Firstly a few of you have been kind enough to pass on the rumours going around about this, and I'd like to make it clear that they are rumours.
She was not reported by a member with a grudge against her, and this had nothing to do with a post about a flag (forgive me, I've not read the thread)
Being as vague as I can, it has been agreed that I make our position as a team clear so as to avoid having to take this action against anyone else (this was a first for me, so it's a bloody rare one)
Three factors contributed to this action, and connecting actions taken against others:
1. The keeping of chat transcripts to use as a "threat to report" for several months
2. The deliberate delaying of reports until such time as they may carry more weight
3. The deliberate editing of chat transcripts in an attempt to deceive those reviewing them in the hope to not only garner harsher sanctions for another member, but to also protect others who played a key part in the proceedings.
The above behaviour can not and will not be tolerated.
If you have something to report, report it at the time, do not wait until that person is being attacked elsewhere on the site in the hopes that it will bump sanctions from a heads up/warning to a ban of some description.
If you have transcripts from chat to report, report ALL parts of the discussion. Editing out what your friends did to either cause the issue in the first place, or inflame the issue is not acceptable, and neither is removing comments that clearly shine a different light on the situation. We consider this a deliberate attempt to have a member removed from the site under false pretences.
We don't expect you all to get along, neither do we expect you to report each and every incident, but when you do, manipulation of fact and blatant attempts to misrepresent the situation will not be tolerated.