For some years 'ftp' has been making regular claims about a Troll who he alleges has been running a 'disinformation campaign' against IMC UK and 'Jimdog' has called him out. What is interesting is that 'ftp' is not willing to offer any evidence whatsoever of the Super Troll he has repeatedly used as an excuse for shutting down comment lines and for hiding posts that are at odds with his political viewpoint. If as now seems highly likely the individual and the campaign do not now and have not in the past ever existed there are serious question marks over the honesty of ‘ftp’ as a moderator. There are also concerns regarding the decisive document written by ‘Chris’ of the IMC Sheffield collective which detailed what he claimed was a “Disinformation Campaign” largely based on information supplied by ‘ftp’.

‘Trolling’ has been a problem for IMC since the early Seattle days, it is one of the obvious weaknesses with the Open Publishing concept and requires moderators who will adhere to the agreed guidelines and put aside their own political and personal views for the benefit of the IMC site and the community. In a case like this where one moderator has created a fake persona of a Troll to justify years of actions it is completely at odds with the IMC ethics. Speaking in my capacity as a former IMC moderator I know that it is sometimes tempting to hide a post or comment because it is at odds with views I hold but the measure of the decision should always be the agreed Editorial Guidelines, the odd mistake is understandable a many year campaign of systematic hiding while using the justification of an invented ‘bogey man’ is simply unacceptable.



This information has also been sent by way of an email to the Moderation mailing list however such is the seriousness of this matter I suggest it is discussed in the open rather than behind the ‘closed doors’ of the IRC chat that has caused such a breakdown in accountability and openness in the past.