A Public Banning Today...

A rare public banning today on ATS.

Normally we don't discuss bannings, but given recent events in our 9/11 Conspiracies forum, it seems appropriate to be open about this one.

After much consideration and discussion among our staff, it is with sincere regret that I announce the termination of ATS membership privileges for "killtown." This is unfortunate since, until recently, it has often been a benefit for our membership to have direct access to one of the early pioneers of vocal 9/11 conspiracy speculation.

Also, in what may be a first for us, off-ATS content and activity factored heavily in our decision to ban him. Many members may feel his on-ATS actions are cause for banning, but that's not where we focused our decision.

If you've been paying attention to this (9/11) forum, we appear to have become one of many "battle grounds" (as one member put it) in an escalating war of attention-seeking among competing "9/11 Truth" groups.

Killtown was exploiting the critical nature of ATS members by posting controversial theories here, participating minimally in responding to the critical discussion, then discussing his being "attacked" or "censored" on ATS via postings on other safe harbor websites. It appears as though we were being used as a means to build some kind of macho credibility that involved a series of false and insulting accusations directed toward ATS and our members that included "censorship," members as "shills," and everyone "aiding the perps."

Certainly, this is not the first nor the last bit of insulting criticism of ATS by conspiracy extremists. Typically, we've ignored it in favor of focusing on running ATS the way we feel is best for our members (must be working, we have lots of members & traffic). However, in this case, we saw the need to end what was becoming an escalation of abusive exploitation of fair and logical questions from our critical members.


-- IMPORTANT --

I want to add that this action in no way implies any desire to place limits of any kind on the topics that can be discussed in our 9/11 Conspiracies or other forums. Open and honest dialogue on any topic within the boundaries of our Terms & Conditions is what we have stood for, what we stand for now, and always will. Undoubtedly we'll see a cascade of off-site criticism and insulting rhetoric over this action... so be it. We stand by it as the proper choice in the best interests of our members and the flow of productive and civil discussion.

Praise God. A light shines through.
I had just given up on ATS over - 'them'. Seriously.

That's great news SO, a good decision has been made and a public example has been used for the "others" who want to disrupt just for the sake of disruption.

Hey, you can't come into someone else's house and start trashing the place and not expect them to tell you to leave and not come back. I think SO and others are just old softies for letting it go on this long.

And there's no need to explain the whys and wherefores to these type of people, they won't accept that anyway. And everyone that matter's just wonders what took so long.

im missing something?!

i check outed his posts about flight 93 and the dirt hole in shankesville.

every one was attacking him for his admitted theory....so...why?

im GUESSING that his theory post wasnt what had everyone in a tizzy....but his adittude and lack of respect towards others. correct?

becasue as i read through it, it seemed that everyone and their mom was bashing his post...which i thought was good and interesting (the planted plane engine)

can someone shed light on this for me...with out getting into anything.

just wondering.

[removed quote of Entire previous post]


Skeptic Overlord outlined everything involved in his OP. I really don't see anything to be confused about.



Quoting - Please review this link

[edit on 14-6-2007 by 12m8keall2c]

Recently I butted heads a little with killtown over his presentation of an attempt by Rick Siegel to criticize the makers of 911Mysteries. I didn't agree with his point of view and I think I was right. He stood his ground and was polite about it. I have no quarrel with him. I'm something of a free (almost without restriction of any kind) speecher though.

The board lives and dies on the judgements of the people who run it. Personally, I trust that judgement, but it's a little like sports, a referee is only as good as his last call. My two cents worth.

Public banning? This is almost like a public execution - and they say the Nazis haven't taken over? You will be silenced for your opinion Killtown, freedom of speech will not be tolerated! (even if it is deluded pap) His avatar summed him up pretty good i think (i never liked that avatar anyway).

I guess its justified, he didn't seem to listen to reason from what i can tell even when the facts were blatant.

Can you remove his threads too please, they are totally baseless for the most part.

Power to the NWO!

(that was all very tounge in cheek)

Atleast we know why somebody was banned. It's not nice to trow around theory as facts and not participate in talks while leaving a mess. People think they can say everything and hurt others making statements as proof for something coming not even close to a proven fact. We should not forget many innocent people died that day, and any theory should be carefully studied and only posted if it is without any doubt proof of some sort. It becomes more and more the loony tunes with ridiculous theories.

