Would you want a criminal on the giffgaff community

munglespoon

I have seen a few posts in General Discussion recently about how serious criminals, in particular sex offenders, should be shunned by the rest of us. So how would that work within this community, where young adults and adolescents are welcomed? Should we have a rule against allowing criminals to post or become community members, and if so how would that reflect on those that chose to use giffgaff as their mobile service provider?

kath72

munglespoon
yes it concerns me ... this forum is open to 13 year olds, in fact it’s the only way they can get help with their mobile network. But it is not closed to anyone with a conviction for inappropriate behaviour with minors

I found out a some times ago that it is likely a member on here may have such convictions!

My Teenage son is now with another network!

tazzy19

munglespoon
When does the witch hunt begin?

ray2

munglespoon I can't see how this would work, for one we are just all usenames on a public forum, how would staff police those activating a sim,
As with all public forums all we can do is report any inappropiate posts.

richybhoy36

munglespoon How in the name of giffgaff would this idea be policed ! It doesn't seem to me like this will take off !

stephenpperry

munglespoon is say that just because someone previously committed a crime doesn’t mean they will in future. There’s reasons the community is set up the way it is, open but also moderated and with tools to report people and guidelines to follow.

it’s unfair to label someone a criminal who has done their time and has come back to society and been rehabilitated. They likely are sorry for whatever they’ve done and should be just as welcome here as you and me.

keithctaylor

munglespoon Should we have a rule against allowing criminals to post or become community members

I think we should and this should be a national legal restriction. But as other people have asked, how can this be policed? ❓️

bazthebear2

munglespoon It depends what they have done, most people deserve a second chance.

germansheppard234

munglespoon u dont have to prove who u r on a payg network and in any event we r known by usernames so how would u know who they were and its not for us to judge anyone because of a criminal record

jaymailsays

munglespoon Should we have a rule against allowing criminals to post or become community members,

Who would this protect?

Many offenders are themselves under 18yrs and therefore usually not publicly named individuals.

Flag any posts that are questionable and staff will decide on what to do.

davidvarley

munglespoon
I think it would be very hard to police that they would i suppose have to do something similar to youtube i think in order for that to work but i doubt they have the time or knowledge to do that though i agree that should be stuff done to make a bit harder to do like maybe put the age range up on forum.

only_justme65

munglespoon
Do not think a CRB check is done when using this post...

mrjeeves

munglespoon The key is to not show your age!

I started earning payback when I was a little younger before they implemented the 16+ confirmation but no-one knew!

This issue is not just with giffgaff, but every online forum/platform: Discord, Skype, gaming servers, even email!

janny27

munglespoon
Maybe an area for young people that parents have to set up, though not sure how it could be monitored.
Unfortunately we live in a time when there are so many inappropriate areas of the internet much too easily accessed by young people.
Personally I can't see having a CRB check working.

gloriousiam

munglespoon If you feel any post is offensive just flag it up and report to agent please. Thats we gaffers can do.

z201205

How would that be policed?

williamwalker

tazzy19
When the the witch hunter has some minions.
That never hunt by themselves.👍

munglespoon

tazzy19 When does the witch hunt begin?

scousema Things like this are always tricky, especially when we are in an online environment and we are doing our utmost to make sure that we are keeping the community as safe as possible.

This thread has taken a very odd turn while I've been away! I think a lot of people are reading things into this or maybe having discussions about other situations or things that have happened that I do not know about. It also looks like some have thought that I want to introduce this. What has happened is that after two very recent threads in General Discussing ( https://community.giffgaff.com/d/33020566-gary-glitter-song-used-in-joker-movie and https://community.giffgaff.com/d/33023515-peadophile-stabbed-to-death-in-prison ) I got the impression that people here are very much for the ongoing punishment of criminals. While we can talk about society at large, we don't have much control over that. What we do have control over is this community, and so if there are strong feelings about wanting to shun and punish and exclude people, maybe we should explore if people think that should happen here.

scousema

Hey folks,

Things like this are always tricky, especially when we are in an online environment and we are doing our utmost to make sure that we are keeping the community as safe as possible.

If you ever feel like something is wrong please do reach out to us and let us know. That way we can have a conversation and figure out what the best course of action is. As with any type of investigation, we might not be able to share everything but please rest assured that us, alongside our legal team will take it very seriously and take action when appropriate.

Thanks,
Sandy

sasha_t

scousema Things like this are always tricky, especially when we are in an online environment and we are doing our utmost to make sure that we are keeping the community as safe as possible

Nothing tricky about it really, not when giffgaff were actually given the evidence. Cut and dried surely? Or at least it should've been.

germansheppard234

scousema wrong please do reach out to us and let us know. That way we can have a conversation and figure out what the best course of action is. As with any type of investigation, we might not be able to share everything but please rest assured that us, alongside our legal team will take it very seriously and take action when appropriate.

Thanks,
Sandy

The biggest problem where the young could be at risk on here iz private messages its something i dont like ,its like allowing a chat room behind the forum that we cant police and report odd behavour

extreme_one

How would anyone know another member is a criminal?
A member is just a username, they could say anything about themselves that wouldn't necessarily be true.

z201205

extreme_one exactly. How could it be policed? And in employment law you can't discriminate against people with convictions. For certain jobs, you need to be vetted. I suspect a lot of law abiding people would just ignore the forum if they needed to be vetted first. IE giffgaff would no longer be viable as it would not receive as much free support as it does now.

nefarius

I agree with the last 2 posts.
In addition, when I was in hospital, I got to know the catering manager. He spent a number of years in prison. Plus 2 extra for doing in a prison guard. It was 10 years in the past.
He was an impeccable individual with a skill set to deal with some very ill people. A reformed character indeed. Don't see why anyone would chastise him for life?

keithctaylor

nefarius I agree that rehabilitated prisoners should not be discriminated against. But probationers and people on the register should be restricted. However I feel that this is an issue for the law before giffgaff can address it.

sir_bifford

nefarius

What about paedophiles? Should they be forgiven after the end of their sentence of chastised?

I'll give an example. Say someone who dropped their pants in front of some school girls. The guys paid his debt to society, Should we allow him on here?

nefarius

keithctaylor I'd assume there are already considered restrictions in place? Probation and register is often only temporary.
I'd say mobile phone use for criminal activity is off the scale. If there are say, 3 million giffgaff users, how many are "criminals"? Whatever that means?

rqt

Many giffgaff members apparently choose to use fictitious information when creating their giffgaff accounts (I cannot believe that so many people "lose access" to their e-mail accounts or change address immediately before losing their SIM).

In this case nobody - includind giffgaff - can identify "criminals".

keithctaylor

germansheppard234 I agree! I run online forums and exclude private messages after one fool tried direct selling to members.
However to facilitate genuine members who wanted to communicate privately, I offered to privately swap addresses where both parties requested it.
Simple and safe.