In an attempt to clarify things and make our stance and approach to moderation known, and in not wanting to delay a response further, we neglected to address the more personal reasons as to why things have been so slow, or how decisions were made, or why there was a delay not only in this, but in other site functions.
We're sorry for that! The most recent announcement may seem confusing to many users not involved in the conflict or aware of the issues discussed therein. It's easy to forget certain context isn't universal.
For context to those unaware;
Our previous announcement was made to address concerns about an unspecified user, and our collective response (or lack thereof) to the issue as it evolved. These concerns focused on content hosted off-site, and the worry about how the interests shown there may, or had already, overlapped with SC both on the site and in the community discord.
When reports about concerns of this nature are made, we treat it very seriously. In this instance, we initially investigated and found that the concerns were indeed valid, but not immediately a threat - the user that had been reported was contacted, and changes were made to make their profile safer and attempts to keep an eye on the situation were made. The user in question actively worked with our team to make changes as we deemed necessary, to create additional layers of separation between their personal interests and SC.
Harassment of any kind is not permitted in this community. It never has been, and never will be. This goes both ways - we encourage users to block those who make them uncomfortable, or to report any actual offenses to our team to review, not to confront directly. This is relevant here, as the reports started to go both ways.
In all of the reports we received, the issues presented were either ones we had already addressed with the user, were outdated, or on separate sites beyond our jurisdiction. What started as interpersonal communications breakdown and a lapse of judgement became something much larger through our involvement. Accusations became a game of telephone, and our team found it difficult to track down what was current, relevant, and reliable. To us, it seemed there were appropriate levels of separation being made. It sounded more like interpersonal frustration, rather than something necessitating further team involvement - a block would do, or so it felt.
Our stance on this matter has not, ultimately, changed.
It is ultimately up to the users - or their guardians - to monitor what sites they access beyond our borders. We have dealt with similar reports before - in other cases where the threats were genuine and immediately clear, our action has been swift and decisive. Therein lies the crux of the issue.
Our communication and efficiency about these choices has been severely lacking. To be completely transparent with you all, our team is very worn out. It has been difficult for us to keep up with these reports as they have evolved over time.
Most of the team are actively going through many different forms of major life changes - some brief, some ongoing - and it has left our ability to communicate effectively as both a team and to you, the community, in disarray. We have always done our best to keep up, but things have fallen behind due to our personal life circumstances. We can't pretend they haven't!
We want to extend an apology, for the delay in communicating these issues to you all, and in the general silence while we have taken the time to tackle them. We are still human.
Please be patient with our volunteers and mods as we work to try and tackle the backlog of approvals and enlightened prompts!