**Platform(s)*: All
URLs: Examples where this has been an issue cannot be linked due to forum policy prohibiting mention of specific user conduct issues
Description of need: Users are able to block up to 3 other users for any reason, no questions asked. Blocking someone prevents them from messaging you, commenting on or IDing your observations, and commenting on flags you create. This is usually good when applied to observations and messaging, I’ve seen blocking end conflicts that otherwise would likely have escalated to suspendable offenses.
However, taxon flags are public forums for discussion of decisions affecting the entire site, and are not personal to their creator like observations or user conduct flags are. It would be problematic if taxon experts were blocked by the creator of a taxon flag, as then the consensus on the flag may differ substantially from what it would be if the expertise of the blocked users was included, potentially leading to erroneous taxon changes.
Staff have said the part of the community guidelines that says “respect requests to be left alone” is not intended to be used for excluding others from taxonomy discussions, and have told people not to use this rule to tell others not to participate in such discussions (@tiwane I like to tag staff when I quote them so that if I misquote them they can correct me). The fact that blocking excludes the blocked user from commenting on flags created by the blocking user creates a technical ability to exclude people from taxon flags in the exact manner that staff have asked people not to do.
I am aware that curators can still resolve a flag they are blocked on, but taxon flags often require discussion and consensus building, so ability to resolve the flag is not enough to address the taxon issue. Also not all taxon experts are curators
On user conduct flags, staff can be called to intervene if curators are blocked, but this is not a solution for taxon flags because staff do not always have the relevant expertise on the taxon
That fact that only 3 people can be blocked without a reason by any one user is sometimes used as argument that blocking cannot be misused at a meaningful scale, but on an obscure taxon blocking even the top 1-2 experts from a flag is likely to be quite problematic.
In the event that someone is actually commenting on flags to harass the creator, they can be suspended, so there is a solution to this type of harassment without having to let people block people from commenting on taxon flags.
Feature request details: The block function currently prevents the blockee from commenting on any content created by the blocker. I am requesting this be changed so that the block function prevents the blockee from commenting on any content created by the blocker except for taxon flags and taxon changes
If staff decide not to implement that, then I am requesting some sort of guidance be created for how to prevent incorrect taxon changes from occurring in the event that the creator of a taxon flag or proposed taxon change uses blocking to exclude people who they disagree with about taxonomy from commenting on the flag. Currently it is not clear what to do in this situation, should the blocked user create another flag about the same topic? Or is that evading a block? How are the parallel flags managed if this is done? Should staff be contacted? Wait for the bad change to go through and then make another flag to undo it? (this does not seem like a good option)