How do FamilySearch moderators handle the reporting of abuse?

Paul W

I was shocked to find a number of members of this forum have a number of (in one or two cases a great many) reports of "Abuse" against their profiles.

I would be interested to know how this is handled. In some cases, it would appear to warrant the member being suspended, or even permanently excluded, from Community. However, perhaps in certain cases, the flagging of "abuse" is connected with some sort of grudge or personal vendetta.

If members do find their profiles flagged in this way, I assume there is some method of applying for the removal of reports considered to be unjust. However, this would need an administrator to have access to the details of the topic(s) which have led to this "negative" statistic being added to ones profile, as well as the identity of the individual alleging abuse.

I'm sure many users would be most interested in hearing how the whole matter is handled.

bathompson

Hello @Paul W,

Regarding posts that may be deemed abusive, here is the information found in the Community Code of Conduct:

https://www.familysearch.org/help/helpcenter/article/community-code-of-conduct

We realize that moderation of content is subjective and requires judgment. Reasonable people can disagree about what constitutes a violation of this code. Enforcement decisions are made exclusively by FamilySearch moderators.

Enforcement is typically one of these actions:

1. Moderators remind offenders to obey the code of conduct. We can ask offenders to edit or delete their own comments.
2. Moderators can edit, close, or remove posts or discussions.
3. Severe or repeated violations can result in temporary or permanent suspension of group, community, or FamilySearch.org access.

Thank you for your concerns regarding this issue. I have sent you a private message.

Best Wishes!

Amy Archibald

I posted the 2022 dates for RootsTech and got 5 flagged spam reports in this community. And I can't take them off my profile.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

As Amy points out: no, there is no method for contesting a flag, or none that I have been able to find. Nor is there any accountability for the flagger; flags are totally anonymous, at least to the victim. (I don't know whether moderators get more information.)

dontiknowyou

Currently I have 2 Spam and 19 Abuse flags on my profile.  Anyone can see them here:  https://community.familysearch.org/en/profile/dontiknowyou

Important details to note:

The Spam and Abuse counts are links. Click the link to see what was flagged and decide for yourself if I committed any act of spam or abuse, or if the flags are false. Notice that you can see 2 of 2 "Spam" comments but only 5 of 19 "Abuse" comments. The other 14 "Abuse" flags were on comments in topics that have been deleted by moderators.

As far as I am concerned, all 21 flags on my profile are false flags. I might say more about that later.

dontiknowyou

Now my Spam count is up to 7. Only I still only see 2 comments flagged Spam.

Edit to add: My mention of resources available on another site, a site hosted by the Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS), got flagged 5x for spam. Is it spam? Apparently not. GOONS partners FS and has a page on the FS research wiki: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Guild_of_One-Name_Studies

dontiknowyou

This is how I report false flags: click the Flag button, choose the Report option, and add a brief explanation. I use the Report option also to report personal attacks in Community private messages. I have reported false flags on my posts and on posts by others. I trust all reports are read and acted on.

I have witnessed:

• When any post in a topic is flagged, often the entire topic is temporarily removed from public view. It may return later, or never return.
• Topics and individual posts can be removed at any time, sometimes days or weeks after the fact.
• Extensive expungement of content occurs on Family Tree, even including page Change Logs.
• Similar expungement of content occurs here on FS Community.
• Someone who has severely stained their own reputation can get resets of their Abuse, Discussion, and Comment counts, further hiding how much was deleted.
• Someone who has severely stained their own reputation can get a new Community profile, a complete fresh start. 
• Selective deletion of Community posts with 5, 6 or more abuse flags. This worries me because posts with single abuse flags remain, creating the false impression that a single other person is flagging someone. Each Community profile can give only 1 flag on a post. 
• Most persons here probably have only one Community profile, but some have more than one and some misuse multiple profiles to attack others and to create false impressions of innocent victimhood.

All of this expungement must be very time consuming for highly skilled and experienced FS staff.

LDS places very high value on turning hearts and on grace. Persons who act out receive a lot of support, guidance, and opportunities to clean up their act.

I have not asked for any flags on my profile to be erased, so I do not know if all I have to do is ask. I don't much care about that. What I do care about is that moderators and admins not be naive, that they be alert to false flagging and other abusive behaviors.

Moderators may not see much more than contributors do, but admins see everything. At least, admins see everything before it gets deleted by other admins. If they are smart they keep record of everything they delete. But FamilySearch is huge, has a lot going on, and has tiers of response teams; the left hand often does not know what the right hand does, and finger tips do not know all the wrist knows.

False flags were used to attack me but I think the attack was directed also against the entire FS Community. Someone who does not like collaboration won't like FS Community either.

Discernment is the fruit of harsh experience.