Its sad one would merely use ATS as a way to gain attention.I applaud Skeptic Overlord and co. for their actions in this matter.(the ban hammer prevails once again!)Its good to see them striving to keep ATS a positive experience for us members.Thanks Amigos!

To be honest he's always seemed to me to be more interested in creating drama on forums than anything in particular he's saying anyway. He made himself look like a martyr when he was banned from the Loose Change forums and I bet a lot of us remember that, including me, and I've never even really posted on the LC forums. Not really surprising for it to happen again I guess.

Ban baby ban

It had to happen sooner or later i think and this is the only right way to do it. Maybe those forums will become civilised now.

Yes he had an attitude problem, but what he was presenting was still valid theory.. hurrah for the memory hole!

I completely understand the situation. There are many people on ATS (not just in the 911 forums) that have VERY head-strong opinions and when their ideas are not accepted they tend to take the kindergarten route of name calling or such. Though, I know that this was not the reason for killtown being banned - I know it's been a concern over previous threads.

People need to accept criticism as a way to evaluate and reform theories. In the same aspect, people need to be constructive with their criticism. It becomes hard to refrain from stooping to someone's level when criticisms reach the point of "that's the most idiotic idea I've ever heard." or "do you realize how stupid you sound?" There are more civilized ways to get your point across.

And when an idea is not taken to on this site, take it to another site. But, not with the assumption that ATS had anything to do with your theory not being accepted. Remember, ATS is user evaluated. Threads don't have to be approved by moderators to be posted, as long as you follow the guidelines. So, please enjoy the privileges alloted by ATS and try not to abuse them.

[edit on 14-6-2007 by tyranny22]

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
[Killtown was exploiting the critical nature of ATS members by posting controversial theories here, participating minimally in responding to the critical discussion, then discussing his being "attacked" or "censored" on ATS via postings on other safe harbor websites. It appears as though we were being used as a means to build some kind of macho credibility that involved a series of false and insulting accusations directed toward ATS and our members that included "censorship," members as "shills," and everyone "aiding the perps."

I think we can safely mark this as a conspiracy among conspiracists. How ironic is that!

There are definitely better ways to build credibility. Acting as a false martyr is obviously not the smartest strategy.

Originally posted by ready4truth
im GUESSING that his theory post wasnt what had everyone in a tizzy....but his adittude and lack of respect towards others. correct?

Correct.

Since you've been here less than a month it's probably not obvious that his attitude and behaviour over a long period of time are what made people crazy and attack him without hesitation. Purposely or not, he became an agent provocateur amongst our membership.

Without as you say "going into anything", the bottom line is that he reaped what he sowed over many months here on ATS.

Originally posted by shrunkensimon
.. hurrah for the memory hole!

Now there's a perfect example of people Reacting Before Reading! Go back and read the OP before jumping to your conclusions.
.

edit: fixed link

[edit on 6/14/2007 by Gools]

Hmm nah i don't think i am. As i've said before, i trust no one, and that includes ATS itself, and those who run it. I trust information, and not the people pushing it.

I wonder how many actual individuals were involved with all of those new names that kept registering during that TV Fakery blitz... that would be interesting...

Originally posted by shrunkensimon
hurrah for the memory hole!

WHAT ??????????

all his threads are still here

killtowns threads

You have to be stupid or emotionally pretty low to get banned from a discussion forum website. I dont know the background on any of this, but when treating others and their viewpoints with some respect and the privileges offered by ATS with some appreciation, it should be nearly impossible to get banned. I dare say I could write about anything without getting banned...

and thats the thing with SOME conspiracy-theorists (or conspiracy-extremists indeed): The strong belief that they know something that is being supressed by everyone and anyone. If you buy into this belief you will even accuse YOUR PEOPLE, friends, people sitting in the same boat of conspiracy.

Conspiracy Research can be motivated by CURIOSITY and AWARENESS or it can be motivated by Suspicion, Hatred, Blame, Victimhood. I prefer Research motivated by curiosity.

But I feel for the guy in question because he must be feeling pretty low when behaving the way he does. I hope he gets a grip of things and calms down.