As the Forumâs lead moderator, Iâm posting this message, but it was written collaboratively by several moderators after a long discussion.
As a result of several comments on this post, as well as a pattern of antagonistic behavior, Phil Torres has been banned from the EA Forum for one year.
Our rules say that we discourage, and may delete, âunnecessary rudeness or offensivenessâ and âbehavior that interferes with good discourseâ. Calling someone a jerk and swearing at them is unnecessarily rude, and interferes with good discourse.
After having seen the material shared by Phil and Sean (who sent us some additional material he didnât want shared on the Forum), we think the claims in question are open to interpretation but clearly not deliberate lies.
For example, Sean said that Phil âhas unfortunately misrepresented himself as working at CSER on various media (unclear if deliberate or not).â Itâs evident from screenshots that Phil did list himself on Facebook and LinkedIn as working at CSER after he was no longer there. This is the kind of mistake thatâs easy to make, but repeatedly saying someone has lied by pointing out the mistake is another example of unnecessary rudeness.
Of course, itâs understandable to have strong feelings if you believe someone is lying about you, but we expect Forum users to express strong feelings in a more productive way (âI think youâre mistaken about that, and hereâs whyâ). Phil is sometimes more courteous, but we feel that his comments often fail to represent the culture we want to see on the Forum.
This ban is not related to Philâs academic work. We appreciate having well-informed critics on the Forum; even criticism which seems overly harsh, or somewhat off-target, can generate good discussion (e.g. this post and this response to it). For another example, see this defense of some of Philâs views.
*****
We encourage people to alert us to any other instances of name-calling, swearing at people, or unsubstantiated personal accusations. We aim to apply these rules consistently and proportionately to the frequency/âextent of their violation.
In several milder cases, weâve messaged people with private warnings; because this case led to a ban, weâre sharing this comment publicly. And on this post, Iâve issued a warning to Halstead for accusations that he hadnât substantiated at the time he posted them, though he later shared satisfactory evidence with me.
People are still welcome to cross-post Philâs work, quote him, argue for his points, and all the rest â but he wonât be permitted to post here himself until 12 May, 2022.
As the Forumâs lead moderator, Iâm posting this message, but it was written collaboratively by several moderators after a long discussion.
As a result of several comments on this post, as well as a pattern of antagonistic behavior, Phil Torres has been banned from the EA Forum for one year.
Our rules say that we discourage, and may delete, âunnecessary rudeness or offensivenessâ and âbehavior that interferes with good discourseâ. Calling someone a jerk and swearing at them is unnecessarily rude, and interferes with good discourse.
Phil also repeatedly accuses Sean of lying:
After having seen the material shared by Phil and Sean (who sent us some additional material he didnât want shared on the Forum), we think the claims in question are open to interpretation but clearly not deliberate lies.
For example, Sean said that Phil âhas unfortunately misrepresented himself as working at CSER on various media (unclear if deliberate or not).â Itâs evident from screenshots that Phil did list himself on Facebook and LinkedIn as working at CSER after he was no longer there. This is the kind of mistake thatâs easy to make, but repeatedly saying someone has lied by pointing out the mistake is another example of unnecessary rudeness.
Of course, itâs understandable to have strong feelings if you believe someone is lying about you, but we expect Forum users to express strong feelings in a more productive way (âI think youâre mistaken about that, and hereâs whyâ). Phil is sometimes more courteous, but we feel that his comments often fail to represent the culture we want to see on the Forum.
This ban is not related to Philâs academic work. We appreciate having well-informed critics on the Forum; even criticism which seems overly harsh, or somewhat off-target, can generate good discussion (e.g. this post and this response to it). For another example, see this defense of some of Philâs views.
*****
We encourage people to alert us to any other instances of name-calling, swearing at people, or unsubstantiated personal accusations. We aim to apply these rules consistently and proportionately to the frequency/âextent of their violation.
In several milder cases, weâve messaged people with private warnings; because this case led to a ban, weâre sharing this comment publicly. And on this post, Iâve issued a warning to Halstead for accusations that he hadnât substantiated at the time he posted them, though he later shared satisfactory evidence with me.
People are still welcome to cross-post Philâs work, quote him, argue for his points, and all the rest â but he wonât be permitted to post here himself until 12 May, 2022.