Unfair bans and harsh treatment by Digital Spy forums

Ambitious1999

Hi
Has anyone experienced unfair bans by Digital Spy forums?
I have a friend that's been banned by Digital Spy (DS) for 2 weeks for posting what they regard as a 'Pointless post'

The post was a question in their 'Advice' section on whether local councils should be held responsible if a person misses an exam or interview due to faulty temporary traffic lights.

Can anyone see anything offensive or upsetting in that post?

What does DS define as pointless? They don't give any kind of list of what is 'Pointless' and I think a 2 week ban is extremely harsh, when the person didn't even know that his post was pointless. Its obvious that DS considers 'pointless' posts as extremely serious and offensive.

DS fail to have any appeals procedure which is unjust as in British law people are allowed to defend their own side of the argument by fair appeal.
The email informing him of the ban didn't even have any link to discuss the matter.

My friend feels he is being victimised. Are there any regulatory bodies that govern such social media forums? Would maybe contacting BBC Watchdog be advisable?

Has anyone else experience problems or unfair treatment by DS?

Reply 1

Souljer

Lol! You have too much time on your hands.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 2

username612415

These threads pop up every year. The answer is yes, people have had bans that they feel are unfair. No, there's nothing you can do about it. Just sit quietly and don't make dupes until the ban expires, then try not to do the thing that got you banned again.

Don't waste your time contact Watchdog or any sort of legal escalation (or more importantly, don't waste the time of whoever is on the other end of the phone when you call). DS aren't the british legal system, they're a website with rules and terms of service, and people they employ to remove users who they feel are not holding to those rules and terms of service. They're a private company, they can refuse access to that service to whoever they like. It's just an internet chat room that you/your friend are temporarily denied access to, it's about as low on a list of priorities as it's possible to be for anyone other than yourselves.

(edited 8 years ago)

Spoiler

No reasonable person should have anything to do with that website. It appears to be run by 'administrators' who themselves abuse and troll other users whose reasonable views they don't agree with. Don't have anything to do with them. That's my advice. Their activities border on he criminal. I'd describe them as intolerant, abusive fascists. Seriously. Stay happy!