by Max Barry

Latest Forum Topics

Advertisement

5

DispatchMetaReference

by The Government Department of European Home Office. . 84 reads.

Home Office | March 2021 European Electoral Debate

| GOVERNMENT | HOME OFFICE | FOREIGN OFFICE | WA OFFICE | DISPATCHES |
| ABOUT | STAFF | MODERATION COMMITTEE | EVENTS | REPORTS |

European Electoral Debate
March 2021

The European Home Office brings you the full transcripts of the European Electoral Debate, held on the 21st of March at 5pm GMT+0 on the #comm-debates channel on Eurocord between Anskerdank, Libertandonien, Sicilian imperial-capitalist empire, Rivierenland, and Walfo. The transcript was edited removing discord's quotes and tags in order to facilitate the reading.


The moderator's name is highlighted in orange, while the candidates' names are highlighted in blue. Questions are highlighted in italic. Editor's notes are enclosed between []. Naughty words are censored if present. Walfo was not present in person at the time of the debate and answered the questions only afterwards and on an unofficial occasion; to give everyone a fair representation, his answers were included at the end of this transcript. The questions posed by the moderator in the first round were prepared by the whole Home Office staff.

Gor Kebab: Hello everyone and welcome to today's debate! Our candidates today are Sicilian imperial-capitalist empire, Rivierenland, Anskerdank, Walfo, and Libertandonien. Best of lucks with your campaign and with today's questions. I, Gor Kebab, am the moderator of this debate. I will allow the candidates to make an opening statement, then we will be jumping on to the questions prepared by the Home Office and then opening up the questions to the public. If you have any questions for the candidates, please put them in #commission and tell us who you are addressing the question to. Are all our candidates present today?

[MEE6, a Discord Moderation Bot, warns Gor Kebab for mass mention]

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: What the-

Rivierenland: G'day lads!

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: smh civil enforcer got it wrong

Anskerdank: Hello everyone, I am very pleased to be here.

Gor Kebab: Walfo and Libertandonien please confirm that you are present

Libertandonien: OwO
I'm here

Gor Kebab: we will wait a few minutes for Walfo. But if he isn't here, we will jump straight into the questions. However, you may begin with your opening statements if you have any

Rivierenland: I don't have one

Libertandonien: Hello everyone, I hope you got a nice day :)

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: Nice debate you got there... Would be a real shame if someone...
Didn't say hello...

Anskerdank: I would like to start by wishing the best of luck to all candidates; with this current line up it will certainly be a very interesting line up. I would also like to wish those viewing a happy Sunday.

Rivierenland: Good luck to you too Ansker

Libertandonien: Same

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: I have no quarrels with any of you

Gor Kebab: Okay, it is 5pm GMT and still no sign of Walfo. We will get started with the questions.

Rivierenland: Let's roll!

Gor Kebab: (to everyone) The Moderation Committee recently issued a few orders, punishing who was engaging with spammers and who was expressing apology for extreme ideologies, that sparked some debate. What’s your opinion on these orders?

Rivierenland: I’m a member of modcomm so i won’t be giving any comment to this question

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire:It seems people reacted approvingly to these orders, so I guess they're fine
The people wanted it, and they got it

Libertandonien: Those Orders are absolutely justified
Europe's got a massive problem with spammers and those who interacted with them. And People who excuse fascist ideologies shall never be tolerated on the RMB

Anskerdank: I'm going to be straight to the point here. Although there are several who I am friendly with which were punished, I must say I agreed, and still agree, to all punishments given by those orders. Spamming and spreading tolerance of hateful ideologies should not and will not be tolerated.

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: People who excuse extremist ideologies at all are not ok

Gor Kebab: Interesting take from all of you, but generally the same thing. You all agree with the decisions made. correct?

Rivierenland: Yes

Anskerdank: I do.

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: Well it was the will of the people, so of course.

Libertandonien: It seems so

Gor Kebab: everyone happy to move on or any more comments about the question?

Rivierenland: Let’s move

Libertandonien: Yes

Gor Kebab: (to everyone) What’s your take on the free speech for fascism argument and how do you plan to deal with it responsibly?

Rivierenland: If a person is extreme in their beliefs then i will make sure that they won’t stay in Europe for too long. Are they moderate in their beliefs, then I shall only notify the person(s) in question to the higher-ups to keep an eye on them.

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: If they merely label themselves as extremist, then I don't think they should be censored. If, however, they truly espouse extreme beliefs, then we have a problem.

Libertandonien: People of any extreme ideology should not be allowed to express their extreme opinions in Europe

Anskerdank:I believe that those who do hold those views should not be sharing them in a public space. There are many people, myself included, who have had family affected by fascism, so if you're going to argue it, and there should be no reason to be for or tolerate of it, at the very least do it in telegrams so only those who wish to be involved are involved.

