[dredmorbius]

Moderators don't flag content, members do: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39169622>.

If you believe a story shouldn't have been flagged, email mods at [e-mail].

(Mods also don't see mentions of their names, email is how you attract moderators' attention.)

[JumpCrisscross]

> Moderators don't flag content, members do

Moderators are ultimately responsible for moderation. The moderation system is failing when it comes to technology issues with a political tint. (In contrast, it has been pretty good with rage bait foreign policy stuff. Genuinely good discussions around quality content.)

If folks are bandwagon flagging content with a consistent bias, the system should shadow ban their flags for a while.

[philipkglass]

People do get their flagging powers revoked for excessive flagging. It happened to me a while ago. Most people who lose flagging powers won't notice it because the UI doesn't change and there is no direct indication that your flags are being ignored. I eventually emailed the mods to pledge more judicious use of flags and ask for my flagging rights to be restored, which was enough to get them back.

[dredmorbius]

And mods do step in, but the mechanism for drawing their attention, as I've noted, and as the HN Guidelines note (<https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>), is email. Not long HN threads about abysmal moderation.

[JumpCrisscross]

Sure. I'm saying it's fair to say this system is showing signs of failing in the current context. That's in part due to people not emailing mods. But that requirement is one that's controlled by the moderators.

[dredmorbius]

What suggestions would you have to improve the situation?