User blog comment:AmazingPythor/Important: Demotion of Veralann/@comment-5381241-20170309195643

So I'm going to start this off by saying that I neither agree nor disagree with either side here. I don't honestly lean one way or another, despite what many of you seem to think, and I feel like there's fault on both ends.

I also want to make very clear that I had absolutely no intention of getting Vera demoted when I came to the admins about what he had said. Up until this point, I had always considered Vera to be a relatively decent friend of mine. We've talked a couple times, and I even supported him on his RfR in the first place. None of this was personal. None of this was done in order to "gain something" from it. I simply saw a discussion that I found to be concerning, and I knew the admins would have wanted to see it (and if it's not something you would want an admin seeing ["if an admin joined here I'd be screwed"], then either don't say it at all, or don't be surprised if somebody does tell the admins). Obviously, they found it quite concerning as well, and I'll tell you why, but I need all of you to keep an open mind, because I'm sure several of you are going to read this and immediately think "oh yeah right, that's not true"... but it is, face it.

Now let's note that several of the most active users in the Discord chat are also active users on the wiki who constantly, both on and off the wiki, express contempt for the wiki, several users themselves, and the admins. They have shown complete disregard to the admins and the wiki time after time, and generally have an unsavory opinion regarding the wiki and current administration. More often than not, their intentions are malicious. Now, this wouldn't be a problem, if one of the active users in the Discord chat wasn't Vera himself. But because of the circumstances and the fact that Vera was already associating himself with the aforementioned users, an actual leak of the admin site was certainly not outside the realm of possibility. And in regard to the remark that Vera never said he was going to leak the admin site, I think you're missing the fact that Vera also never said that he wasn't going to leak it, and even showed interest in the idea ("I'll see, depends on how its set up", "Then again the admin site can't technically be covered under a policy on a different site...", etc.).

I feel as if the sense of urgency was created by two things: an agenda, and the fact that the admins were dealing with a time-sensitive issue. The agenda came from the already strained tensions between a couple admins and Vera (as well as the other users in the Discord chat), and caused the admins (or an admin...) to behave haphazardly. "It did feel rushed, and when alemas talked to me about it, he made it seem more urgent then it probably was, and I should have given more thought to the matter" = Agenda. I also believe that time played a factor. The admins assumed that there was a need to react promptly because of the fact that they were dealing with the possibility of private information being leaked. You can't necessarily blame them here, and you should still appreciate that they were trying to preserve the information as best as they could.

That being said, I disagree with the admins's decision to jump the gun and demote Vera immediately. When I was told that the admins had unanimously agreed to demote Vera and that they were just waiting to make a public announcement, I honestly felt like they were reacting too quickly. Imagine checking wiki activity and finding out that you had been suddenly and abruptly demoted, without any prior warning. Wouldn't feel good, and I knew this. I was going to offer the suggestion that the admins talk to Vera first, but my stance was to stay neutral. I had a concern, I reported it to the admins, and I left the decision making to them. I wasn't about to sway their opinion one way or another.

Again, I feel as if both sides are at fault here, and I'll tell you what I believe should've been done and what should be done going forward. I believe that the admins should've contacted Vera first and talked to him. Perhaps we were missing some context, even if Vera's messages spoke quite plainly for themselves. I also believe that a demotion is a bit unfair. To me, the proper solution would be to reinstate Vera's rights, but deny him any access to the admin site, indefinitely.

Finally, I want to address the people who are trying to make me out to be the bad guy. I don't appreciate you cussing me out in PM. I especially don't appreciate you forging fake images to make me look like a liar and to get me in trouble with the admins, and if that doesn't prove your maliciousness, I don't know what will. Regardless, it was never my intention to get Vera demoted. Yes, I provided the evidence, but is there really something wrong with bringing a concern to the admins? I'm sorry this resulted in the way that it did, but I'm not sorry for what Vera said.