[Report/Question] Defamation Rule violation in NSGP

[Syberis]

viewtopic.php?p=32229686#p32229686

Putting this here because I was under the impression that, due to the fact none of this occurred on-site and thus there's no on-site evidence to this effect, it would fall afoul of Moderation's existing stance on accusations of offsite impropriety on the forum. If not actionable, may we please get additional clarification in regards to the relatively recent defamation rulings?

[Glen-Rhodes]

Sitting there making ominous posts like he threatened someone, rather than simply telling the truth about the shadowy accusations being flung around, is a million times more damaging to his character. Unlike any of you, I'm not posturing for this player's punishment or social exclusion, nor am I filing a mod report trying to use off-site evidence to get a player punished. I'm simply stating plainly what accusations *y'all* are making, so a player isn't suffering through accusations made in hushed whispers that imply he did something far far worse.

If I can't tell the truth, none of you should be allowed to vague-post about it either. Again, that's way worse and that's actually what's defamation in the real sense of the word.

[Warwick Z Codger]

And that 'truth' could be some BS you made up for giggles for all we know. Maybe his offense was more minor but you decided to exaggerate for some sort of political gain.

Hypothetically that is, not you specifically, I don't know anything at all.

The last paragraph doesn't seem that had an idea. Whether its vague or specific, it's still going to be defamatory in some way making accusations others of considering cheating is fair game

[Syberis]

Frankly, the reason for the vagueness at first was that the vast majority of the players involved were under the impression that referring to it at all was illegal. Hence why I still haven't weighed in. I'm not sure who the "y'all" is you refer to in this case.

If this was legal, then the rules need to be clarified so we can bring this stuff up publicly and address it as such. If it is not, then it needs to be addressed. In my own personal view, even the vagueposting was unprofessional and potentially illegal. Again, I'm not sure why the outrage against me is present.

[Zaolat]

To clarify for myself, since if vagueposting potentially being warnable. I under the impression that explicitly saying the details was potentially defaming as its an accusation of something off site that would have resulted in something illegal onsite. Like a defame version of troll naming.

The rule is too murky for me to fe confident in giving more detail then what I wrote in that thread.

[Katganistan]

How about this: no vague-posting, and if you're under the impression something illegal is happening/has happened, involve moderation either by posting here or using the handy-dandy, discreet Getting Help page.

If it's something that happened offsite, perhaps that's where to discuss the aftermath?

[Syberis]

How about this: no vague-posting, and if you're under the impression something illegal is happening/has happened, involve moderation either by posting here or using the handy-dandy, discreet Getting Help page.

If it's something that happened offsite, perhaps that's where to discuss the aftermath?

Understood. Is this also a ruling on the post I linked to in the report, or was that missed?

[Ever-Wandering Souls]

Technically, this whole thing is only borderline in regards to Cogitations expanded post on that ruling. He stated that mainly, accusations of a "real-world crime (or something similarly heinous)" are the issue. Then you hit this...

If the accusation is about offsite misconduct that doesn't constitute a real-world crime, but would constitute a serious NationStates rules violation had it happened on NationStates.net (such as "He called me a filthy godless slut in an offsite forum post" or "He posted on the offsite forum saying I was a psychotic lunatic just because I keep a gun collection for skeet shooting"), then there is a moderate probability of falling afoul of this rule. This is essentially about accusations that besmirch a person's reputation AND have nothing whatsoever to do with legitimate NationStates game activities.

...which is a long way to say "talking about NS rules breachings are Borderline." Then goes on to say that things like forum crashing or other non-crime technically non-ns-illegal actions are not at all relevant to the policy.

Too Long; Didn't Read:
Don't make accusations of offsite criminality.
Don't make accusations of offsite bad behavior that's irrelevant to the game.
Accusations of legit gameplay-related actions are kosher.
Don't go poking around at the edge cases; you might fall off those edges.

In this case, I'd look at the defining factor as the repeatedly mentioned relevancy to the game. In this case, a prominent resistance member against a GCR coup trying to buy support for their cause is, at least in my opinion, pretty relevant to specific in-game gameplay.

My two cents.

(all quotes sourced from cog here - viewtopic.php?f=16&t=368704&hilit=defamation&start=25#p27778390)