Staff should treat users fairly, with equal opportunity to participate based on merit. However, as staff are people and therefore imperfect, they (including myself) may make mistakes, leading to mistreating users. Whether intentional or not, staff should avoid (while taking common sense into account) replicating the following examples (with correct behaviour provided):
- John insults Jane, and she insults him back. Staff punish John for insulting Jane, but Jane receives no punishment. This is unfair as both users committed the same undesirable behaviour, but the staff only punished one. Neither should have resorted to insults, even when instigated. Staff should hold both users accountable. Instead of insulting John, Jane should have reported him to the staff and kept any replies civil. If staff allow users to violate the rules as a form of "payback" for the bad behaviour of others, then they will encourage arbitrary punishments based on feelings rather than logic.
- John suffers from a mental defect and posts content that violates the rules. Jane suffers from no such defect and also posts content that violates the rules. Staff punish Jane but spare John out of pity for his mental condition. This is unfair as both users committed the same undesirable behaviour, but the staff discriminated against Jane for her abled-mindedness. Staff should punish both users — regardless of their mental status. The rules must apply to all. If John's defect prevents him from following the rules, he cannot participate in the forums. He should seek help for his condition — help that the forums cannot provide since it is not qualified to do so. If staff allow users to break the rules because of their poor mental status, then the forums will descend into idiocracy, with a tyranny of the disabled over the abled.
- John makes a post with numerous spelling and grammatical mistakes. Staff punish John for not communicating in English. This is unfair as communicating in English does not require perfect spelling and grammar. Unless the mistakes are so onerous as to make John's post undecipherable, staff should leave him alone. If staff punish users for spelling and grammar mistakes, this will put unreasonable demands on users of the forums, who do not need to write in perfect English to get their point across.
- Jane makes a post referring to John's work as "stupid." Staff punish Jane for "insulting" John. This is unfair as Jane merely insulted John's work, not his person. It is not Jane's fault that John cannot separate his personhood from his work. If John does not want his work criticized, he should not post it for others to comment on. If staff punish users for harsh criticism of other's work, this will place an unnecessary chilling effect on users of the forums. Staff should encourage honest feedback, not punish it.
- Jane makes an off-topic comment, and John responds to it. Staff punish Jane for going off-topic, but John receives no punishment. This is unfair as both users went off-topic. If staff punish Jane for going off-topic, they should also punish John for doing the same. If staff allow users to go off-topic in response to other remarks, this will encourage continuous off-topic commentary and derail threads.
- John is a moderator and insults Jane, and she insults him back. John punishes Jane for insulting him. This is unfair, as staff should also punish John for insulting Jane. Being a moderator does not exempt him from the rules. If staff can wantonly break the rules, this will severely damage their legitimacy.
- Jane is a patron and violates the same rule as John. Staff punish John but not Jane. This is unfair as staff should punish both. Being a patron does not excuse Jane from the rules. If patrons do not have to follow the rules, the forums will become an abusive plutocracy.