Over the past couple of years, a number of users here have expressed to me, both publicly and privately, that they feel that banhammer recently falls far too readily upon expressions of political opinion, namely anything that is not strictly politically correct.

While expressions of actual racism, sexism, and the like are clearly against the forum rules and should indeed face moderation, creating an environment where only one side of the political aisle is allowed to speak and exist is not conducive to a sustainable forum environment, especially when activity is already low; more than one long term user has called it quits in recent months because of this.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it should be open season, the existing rules against hateful conduct that have stood for decades should still be adhered to, I am simply passing on a concern here that quite a few members have relayed to me.

I believe that as far as politics on this site is concerned: Keep it to the “Politics Discussion” threads. That way if you do choose share something problematic, the ban can stay confined to Political forums and not become a site-wide ban. However you choose to take it outside of the political forums, then I believe the rules as they stand are fair enough. Can’t think of many instances where a ban wasn’t warranted due to sharing some genuinely problematic political points.

I haven't been following political discussions very closely, but I think every single time I've seen bans in political contexts here, they've been deserved. Sometimes the bans have come a bit easily, but even then they've definitely been deserved. Obviously I must have missed a ton of bans, so it's possible there's some undeserved bans there too, but based on what I've seen, I have little reason to suspect that to be the case.

I reckon the issue is that people don't want to be entirely civil about their opinions, because people tend to not be entirely civil when discussing politics. If that's the case, the real question would be whether some leeway should be allowed even if in practice it means racism, sexism etc. My moral stance is absolutely not and people should learn to be civil even in disagreement, but my pragmatic side isn't so sure - people are what they are, and trying to fight it too hard also has a cost.

This can be moved to the politics section if appropriate, wasn't sure which section it would be best suited to.

Also, for the record, I raise this not as advocating for any particular political stance, but as a site health issue. 

The rules clearly state "Racist, sexist, hateful, toxic, or otherwise demeaning comments will not be tolerated."

We've banned only three people, only one of them permanently, for comments that weren't trolling or flaming over console war BS. One has a long history of making homophobic, transphobic, and racist comments, and is skating on thin ice. Another was permanently banned for a long history of racist comments. One was given a five-day ban for multiple transphobic comments. We don't need that garbage on this forum. We're not Era, so we let a lot of stuff slide when we really shouldn't, but some things are so egregious that we have no choice but to take action, especially with repeat offenders.

It's really not that difficult to keep that hateful BS to one's self. As I like to say, it's easier to not do a thing than it is to do that thing. Yet it still amazes me how grown people simply can't seem to help themselves and act like an asshole. But if someone can't abide by the rules, well, there's the door. We'll personally usher them out of the door ourselves if we have to. If others don't like that a couple of people have been given the boot, either temporarily or permanently, for a history of bigoted commentary, well, they're free to leave as well if that's their choice. If a forum can't thrive without allowing open bigots to post bigoted comments, then so be it.

Off-topic, but I wish politicians were like this instead of trying to make a career out of it. I guess that would make them people in politics rather than politicians though.