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Jagex's Duty of Care to Forums Thread is locked

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Aeroxmaster

Aeroxmaster

Posts: 8,010 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Hello everyone.

I would like to address a topic - Jagex's "duty of care" to the forums and the people using it.

At present, it appears Jagex does not supervise its moderators as much as perhaps it should.

It does not engage in a regular review of its moderators' actions when these are highlighted by forumers.

It is for Jagex to ensure that its moderators are appropriately monitored. I note that recently, a Jagex mod stated the below:

Original message details are unavailable.
Every post in FMR is taken extremely seriously and given as much time as is needed for proper consideration to occur. Individual concerns can take anywhere up to 2 hours to address, depending on what needs to be investigated and what actions need to be taken. Processing even a week's worth of concerns is usually an entire afternoon, which is why, though I try to tackle it regularly, this isn't always possible depending on my other commitments.

Well, unfortunately for you, the UK government obviously may not feel that is sufficient, and within due course, nor may the courts. A duty of care may be imposed upon yourselves. The "I don't have time" card may no longer be sufficient.

The duty may be so great that Customer Support will have to take over looking after the forums from a moderation perspective. It is rather clear here that they review reports against their volunteer player moderators more promptly from in game abuse reports than Community Management do of their volunteer forum moderators. Let us review a comment from the UK Government:

26-Jan-2021 00:16:18

Aeroxmaster

Aeroxmaster

Posts: 8,010 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Original message details are unavailable.
All companies in scope will have a specific legal duty to have effective and accessible reporting and redress mechanisms. This will cover harmful content and activity, infringement of rights (such as over-takedown), or broader concerns about a company’s compliance with its regulatory duties. Ofcom’s codes of practice will set out expectations for these mechanisms. The government expects the codes to cover areas such as accessibility (including to children), transparency, communication with users, signposting and appeals. Expectations on companies will be risk-based and proportionate, and will correspond to the types of content and activity which different services are required to address. For example, the smallest and lowest risk companies might need to give only a contact email address, while larger companies offering higher-risk functionalities will be expected to provide a fuller suite of measures.

- UK Government

Original message details are unavailable.
To avoid companies taking an overly risk-averse approach to the identification and removal of material likely to be illegal, the regulatory framework will enshrine strong safeguards for freedom of expression. [...] Companies will be required to consider the impact on and safeguards for users’ rights when designing and deploying content moderation systems and processes. This might involve engaging with stakeholders in the development of their content moderation policies, considering the use of appropriate automated tools, and ensuring appropriate training for human moderators. Companies should also take reasonable steps to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their systems, including considering the amount of legitimate content that was incorrectly removed.

- UK Government

26-Jan-2021 00:16:28 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2021 00:39:49 by Aeroxmaster

Aeroxmaster

Aeroxmaster

Posts: 8,010 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
As there is a significant possibility that Jagex will be within the scope of the legislation, it willl be for Jagex to ensure that their duty of care is met, not their volunteer moderators alone. As such, you need to assure that all of your review and audit processes are up to scratch, which includes that of volunteer forum moderators. Taking a month to investigate allegations of abuse or other misconduct against moderators is not exactly appropriate in that setting, is it?

Forum moderators will continue to be audited by some independent players regardless as to whether or not Jagex does so. Such matters of non-compliance may begin to become even more relevant when further legislation receives royal assent. Either way, if Community Management is unable to deal with auditing its volunteer forum moderators effectively, then this should be moved to Customer Support's responsibility sooner rather than later. Ofcom's regulations will also likely influence the current forum rules and the future of the status of forum moderators on this board and whether or not they will continue to exist under the current arrangement you have, which would likely be classed as inadequate imo.

I do find it rather amusing that when comments are made about such a subject matter, or humour or light made to make things a little easier for those going through the "inadequate" process of review and audit, that Jagex takes this (and any other criticisms) very personally and to heart, yet fails to promptly review allegations against moderators on its forums. Regardless, such feelings will be irrelevant to the up and coming regulator, Ofcom, once they are given the keys to regulating such practices that Jagex and other companies currently use.

Either that, or the RuneScape Forums may have to be removed altogether if Jagex does not wish to comply.

Question to forumers: do you think Jagex will take a duty of care any more seriously any time soon on the forums?

26-Jan-2021 00:16:37

Kopaka
Dec Member 2023

Kopaka

Posts: 3,578 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
If the UK brings the hammer down on something like the RSOF for "Not adequately reviewing their volunteer moderators", I guarantee they will just remove the forums.

It's not like they make any money from the forums existing.

You sound like a Karen

Aeroxmaster said :
At present, it appears Jagex does not supervise its moderators as much as perhaps it should.

It does not engage in a regular review of its moderators' actions when these are highlighted by forumers.

It's like,

"I made a complaint and you didn't do exactly what I told you to do immediately. Where is your manager. I need to talk to your manager."

Come on.

The quote you gave from the Jmod is one perspective, and as he put it,

"Processing even a week's worth of concerns is usually an entire afternoon, which is why, though I try to tackle it regularly, this isn't always possible depending on my other commitments."

That does not sound like someone who doesn't take auditing his moderators seriously. It sounds like someone who works at an actual job and has actual responsibilities he has to deal with, meanwhile you couldn't care less because you're upset about something a moderator said, which in all likelihood was completely appropriate of them to say.

There are plenty of things I don't like about the forums but I certainly don't think I am in any position to tell the moderators how to do their jobs, either Fmods or Jmods. I'm just some dude living in my parents basement and I know my place.

26-Jan-2021 02:55:37

Stoat King

Stoat King

Posts: 5,075 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
First off, that is a white paper. None of that is on the books. It is a proposal.
This, no doubt, is why you neglected to include the source of your quotes.

In addition, your cherry-picking of quotes actively distorts what the white paper is proposing.

"2.7 The primary responsibility for each company in scope will be to take action to prevent
user-generated content or activity on their services causing significant physical or
psychological harm to individuals. To do this they will complete an assessment of the risks
associated with their services and take reasonable steps to reduce the risks of harms they
have identified occuring. "

Where is the part of the RSOF that is likely to cause this significant harm?
It seems that Jagex will have to conduct an assessment and write it up. Erm, thats it.

Not sure what on earth your agenda could be for posting this.
I encourage anyone interested to read the actual source material in order to see just how full of shit the OP is:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/944310/Online_Harms_White_Paper_Full_Government_Response_to_the_consultation_CP_354_CCS001_CCS1220695430-001__V2.pdf

26-Jan-2021 06:40:42 - Last edited on 26-Jan-2021 06:41:09 by Stoat King

Mod Kari

Mod Kari

Jagex Moderator Forum Profile Posts by user
The forum community exists as a positive space for individuals to meet, collaborate and share their experiences of RuneScape. As mentioned in our Terms & Conditions , we ask that all forumers respect the 'spirit' behind the rules of the forum. The approach you've taken with your recent posts and criticisms do not align with the community spirit we wish to encourage with the rules and practices we have in place.

To further quote the terms; " If you are dissatisfied with a Jagex Product or any aspect of it, please contact us via the customer support section of the Jagex Product website ". By posting your citation-heavy complaints here you're instead attempting to incite discourse among our community and defame our efforts and practices.

This thread will now be locked. If you wish to make a formal complaint, you're welcome to submit it through the appropriate channels. Otherwise your content on this platform will continue to be subject to moderation in line with our community rules and expectations.
Community Manager


Needs more Ben & Jerrys

26-Jan-2021 09:00:19

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