Responses
Since a number of member comments included similar issues or questions, we are summarizing responses in this post. We appreciate members providing feedback. If you have additional input, or if we did not address an issue, please add a comment to this post.
BN policies
The vast majority of BN members never violate BN policy. To understand what is considered a violation, please see the Conduct Policy and the Policies page. Please let us know if there are any questions that we can answer.
An important objective of the policies is to allow everyone an equal opportunity to participate. If any part of the Conduct Policy or other policies is not clear, we welcome suggestions for improvements. Please send suggestions to us and we will review them for possible incorporation.
The violation review process
Since there are over 200,000 posts and comments on BN, we cannot monitor each one. In a typical scenario, a member reports a potential violation of BN policy. Reviewing reports is a difficult and time-consuming process, but we do our best to investigate each report as carefully as possible. We do not take action simply because of the report.
When appropriate, the relevant item is removed and a warning is issued. The most common violation is verbal abuse of another member. Please note that to protect the privacy of those who report violations, we do not publish details of violations.
If a member repeatedly violates BN policy, e.g. continues to abuse others or deliberately attempts to disrupt the site, we have no choice but to suspend their account. Naturally, we never prefer to have to suspend a member, so such a decision is never taken lightly.
After a member has been suspended, any unused portion of their subscription is refunded. In the past, we have reinstated some members following an apology. Sadly, we have found from experience that those members tend to continue their original behavior, so it is not clear that reinstatement is useful.
Specific issues
On profanity, the use of profanity is not generally a violation of policy – one exception being verbal abuse directed at other members. We welcome input on this issue.
Regarding "making fun of made up names", there is a difference between parody and activities such as harassment or verbal abuse. The former is not a violation of BN policy, but the latter is. We provide examples in the Conduct Policy, along with links to relevant resources.
On public figures, it is not a violation to call public figures names. The Conduct Policy specifically refers to other members.
Regarding publishing specifics about a violation, we will certainly consider doing so. One major challenge is that publishing specifics about a violation report may lead to certain people attacking the reporter of the violation or the target of the violation – even if the target did not report the violation. Since such actions would discourage violation reports, this is a significant concern. It is unclear whether this can be avoided.
(This post has been edited slightly for clarity.)