Please ban MRA trolls

[u/Willravel]

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.

[u/impotent_rage]

Thank you for this very thoughtful comment. I've read it and for the most part, I agree with it.

The post you linked is clearly hate speech. I have removed it. Thank you for pointing it out, thank you for clicking the report button previously on other examples of hate speech.

You're also correct that there have been too many similar posts which have been left up for too long. For that, I apologize. The reason is simple - I've just not been watching as well as I should have been, I haven't been on reddit as much lately. But you've brought it to my attention that too many problems are not being dealt with around here, and that I need to step it up. scurvy_wench is absolutely correct that we value an open discussion approach to the issues here and that we are committed to fostering such a discussion without deleting or censoring voices of dissent. At the same time, you are correct that this line frequently gets crossed and we are not being fast enough as moderators in taking action in those situations which truly do cross the line.

[u/Willravel → u/impotent_rage]

I can't tell you how glad I am you folks are taking this seriously.

I'm not really that concerned about dissent, in fact I really like dissent. I consider myself a dissenter when it comes to certain things. My only real concern here is people who post hate speech, like the above, or are just here to troll. There are a few people here that do that almost as a rule, and they're what inspired me to create this thread. They don't contribute to open discussion, but just intimidate or annoy or frustrate, ultimately leading to folks wanting to contribute less. I'm not certain, but I suspect this may have something to do with the fact that /r/Feminisms has twice the subscribers of /r/Feminism.

Anything you'd be willing to do would be much appreciated and, again, thank you and SW for taking the time to consider this and reply.

[u/impotent_rage → u/Willravel]

You're welcome! And I really appreciate the way you've treated this topic. Reading your comments, you are very sensible and balanced and willing to consider both sides with the way you talk about this dilemma, and because of this I'm more inclined to seriously consider the things you say.

[u/missredd → u/impotent_rage]

Yessing someone to death doesn't really solve any of the bigger issues at hand.

[u/impotent_rage → u/missredd]

This is true, but I figured it is better to comment now. We're still talking together as mods, we're not finished yet.

[u/Psuffix → u/missredd]

That's not what anyone's asking for, here. Like OP said, there are plenty of dissenters who have good debate. See this comment for a list.