Is criticism of moderators allowed?

before I get into the details, are we allowed to criticize moderators or question their decisions here, as long as we keep it respectful?
something happened that I think you might find interesting, and I’d like to share it and hear your thoughts

Hi @EthanHK
Please keep these points in mind.

Diamond Damien said:

Member feedback: We encourage all members to engage with our suggestions and feedback section. Clarity of message is important we outline here https://www.blackhatworld.com/seo/forum-suggestions-feedback-rules-faq.1345520/ how best to provide this feedback. So we can understand what your concerns are, what frustrates you, and what would benefit the community the most. As mentioned in my previous post above, we want to hear from you.

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Diamond Damien said:

Constructive criticism is encouraged. We will not remove or shut down discussion simply because people disagree with us or say something uncomfortable. At the same time, we need to keep the thread useful, appropriate, factual where possible, and focused on improving the community.

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Keep in mind that if it's a particular decision personal to you, you may wish to Contact Support for specific guidance.

I want to share an experience and some criticism of how moderation is sometimes handled here.

I was trying to buy something from a seller. When I sent them a DM, the message shown in the attached screenshot appeared. I used the report option to ask why that was happening.

Instead of an explanation, I received a 20-day warning for “selling within Direct Messages.”

I was the buyer. I wasn’t offering or selling anything.

Ironically, the warning itself lists “user contacts the upgraded member about their services” as one of the permitted situations.

Experiences like this give me the impression that warnings are sometimes issued blindly, without anyone properly reading the message or checking the context. If a buyer asking about a purchase gets treated as a seller breaking the rules, it’s hard to feel that the situation received much attention.

I’m posting this as criticism, not as an appeal. Moderators have the authority to issue warnings, but I think members should also be able to question how carefully that authority is used.

@Diamond Damien hello sir
I think they(moderators) act in a very extreme and lawless manner, relying on their "sixth sense" and issuing warnings quite easily. Is there any oversight for them?

Thanks @EthanHK

EthanHK said:

warnings are sometimes issued blindly

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They aren't issued blindly, but...

Diamond Damien said:

We’re only human folks, so mistakes can be made.

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In this case, there was no mistake. The warnings you received were correctly issued, and any appeal would fail. If you need further explanation, you can Contact Support

For everyone's benefit:
1. Buying from a non-upgraded member is strictly prohibited; buying products/services prohibited by our Terms of Use is also... prohibited.
2. Soliciting sales via DM is not permitted - either as an upgraded member or, in your case, as a non-upgraded member.

EthanHK said:

When I sent them a DM, the message shown in the attached screenshot appeared

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You were below 15 posts at the time, so you were likely tripping the spam trigger. We'd have suggested removing any censored words or links, for example. After a user reaches 15 posts, there shouldn't be an issue.

@Nexivo - hi.

Nexivo said:

I think they(moderators) act in a very extreme and lawless manner

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See above and:

BHW-Help said:

If you have a question about your warning, or think you have a case for it to be lifted early, you can contact support. Like we explained in this thread, be civil and remember that they are not obliged to lift your warning.

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Well moderators should not be immune to corrections. We are humans and sometimes we understand things out of context. The nature of the correction is what now matters. If you state your case respectfully, seeking for redress, I am sure they will listen and act appropriately.

Moderators are not immune to corrections.

Don't forget, warnings are a reminder to use the forum in line with our Terms of Use - repeating a violation is when it becomes an issue.

medialounge said:

If you state your case respectfully, seeking for redress, I am sure they will listen and act appropriately.

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We don't propose to go into detail here, but

MintyGreenTea said:

In this case, there was no mistake.

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We say Contact Support, and we mean it.

For context, in the last 7 days (Oct 13 to Oct 19), Support received 58 tickets related to warnings.
5 of those tickets (8.6%) resulted in the removal of a warning. Not necessarily because a moderator needed correction, but on review, removing the warning may be a fair decision for the individual user and perhaps for this reason:

medialounge said:

We are humans and sometimes we understand things out of context

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Each ticket gives Support the opportunity to provide additional guidance (beyond the guidance already in the warning message), so hopefully the violation isn't repeated.

Of course, the more severe the violation, the less likely a warning will be removed.

For example, if a user is evidently selling via DM, selling prohibited products/services or engaging in blatant post-count inflation.