RMB Guardians?

falapatorius

falapatorius

TNPer
Ok, so this was recently posted by Bootsie in the Delegate's Government forum. I think it's something the RA should discuss though.

It regards the concept of the 'RMB Police' (a diplomatic description on my part :P ). I'm personally against the idea, but it is what it is. Anyway:

1. Are these guardians government officials, (as appointees) and subject to the provisions of the Constibillicode? In particular:

TNP's BoR:
2. Each Nation's rights to free speech, free press, and the free expression of religion shall not be infringed, and shall be encouraged, by the governmental authorities of the region. Each Nation has the right to assemble, and to petition the governmental authorities of the region, including the WA Delegate, for the redress of grievances. The governmental authorities of the region shall act only in the best interests of the Region, as permitted and limited under the Constitution.
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and:
TNP's BoR:
5. All Nations of The North Pacific have the right to be protected against the abuse of powers by any official of a government authority of the region. Any Nation of The North Pacific has the right to request the recall of any official of a government authority of the region in accordance with the Constitution, that is deemed to have participated in such acts.
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2. The post states that these guardians have no powers other than:

Powers

The powers given to the RMB Guardians is that they can speak on behalf of the Delegate and Vice Delegate to tell nations to either move on from a topic, or to quit spamming/adspamming/et cetera. They should act as RMB moderators, but not overstep their bounds on power
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Again, this is a situation that could be abused and thereby run afoul of the Bill of Rights. Actual rule violations can be dealt with by the Delegate or the NS mods. Polarizing topics and inane chatter are protected by free speech imo (as long as they comply with NS rules and TNP Law). All government officials swear an oath to uphold this. Furthermore:

Limitations

As stated above, RMB Guardians do not have the power to suppress or banject posts, so RMB Guardians will have to be constructive with their warnings, and use their words to coerce nations to quit spamming/adspamming/et cetera, and rely less on regional officer power to handle the issues of the RMB.
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Of particular concern to me is the word 'coerce'. Perhaps it was a poor choice of a word, but coercion is not something I'd support.

3. Reporting posts to the Delegate or the NS mods is already an option to all TNP residents. Is it really necessary to appoint guardians for this? If recent activity is any indication, the guardians themselves can inadvertently (or purposefully) contribute to controversies. Giving them the power to police discussion seems like a bad idea. Potentially unlawful as well.

4. Who can be appointed as an RMB Guardian? I would hope it requires citizenship at the very least.

That's my initial :2c: anyway.
 
The concept of an RMB Guardian was coined either in r3n's second term or McMasterdonia's most recent (I don't remember which) as a member of the department of education who serves as a friendly guide and face in the regional message board to try and prevent the huge waves of spam from nations like Ducklands, Derpington, etc.

They are toothless, in the sense that they have no gameside power - precisely because I feared there was always the minute possibility that some appointees could go too far. And you touch upon that yourself, yes. We were of the same mind in that.

This policy didn't come sooner because of disagreements with McMasterdonia on how it should be implemented. I favoured an official appointment, and an oath of office with the ability to change appearance and create polls while serving as a group of nations who would work to both keep the behaviour civil (as we've seen it can get heated), and as a joint asset between Home Affairs and Education. I was also considering the creation of a Gameside Affairs Ministry in cooperation with the Security Council which would have seen the RMB Guardians moved to that Ministry and appointed by a Minister. This didn't come as I felt it would be badly received, which has killed a good deal of the ideas I wished to implement this term.

In addition, I had hoped they would serve as a group who would be able to highlight potentially problematic nations who needed closer attention - the nation names I mentioned above as examples of those needing extra attention - either to the Vice Delegate and the SC, or to myself, time permitting. (The RMB can get insanely active, and especially when people take it in mind to spam it to high heavens. I was logging into 600 posts a day and I really didn't have the time to find an extra hour to go through them).

McMasterdonia favoured RMB Guardians being active or involved nations on the RMB. My criteria is a little stricter to include Residential Status, which is all you need to join the executive staff (or be a deputy minister) in order to swear an oath of office where applicable.

Above all else, this policy isn't set in stone, and while my more radical ideas were... reduced in scale this policy is still very much open to modification based on any feedback we receive. (Although feedback, as shown by my attempt to get it re: Home Affairs Mentoring, seems to be few and far between. Like scotch mist.)
 
I agree that going through 500+ posts of silly conversation can be tedious. Most of it is just a few people chattering like squirrels (a lot of lols, xDs and such). I myself don't consider it spam, but there are a few players who think it is. That's fine, their opinions are free speech as well, even though it usually just starts an argument. Meh.. just another day on the TNP RMB. :lol:

Tbh, if the Delegate wants some help to ferret out offending posts, I can't really see a problem with that. I just think that allowing them to speak on your behalf could cause more problems than it solves. Particularly when some players' posting standards are ridiculously high (grammar nazis, double-post police, topic critics, etc). Again though, I'd rather see players report posts directly to you or the NS mods. Cut out the middleman, (as it were) or make them officials of some sort (which you intended in the first place it seems).
 
Had I been able to get this policy out two months ago, then they would have been officials with the full works as required by law. Given the end of the term being imminent, I felt it was best to provide a framework that can be edited and adapted in the new term as necessary.

I am still undecided whether I wish to seek a second term, since it would mean returning to some of my more radical plans and a brand new cabinet with one or two exceptions... requiring a lot of time and effort I'm not sure I am able to give.
 
The complete reform of the mentoring program was one of those, but when I failed to get any actual useful feedback from more than three people it took a back seat to gathering issues in tSP at the time.
 
Could the RMB Guardians be tied into a mentoring program as well? I've always believed new players need help going through the motions of citizenship and finding out all the things they are eligible for.

It would be easy enough to send out a list of new citizens weekly and have an RMB Guardian check in with them during that week to make sure their questions are answered.
 
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