I’d separate out the removal and the suspension, and dissent only as to the latter.
I get why the mods would feel the need to chart a wide berth around anything that some person could somehow “interpret[] as promoting violence or illegal activities.” Making a rule against brief hypothetical mentions of the possible ethics of murder is defensible, especially in light of certain practical realities.
However, I can’t agree with taking punitive action against a user where the case that they violated the norm is this tenuous and there is a lack of fair prior notice of the mods’ interpretation. For that kind of action, I think the minimum standard would be either clear notice or content that a reasonable person would recognize could reasonably be interpreted as promoting violence. In other words, was the poster negligent in failing to recognize that violence promotion was a reasonable interpretation?
I don’t think the violence-promoting interpretation is a reasonable one here, and it sounds like several other users agree—which I take as evidence of non-negligence.
I’d separate out the removal and the suspension, and dissent only as to the latter.
I get why the mods would feel the need to chart a wide berth around anything that some person could somehow “interpret[] as promoting violence or illegal activities.” Making a rule against brief hypothetical mentions of the possible ethics of murder is defensible, especially in light of certain practical realities.
However, I can’t agree with taking punitive action against a user where the case that they violated the norm is this tenuous and there is a lack of fair prior notice of the mods’ interpretation. For that kind of action, I think the minimum standard would be either clear notice or content that a reasonable person would recognize could reasonably be interpreted as promoting violence. In other words, was the poster negligent in failing to recognize that violence promotion was a reasonable interpretation?
I don’t think the violence-promoting interpretation is a reasonable one here, and it sounds like several other users agree—which I take as evidence of non-negligence.