they are."

Spider_Man · Apr 20, 2017

yes i believe region/faith/sexual orientation has nothing to do with anything on this site/forum.

its a place to come for gaming news.

The Catboy · Apr 20, 2017

How about I clearify my post with something gaming related. Our community is actually extremely controversial in other communities. Most gaming sites do not like homebrew and hacking and for us, this is the normal. It's perfectly normal to talk about 3DS CFWs on the Temp, but on other sites you would most likely get a warning or banned for it.
This is what I mean by "controversy is subjective," because what is normal to us is controversial to another

AmandaRose · Apr 20, 2017

BIFFTAZ said:
This is the only gaming site I know of where these types of threads or conversations happen regularly. I report them & nothing happens... if I post about them not being appropriate for the site, My post gets deleted.. Weird.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/adult-why-do-people-like-furries.465123/

Exactly my problem with the site as well things that should not be deleted get remove and comments that should be deleted take ages to be removed which just leads to all out wars. Any time shit goes down on threads it takes the admin hours if not days to delete posts or ban people yet in other similar websites shit goes down and the admin take action within minutes and problems are fixed before they get out of hand. Not sure if it's because this site is so big or the admin team need more members or that they are just slow to react to shit but something needs to change.

s157 · Apr 20, 2017

MadMageKefka said:
When I gave those numbers, I lumped both option 1 and 3 together, as "something should happen," and options 2 and 4 together as "no, things are fine as they are."

That's exactly what I mean by unbalanced. You're lumping in all forms from "maybe" to "these things must be drastically altered now!" together while having the absolute "no" be its sole member on its team.

MadMageKefka · Apr 20, 2017

s157 said:
That's exactly what I mean by unbalanced. You're lumping in all forms from "maybe" to "these things must be drastically altered now!" together while having the absolute "no" be its sole member on its team.

MadMageKefka said:
Please read more than just the thread title. I said in the OP that I don't wish to censor anyone, but numbers don't lie. 65% of people that voted so far think that this is a problem, and should be dealt with in some way.

> Dealt with in some way.
I specifically said that this was how I was lumping things together.

s157 · Apr 20, 2017

MadMageKefka said:
> Dealt with in some way.
I specifically said that this was how I was lumping things together.

Again, unbalanced. Some of those "no" voters that you lumped into the 65% don't have a problem with it, they just don't want to see it on the front page. You should've just used a "yes" and "no" poll to get better numbers, or have that 3rd option be entirely separated rather than combined with the "yes". You're combining an extreme side with the moderate middle. Of course the numbers will be in favor of it.

MadMageKefka · Apr 20, 2017

s157 said:
Again, unbalanced. Some of those "no" voters that you lumped into the 65% don't have a problem with it, they just don't want to see it on the front page. You should've just used a "yes" and "no" poll to get better numbers, or have that 3rd option be entirely separated than combined with the "yes". You're combining an extreme side with the moderate middle. Of course the numbers will be in favor of it.

Right, but the entire point of what I was trying to say to him was that the majority of people felt it needed to be changed in some way. That includes both the extreme and the moderate. I wasn't trying to say more people voted yes, it should be banned. I think you are missing the point entirely.

Enteking · Apr 20, 2017

There should not be any kind of censorship. Countries are different, cultures are different, views are different, and especially moral values of right and wrong are totally different throughout the world and also dramatically change over time. The right for freedom of speech should be defended, even if the cost seems high.
Content only needs to be deleted if the local laws in the country of the server location require it.

MadMageKefka · Apr 20, 2017

Enteking said:
There should not be any kind of censorship. Countries are different, cultures are different, views are different, and especially moral values of right and wrong are totally different throughout the world and also dramatically change over time. The right for freedom of speech should be defended, even if the cost seems high.
Content only needs to be deleted if the local laws in the country of the server location require it.

Even if the thread devolves into people just slinging hate back and forth? Not saying your view is wrong, just wondering exactly where you stand.

s157 · Apr 20, 2017

MadMageKefka said:
Right, but the entire point of what I was trying to say to him was that the majority of people felt it needed to be changed in some way. That includes both the extreme and the moderate. I wasn't trying to say more people voted yes, it should be banned. I think you are missing the point entirely.

I'm not missing your point, but I'm emphasizing that certain word. It gives the incorrect impression of a demographic. Kinda like telling someone 50% of the world's population eats rice, then that person incorrectly thinking that 50% of the people around him eat rice (for assumption's sake let's say he lives in a scandinavian country).

rad3ds · Apr 20, 2017

Haider Raza said:
Anyone can change anything.

Oh ok, I change the Quran and now it says "gay stuff is like totally whatever man, nobody cares, do you"

Enteking said:
There should not be any kind of censorship. Countries are different, cultures are different, views are different, and especially moral values of right and wrong are totally different throughout the world and also dramatically change over time. The right for freedom of speech should be defended, even if the cost seems high.
Content only needs to be deleted if the local laws in the country of the server location require it.

Not every site needs to be a social media platform or 4chan or something. Sites can focus on a niche topic. Maybe you want to have a web forum about knitting. Is it an absolute necessity that anything short of illegal material be allowed on a knitting forum? By insisting that any niche-driven community center open itself to being buried in off topic noise, you may deny those niches a place to exist and freely express themselves. Free speech is the right to establish a gaming forum. Would you deny people the freedom to engage in communication online by publishing a website that focuses on a certain topic? gbatemp is not your only means of communication, it's not a government entity.

MadMageKefka · Apr 20, 2017

s157 said:
I'm not missing your point, but I'm emphasizing that certain word. It gives the incorrect impression of a demographic. Kinda like telling someone 50% of the world's population eats rice, then that person incorrectly thinking that 50% of the people around him eat rice (for assumption's sake let's say he lives in a scandinavian country).

Well, I would call that person an idiot for not realizing that the original numbers said 50% OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION and not 50% of people in his home town. The numbers aren't the problem in your metaphor, the person is.

Bedel · Apr 20, 2017

We should ban religius and polical, but not LGTB+ supporters. They are needed, as far as I can see in so many posts.

s157 · Apr 20, 2017

MadMageKefka said:
Well, I would call that person an idiot for not realizing that the original numbers said 50% OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION and not 50% of people in his home town. The numbers aren't the problem in your metaphor, the person is.

The person telling the numbers was the problem in my metaphor, and my issue with yours. He wasn't giving out the wrong information, but he wasn't giving out the full information either. Grouping up two big parties in the vote into one isn't wrong information, but can nearly be fraudulent as it essentially completely undermines the 3rd party. It's a rather small argument though compared to what's currently happening with this odd religion argument.

MadMageKefka · Apr 20, 2017

s157 said:
The person telling the numbers was the problem in my metaphor, and my issue with yours. He wasn't giving out the wrong information, but he wasn't giving out the full information either. Grouping up two big parties in the vote into one isn't wrong information, but can nearly be fraudulent as it essentially completely undermines the 3rd party. It's a rather small argument though compared to what's currently happening.

I give up. Whatever you say.

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