I came across a thread at the weekend in which a member of the site staff became quite offensive and insulting to a site member. I posted to the thread and when i came to look for it today it has vanished. This leads to the question who took it down? The staff member themselves or somebody else? We then get onto the reason why the thread was removed. Censorship of this kind is never a good thing, freedom of speech is, i feel vital to the smooth running of any community. Online, as in real life we say things maybe in haste and have to live with any fallout we generate. Whilst on here it seems individuals can say what they like then make the conversation go away if they don't like the fallout. It also can lead to a possibly distorted view of the site and and the people who run it. Giving the impression of a utopian site where everything is happy and rosy but where in fact a distopia excists. Many many republics have tried and failed to portray this falsehood which is why censorship is inherrently bad. so my questions are... Where did it go? What level of censorship does this site operate? Who decides what can stay and what can go? Can we all get a thread removed once we have embarrased ourselves on it? Does it save having to apologise to the person pilloried? Is this thread going to be removed too? Will i be banned for posting it? After all many people have vanished in totalitarian states around the world. es

Your observations and points are valid XJ, but it wasn't the staff who removed it. Matt is the only one, as far as I know that has the capacity to do that kind of action. Perhaps it was wrong for the staff member to make their comment, I wont make my feelings clear on this point, but the member being 'pilloried' has been warned about his constant plagiarism of articles he finds by what I can only imagine, is his incessant trawling of the internet for the inane and trite material he cuts and pastes on an almost daily basis. His apparent need for attention must stem from his desparation to be seen. His threads rarely get more than a dozen comments, and 50% of those are he himself likewise replying to those comments. When his threads begin to disappear into obscurity, along comes another that is equally trite, and for the most part, little more than containg a passing connection with motorcycling. Point in case, Tiger Woods, I will go no further with that.
I myself have made official complaints about the nature and composition of some of his postings and I am sure that I am not the only one to have done so, thus resutling in the removal of some threads.
I doubt your thread will be removed as you make a well considered point, where as another member, who is only able to be active in the forums for the duration of a weeks free membership, deemed it necessary to 'pillory' someone for their failings in grammar and spelling. Altogether not helpful. Things that are said in the heat of the moment in reply to constant drivel by an individual, who has been warned to cease and desist, are done so from frustration at purposely submitted nonsense, purely put there to wind people up and provoke a reaction, thereby gratifying his compulsion for attention.
Perhaps my reply, whilst being grammatically correct and spelt right, will be removed. Only time will tell.                                                                                                                                                                             

The thread in question was removed, by me, at the request of several members of the site, NOT the person who started it or the staff member in question.  I in fact deliberately left it so there were no accusations of favouritism etc.
I have been a moderator on this site since 2010 and have been accused of favouritism, using mafia tactics, censorship and everything else you could possibly imagine and to be honest I am sick to death of it. 
I whole heartedly believe that everybody is entitled to their opinion and we should respect that not everybody shares our views or moral values.
I find your accusations offensive and frankly judgemental. 
Threads, posts and profiles are deleted everyday for one reason or another and it is not in the sites best interest to disclose the reasons for every such incident.
I can understand that folks can get slightly confused seeing a thread 1 day and then its gone but I would hope that most folks would assume there was good reason for it and not as a cover up.
To answer your question, anybody can indeed request a thread or a post be deleted for whatever reason they have, do we delete them all NO, why because as you said sometimes it is requested for the wrong reason.
Yes you have every right to air your opinions and concerns, I have no qualm with that at all but I was always taught tact, diplomacy and consideration were paramount in life.
All staff give their time freely to keep this site running and to organise events for others to enjoy, folks however seem very slow to come forward with thanks and appreciation but are like bolts of lightening when they want to point out errors or mistakes, none of us are perfect, and to be honest posts like the above make me question why do I bother giving up my time and spending my money just to have it thrown back in my face.                                                                                                                                                                             

A thread can be requested to be locked and/or removed.   I have made such a request myself (on a couple of threads I have posted) when the point of the original post (irrelevant or not) has been lost within the following posts.
  
Humans are, generally, stupid creatures, especially when tensions run high.   However, you are right, censorship of freedom of speech should never be allowed.  Too many have died for our right to have that.   

That said, when a thread becomes an all out slanging match (regardless of who is involved or why) then, quite honestly, yes it should be removed.

Matt and The Mods (dibs on that band name!)  have a responsibility to the users of the site.....but that said the users of the site have a responsibility too. 

                                                                                                                                                                             

Thankyou for your replies on this. But it still leaves questions.
the person involved has been warned before about continuously posting drivel but is only a full member for one week a year and can therefore only post for one week out of fifty two. So just how profilic is he in his seven days of stardom?
I made observations based on what i observed and i asked questions but at no stage did i make accusations. I know the site is run day to day by volunteers, and events are organised by volunteers and, like many many others i am appreciative of the fact.
The reason i ask is because on another site of which i am also a member if threads become inflamatory they are 'locked' so no more posts can be added but the thread is left up, maybe making people think a bit more before they post anything unpleasant knowing their words will be there for all to read. We are after all human and prone to annoyance, frustration and sometimes speaking our minds.

Disagreements and fallings out are common on sites with forums. Yes people have a right to express their opinions as long as they are not offensive in nature or are a direct personal attack on another member. Allowing those sorts of posts to remain just encourages other numpties to emulate them. Freedom of expression does not mean freedom from rules.

