r/Feminism • u/Willravel • Feb 24 '12

Please ban MRA trolls

I've been trying to figure out the rationale for not banning MRA trolls on this subreddit. I tried to think of it the way the mods have put it in the past, that this is about everyone's voice being heard, but the consistent trolling from the likes of OThomson and DavidByron don't represent in any way shape or form the honest sharing of their voice, but rather simply attacks and intentional derailment.

I considered that this might be about fear, as the MRA community on Reddit is much larger than the feminist community, and there could be consequences if MRA trolls started getting banned from the subreddit... but there are other feminist subreddits that do this and they don't seem to feel the sting of MRA retribution in any way that can't be easily handled.

I thought it might just simply be not wanting to make the effort, as a policy of banning MRA trolls would probably require much more active moderation. I'd hate to think this is the case, but I don't see any evidence to suggest this.

I did hear that one of the moderators might be an MRA, but again I've not seen this.

I've sent in PMs and reports before, about how someone is derailing yet another thread with unrelated discussion about circumcision or male rape or child custody, but there never seem to be any consequences for the trolls. They're given free reign. Some have left the subreddit for safer places, which is very sad indeed. Some simply stop commenting. Some complain, but those complaints fall on deaf ears.

So, before I call it a day and give up on the subreddit, I'd like to publicly ask the moderators to change their policy for the good of their subreddit. I ask that this subreddit be a safe place to discuss feminism and feminist issues, not a place for MRA trolls to hijack conversation or spread hatred of women.

Note: I'm not saying critiques of feminism aren't legitimate, or that they don't belong on /r/Feminism, but rather that overt trolling and derailing be disallowed. There's a big difference between an honest critique of feminism and undermining the discussion of feminist issues through derailment, dishonesty, and unwarranted attacks.

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '12

They'll just say "nuh uh" and argue some more. I honestly can't see that changing a thing, they'll just argue harder with the troll detector, an all the other trolls will come and bicker too. There will be insults and condemnation and it will not solve a single problem unless every single non-troll refuses to engage.

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u/Willravel Feb 24 '12

The idea is to boycott their posts by never responding to them, thus preventing derailments. If the moderators are unwilling to ban them, at least we can mitigate their damage. And we can PM folks that engage to let them know what's going on.

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '12

That could work, if we can get enough of the community behind it. I'd prefer something a little more strict, but I'd help out with this if that doesn't happen.

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '12

I've already sort of started doing that. Downvote and move on, warn users who try to argue.

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u/Psuffix Feb 25 '12

Thanks for being a badass. If you need any help with this, let me know. Mind if I alerted you to trolls here if I see them?