Gor Kebab: SICE, so you are saying that people are allowed to have extreme views in Europe, as long as they don't express it?

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: Yes. If they aren't causing trouble with their extreme beliefs (i.e they aren't putting "death to all jews" or something like that) on the RMB, then it wouldn't matter. The rules of NationStates are with me on this one.

Gor Kebab: and Riv, can you elaborate on the actions you will take to 'make sure that they won't stay in Europe for too long'?

Rivierenland: I'll do what i usually do and report them to modcomm and lobby for a ban for the person(s) in question
That is my elaboration

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: [to Riv] So would you be for the banning of Saiwania?

Rivierenland: I don't know who that is

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: He's a fascist apologist who resides in our region (at least as far as I can tell from his forum posts).

Rivierenland: Well, thank you for informing me on this, i'll table this case to modcomm right now

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: I could sift through his forum posts to get you evidence of that

Gor Kebab: Any additional comments on the matter?

Rivierenland: [To SICE]Thank you, that would help me with the matter in modcomm

Gor Kebab: Okay, if you two can continue the Saiwania issue in another channel, that'll be great. For now, we shall move onto the next question

Rivierenland: Alright then

Gor Kebab:(to everyone) What is your stance on the debate between who argues in favour of double-standards on regulars and newcomers, thinking they are natural and necessary, and who argues against, thinking they are deprecable and unfair?

Rivierenland: No comment

Libertandonien: Everyone should be treated equally in regards of spam. Only because they have a bigger population, it doesnt mean that they're above the law, including me.

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: All I can say is that we should have equality before the law

Anskerdank: I strongly believe that they are unfair; there has been multiple times where I have wished to report people who are considered elite and, through peer pressure, I have not done so. By this point the evidence is outdated and near useless. This allows the "elites" to escape justice. If you consider yourself an elite for whatever reason, please reconsider; there are few true elites in Europe and none of them should escape justice because of status.

Gor Kebab: [To Anskerdank] So you believe double standards is a problem in Europe?

Anskerdank: I do.

Gor Kebab: What do you reckon needs to be done to prevent double standards remaining an issue?

Libertandonien: Don't be feared to report people. Modcomm won't ban you for rightfully reporting a regular

Anskerdank: At this point I can only encourage people to speak out; despite their threats they largely have no power. If I were to be elected, I would ensure that the law is used to the fullest extent, with no lenience, and I'd encourage whoever is elected to do the same.

Rivierenland: [Quoting one of his older posts] I shall try and combat double standards, but i won't pretend that i have done so in the past. That would make me a massive hypocrite

Gor Kebab: any additional comments?

Rivierenland: No

Anskerdank: None.

Libertandoniem: Nah

Gor Kebab: (to everyone) If you had to summarise your campaign in just a few points, or words, what would those be?

Rivierenland: Keep with the same stuff.

Libertandoniem: Catgirls for everyone

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: Do whatever the people want.

Anskerdank: Anti-double standards, anti-spam, fun polls and executing the will of the people.

Gor Kebab: (to Anskerdank) You are a new face in the election game compared to the other candidates. Why should people prefer you over some more experienced and well-known individual?

Anskerdank: Well, it’s my policies which set me apart from the other candidates, not the experiences. Given the fact that this election is viewed by many as a popularity contest, it is my campaign’s plan to not win this based on popularity or experience, but for the policies which I feel are best for Europe.

Gor Kebab: Do you think Europe agrees with your policies?

Anskerdank: As an overall I'd have to say no given my stance on double standards. However, this campaign has been planned so that I make up the votes I lost because of that questions with those I hope to stand for. Don't take this as I only care about my target demographic, because if I won, then I would serve Europe as a whole and treat my voters the same as my non voters. To me there is no split in Europe; we are one region, always, but that doesn't mean we treat each other equally.

Gor Kebab: Any additional comments Anskerdank?

Anskerdank: None.

Gor Kebab: (to Libertandonien) During the last election, you were criticized for keeping a low profile in the electoral debate. Do you think that these critics were well placed?

Libertandoniem: While I personally didnt hear about those, I understand and agree with them. My main-problem is, that Discord is only available on my handy, which isnt as good to write stuff on as on the computer. But nonethless, I should've added more to the conversation than I did.

Gor Kebab: Do you think if you were more prolific, you could've won the election?

Libertandoniem: No, I think there would've still been the landslide by Scarlett

Gor Kebab: any additional comments?

