In the thread about government suppression of data (that seems to be what it is about), it was said,
This can clearly be seen to directly relate to the topic of government suppression of data, and to be placing it in the context that it isn’t just at the federal level. But when it was asked,
By this point in the thread, various aspects of the problem had been brought up, and attempts to understand this facet are also clearly on-topic. Yet joerich’s next post was flagged as allegedly “off-topic.” Well, of course we can’t see it to evaluate whether it really was or not. But logically, given when and where it appears, it is logical to suppose that it was a direct reply to the question he was asked. If his original bringing up of this aspect was clearly on-topic, and the question asking for clarification was on-topic, who seriously believes that a direct reply was “off-topic”?
Incidents like this erode trust in our moderating team. They smack of arbitrariness; at best, only spottily enforcing some narrowly circumscribed view of a thread topic. And let’s face it, plenty of threads are allowed to wander somewhat from the original poster’s intention, as long as they stay on the same general topic. Governmental suppression of data at various levels may not be exactly “environmental data loss from public data sources,” but the original question was
which is a broader question than what our moderator tried to limit the thread to. Thanks to this heavy-handedness, Octobertraveler even worried that bringing in an educator’s concerns about access to data would be considered too political or potentially also “off-topic.” There was also extensive discussion about whether biodiversity science generally would be targeted and about the pendulum swinging from progressive to conservative and back again. None of which was deemed “off-topic.”
It just seems too convenient that we can’t see for ouselves whether that one post among all was so much further off-topic than all this.
That explanation would have credibility if it applied only to flags for hateful, insulting, or inappropriate content. However, because it equally applies to “off-topic” content, it does not have credibility. We do not need to be protected from that.