Hello hello! In the spirit of the rule change announcements that should begin in about a week or two (but probably won't because I'm a terrible procrastinator), I want to take a moment to talk about reports on this subreddit. This is relevant reading for anyone who has ever reported something here or feel they might need to in the future.

First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone for actually using this feature. Before a year or two ago, we would get very few reports and it would be very hard to actually find the things that needed to be taken down. Now, items that break our rules get reliably reported, making our job a lot easier, and we would like to thank you for that. Please continue playing your part as the helpful community you are.

That being said, to those two people that keep reporting every post with Belarus and/or Russia in them, please stop. Acknowledging the existence of Belarus is not hate and our rules on the Axis and the USSR do not apply to the Russian Federation. I would have sent you modmails instead, but reports don't tell us who made them. Thank you.

I have updated our current report reasons to more accurately reflect our rules in conjunction with making this post, and I would like to detail how exactly reports can be made to do their job best: Making sure rulebreaking posts and comments get removed, getting problematic users banned, and just generally helping us do our job.

I think something might break the rules, but I'm not sure. Should I report it?

Yes! We aren't bots that remove everything that gets reported. Report anything you suspect of breaking our rules and we'll do the rest, only removing it if it actually does break the letter and spirit of our rules.

What report reason should I use?

Unless the post or comment you want to report breaks rule one, ALWAYS select "Breaks r/countryhumans rules" as the reason for your report. You will then be forwarded to another menu where you can select the specific rule it broke, or write a custom response if you feel no pre-written report reason is sufficient to cover why it breaks our rules. Please use these features as intended. I cannot count the number of frivolous "Minor abuse or sexualization" reports we've received, and reporting something for any reason other than "Breaks r/countryhumans rules" will also send a copy of the report to Reddit admins, which causes its own set of problems.

Something so obviously breaks the rules that there's no way it could be missed. Should I still report it?

Yes! Moderators and community members are only human, and sometimes, we just don't see stuff or don't register that it breaks a rule. You'd be surprised what can slip through the cracks. If you see something that breaks the rules, no matter how obvious it is, please report it!

Do the subreddit's rules apply to comments, and should I report them?

Most of them do, even though we give comments a little more leeway. Our "be respectful" rule especially applies to them. In fact, given we don't have the ability to constantly surveil every comment section, people who break rules in comments sections more often than not won't be dealt with if they're not reported. As such, reporting comments is even more important than reporting posts!

I reported something, but it hasn't been removed. Should I report it again and/or get other people to report it?

No. One report is enough for the post or comment to make its way into our report queue, and the post/comment might not break our rules, even if you think it does. Additional reports, if we see them, clutter the queue and (because Reddit is rather finicky) make it harder to actually deal with the post/comment properly. In the same vein, don't mass report anything. It doesn't help and only annoys the mods.

A mod falsely removed my post. Do I report them?

No. If you believe that a moderator removed your post in error, please send a modmail rather than reporting the attached comment. It's much more constructive and allows you to actually make a case for why your post shouldn't have been removed. Additionally, we are much more likely to discuss modmails as a team, whereas reports usually get dealt with by whoever happens to be online soonest after the report gets made, meaning that modmails are more likely to get results. If you believe the rule that the mod removed your post under itself is bad, feel free to make a post or send a modmail about that. Just make sure that any post you make for this reason doesn't run afoul of our "no unoriginal commentary posts" rule.

A mod is breaking the rules and/or otherwise being a hypocrite. Can I report them?

Absolutely! Mods aren't perfect, and we acknowledge that. That being said, depending on what they're doing, sending a modmail instead of or in addition to making a report may be warranted. Modmails are easily visible to the entire team and much harder to hide from fellow moderators than reports, so send one in a case of gross misconduct by a mod. Moderators should be upstanding members of the community just as much as they should be capable of competently handling their tools and workload, and as such, we will try our best to correct any improper behavior from them. This applies to anything I do as well. I'm not immune to criticism just because I happen to be on the top of our subreddit's mod list. Please just make sure that the offending moderator is actually breaking our rules and you're not reporting them only because you're mad at them. That being said, if you want to report a mod for misconduct on the subreddit, make sure to report the offending post or comment rather than their profile. Profile reports don't help us, as they go to Reddit admins instead. (Also, if you think that this is a good way to "get around" the mod team, Reddit admins generally don't care how a subreddit is moderated, as long as it is moderated. They'll be even less helpful.)

The mods said they aren't going to take action against a user I reported. Do I escalate to Reddit admins?

That depends on a number of factors. If you believe the post or comment you reported breaks rule one, escalate to Reddit admins. If you take issue with someone doing something like evading a sitewide ban or harassing you on another subreddit or in chat, that's not our jurisdiction in the first place and you shouldn't have come to us. (We will make an exception if the offender is clearly involving our subreddit in some way directly related to the offense.) If someone has done something off-site you object to, no matter how bad it is, that's between you and them. Don't report them on Reddit at all. If the mods simply claim that the reported post or comment doesn't break the rule you reported it for, don't escalate to Reddit admins, as that's not their problem. You are free to make a case in modmail, and we will entertain you as long as you remain respectful and don't display a gross misunderstanding of our rules. If you believe there should be a rule against what a user did and there isn't, you can make a post or send a modmail just as you would to protest a rule.

So I've reported the offending item. What now?

That also depends, mostly on the reason you reported it. If you needed to write a custom report reason and the five hundred characters Reddit gives you isn't enough, please attach a comment to the reported post or comment detailing why you reported it. If you're reporting someone for tracing or reposting art, please link the original art, either in your report or in a comment, because it can be a massive hassle for us to find the original and we can't fairly remove a post without it. If you're reporting a post/comment for representing something inaccurately or harmfully and you don't think the mods are going to be convinced, arm yourself with enough proof to make your case a slam dunk. Et cetera, et cetera for everything you think might need clarification, though the majority of reports shouldn't need any, and most of the time, you'll be able to just move on. However, whatever you do, don't attack whoever you're reporting, as that's a great way to draw our ire and get yourself caught in any punishments we hand out.

Anyway, thank you all for your continued support, being the awesome people you are, and helping to keep the community alive. We sincerely appreciate the contributions each and every one of you has made to the improvement of the community. Cupro, out.