[gentoo-project] Appeals of Moderation Decisions

[Rich Freeman <rich0@gentoo.org>]

On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 2:11 PM Rich Freeman <rich0@gentoo.org> wrote:
>
> Can Council define an appeals process for appeals of moderation
> decisions in general for any official Gentoo communications media?  I
> think we have this for mailing lists, as Proctors is the only real
> moderation there and Proctors does have an appeals process.  I think
> IRC and Forums are the areas with gaps - to the extent that either has
> an appeals process I can't find it documented anywhere (I welcome
> leads in both areas to comment).
>

Proctors already has a defined appeals process.  Minor actions like
warnings or short bans are final, and longer bans are appealable to
Comrel.  IMO this is a reasonable balance.

To the extent that either IRC or Forums formally has a process for
short-term bans (<1wk)/etc I would suggest those also be
non-appealable beyond any internal process these teams have.

For appeals beyond this I suggest that Comrel also be the point of
appeal.  I think Proctors could also work, but it raises the question
of bureaucracy as in theory an IRC op might make a decision, then
Proctors takes an appeal, then Comrel takes an appeal, and then maybe
even Council takes an appeal.  That is a lot of appeals.

Very long-term it might make sense to try to better harmonize how we
do moderation on all these different media, but I think that is really
a separate issue, and doesn't need to be settled right away.  I think
that the absence of ANY appeals process in the interim is more of an
issue, as it does leave people who are subject to what might be one
person's decision no real access to due process.  Even if all the
moderators are doing a perfect job there should be a process.

I'd encourage IRC ops or Forums mods to chime in with their thoughts here...

-- 
Rich