At the end of the day you just have to trust the good judgement of the mods 

To answer XJ's question.......A thread was put up by a member, another member put a comment, a third member ( the free week) posted, at which point thread went down hill into a personal slanging match.....thread removed. Simple.

And no not pointing fingers.

Well said Gloom and BJ does have a point. Many quick to judge the mods, few are as quick to say thank you.

XJ I think there is some confusion, the person who has been warned on a regular basis is a full member all year and the person who started the thread, the person who ended up in a slanging match with a staff member only comes onto BM once a year when they use their 1 week free membership.
Your initial post insinuated that because a staff member was involved preferential treatment by way of deleting the thread was given.  Whether meant or not that is how I personally interpreted the context.
As Mods we are damned if we do and damned if we don't, the reasons posts or threads are removed varies greatly and sometimes background information of a delicate nature can be the cause, being privy to this can be the reason why a Mod pulls a thread or post but does not disclose why.
We have in the past locked threads and left them but this just tends to lead to a new thread being started and the topic reignited.
As in the thread being discussed, the topic became that of a slanging match between 2 parties that had nothing to do with the original topic, and after having several complaints both on thread and via email, I made the decision to pull it.
Complaints are received on a daily basis with regard to posts or threads from folk who have genuine concern or just think the topic is a waste of time, each complaint is viewed by its own merit and I have personally replied to folk telling them to stop complaining and if they don't like the topic of a certain thread, don't read it simples !!!
There are allsorts of folk in this world and we can not assume we will like or get on with all of them, or indeed they will like us, tolerance is called for at times, but we all have our limits.                                                                                                                                                                             

No insult was intended from the original post. No insinuation of any malpractice or favoritism either. But it does serve to illustrate how the written word, without the reaffirmation of facial expression can be misinterpreted. Hence the invention of emoticons.
Thankyou for your replies they were both interesting and informative.

I reckon santa took it                                                                                                                                                                             

Don't know what santa does at your place nick but he leaves stuff at mine.                                                                                                                                                                             

I always wondered where Santa got everything from!                                                                                                                                                                             

he took loads of money out of my account,  and left me some socks                                                                                                                                                                             

Are you talking about Santa or XJ here Nick?
We know XJ a bit dodgy, his profile says he's in Kent but he sounds like he's a bit dodgy.
In fact he sounds like you Nick.
Dodgy folk north of the Thames and dodgy folk on my south side .
Bo locks I'm now on my jack.
Come on you zombie pussies. I'll take you on one Jack an Danny at a time.

  Lol Chris  Am I ok seeing as Im West of ya?   Jack n Danny haven't heard that one in a while .... x   Vanishing threads? We have a vanishing lake here in North Ireland...so I wouldn't complain about the little disappearances   The Mods do a great job x                                                                                                                                                                             

Needless to say I was on my own last night in the pub and I do like to post silly stuff because I like to find out what I wrote the next morning.                                                                                                                                                                             

I find some of the things I have wrote can cause some disagreement. But that is due to the evils of drink and I dont do it very often                                                                                                                                                                               

Brummie Jack wrote "I have been a moderator on this site since 2010 and have been accused of favouritism, using mafia tactics, censorship and everything else you could possibly imagine and to be honest I am sick to death of it"

Couldn't agree more - I'm an admin on a snowboarding site, and a mod on a very busy beer and wine homebrewing site - it's normally a thankless task, and your judgement is constantly called into question. We only do these roles voluntarily because we like the forum in question and want to help keep it on a steady keel. If people don't step up to help moderate a site it can very quickly descend into a nasty place where the most vociferous and thick skinned individuals rule the place and new folk are quickly put off - ultimately the forum dies off because members get sick of the attitudes and new members don't stay.

when free speech arguments pop up it's always interesting, because cencorship is a normal part of life - newspaper editors decide what will and will not be printed, news editors decide what is and is not newsworthy, and many sites, especially the likes of the BBC moderate EVERY comment before it's published on their site - we live with cencorship every day - not that I think that's an excuse to cut away any threads or comments just because I disagree with them - quite the opposite in fact!

But there has to be a line drawn somewhere, and once threads stray into personal, nasty, slanging matches, they have no place on a forum.

The question over whether to lock or delete a thread is a matter for the site admins usually - on some sites a thread is only ever deleted if it's spam, and argumentative threads are locked, and often the most offensive posts edited to make it 'work safe' - the down side is of course people can re-ignite the argument in another thread more easily if the locked thread is left... other sites simply remove the offensive thread so it's much less likely to be brought back up again.

Ultimately, when you register with a forum you agree to abide by it's rules, and accept that the moderators and admins have the final say. You certainly don't have to register or use the forum if you don't agree with that, but you always hope that people will register, use the forum, and abide by its rules.
                                                                                                                                                                             

To set the record straight:
The free week a year member was actually a fully paid up member for a few years, and this is the first ever free week he has had.
I am a fully paid up member and reluctant to post because of the abusive responses I see other full members receiving for perfectly legitimate posts.
If you don't like something, either report it through the correct channels according to site rules, or simply don't comment.
Calling someone a moron on a site whose membership is dwindling is iresponsible and off-putting to potential members. And even worse when coming from a member of site staff.

Yes calling someone moron is unacceterble. Almost as bad as calling someone an obnoxious gobshite and then making comments about there poor spelling and grammer. But we all have to live with our failings.
Happy new year all