Libertandoniem: No

Gor Kebab: (to Rivierenland) You are now undergoing your first term in the Commission after various attempts at election. Do you think you were able to keep the promises and stand by the ideals you proclaimed to your electors?

Rivierenland: No, I promised new laws and I haven't delivered. I promised to keep the status quo and in my first few weeks in modcom i have been anything but.

Gor Kebab: will you introduce these promised laws if elected again?

Rivierenland: Yes, i'll try to make the necessary adjustments to make my proposals approvable

Gor Kebab: do you think people can or should still trust you despite not delivering?

Rivierenland: People should think what they want. If they trust me, then that's always great. If they don't, then who am i to stop them?

Gor Kebab: How come you didn't deliver your promises?

Rivierenland: I had ideas for possible amendments and when they didn't turn out to be good, i didn't come round to adjusting them
(That is not a very good look on my behalf)

Gor Kebab: any additional comments?

Rivierenland: No

Gor Kebab: (to Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire) In the last electoral debate, you argued that the problem in Europe is not in the laws but rather in the enforcement of the laws. Would you elaborate more on this point?

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: Well generally what I meant back then was that ModComm should have more individual discretion to deal with spam right away and enforce the law now rather than later. After all, that's what the people of Europe were complaining about on the RMB, so logically that's how I would have fixed it.

Gor Kebab: Any of the candidates have any questions regarding this statement?
Personally, I don't have any

Rivierenland: I don't have any either

Anskerdank: Nor do I.

Libertandoniem: Neither do I

Gor Kebab: Okay, so we are open to questions from the public
Question from The New Nordic Union. Real Question this time, for Ansker: You said 'for the policies which I feel are best for Europe'. What are these policies?

Anskerdank: They would be:

Fair punishment regardless of status
Tougher on extremism & spam
Protection of those lodging complaints against other members
Whatever the will of the people is with regards to a certain topic

Gor Kebab: and how would these be enforced?

Asnkerdank: For the first one: it would be normal statutory orders, and if missed out, another ModComm complaint lodged
For the second: Mutes, bans etc.
For the third: Banning retaliation against reasonable complaint, likely through a new law
For the fourth: whatever is necessary

Gor Kebab: Another from The New Nordic Union: Follow-Up Question for Ansker: What kind of 'protection' for those that report?

Asnkerdank: There would be the option to report anonymously, and any retaliation against it would be met with punishments as approved by ModComm

Gor Kebab: How would someone be able to report the issue anonymously?

Anskerdank: Essentially, they private message a regional officer and complain, with a request to remain anonymous. If deemed necessary, they will be contacted for permission to share identity within ModComm only.

Gor Kebab: Any questions from the candidates to one another?

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: Lib seems to have been relatively quiet, does he have any specific policy goals for Europe?

Libertandoniem: More polls for Europe

Gor Kebab: Is that entirely it?
no new policies or anything?

Libertandoniem: I don't have specific policies, but I will be open to hear proposals from the people of Europe

Gor Kebab: Any more questions?

Rivierenland: Nee

Libertandoniem: Nein

Gor Kebab: Okay. So if there are no questions then the floor is open for everyone to make their closing statements

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: The first thing I will do if I am elected is become Commissioner

Anskerdank: Thank you all for a great debate, my official dispatch for this campaign will be released shortly.
Good luck to all.

Rivierenland: Bon soiree Europe. Please vote for me and have a nices lieben!

Libertandoniem: I hope you all sleep well tonight

Rivierenland: [Quoting SICE] Interesting........ hmm

Gor Kebab: Thank you everyone for coming. Thanks for keeping it civil. Best of luck everyone!

Sicilian Imperial-Capitalist Empire: I hope you have a great day Gor.

Rivierenland: Same

Gor Kebab: Have a great day too you guys

[The following was not part of the official debate and is presented here for fairness. This transcript is heavily edited and simplified but the candidate’s words are untouched.]

SICE: The Moderation Committee recently issued a few orders, punishing who was engaging with spammers and who was expressing apology for extreme ideologies, that sparked some debate. What’s your opinion on these orders?

Walfo: Well on this order, punishing people who engage with spammers is very useful. Think of it like this, some people do bad things to get attention. If we work with or against people who are allowing spammers to do what they are doing, then we can stop their impetus to do it in the first place. Ignorance is the best option and will get it done. For apologies, I think that if somebody said something, apologizing is always a good thing, but I still believe that if somebody makes a comment they should receive a consequence, but the apology should be taken into consideration when charging.
[After being requested a precisation]
Well, we have to remember that some people who play this game are younger than we think, and influencing someone or trying to make something look better that is suggestive in any manner (for an extreme ideology) is not acceptable, and should not be tolerated.

SICE: What’s your take on the free speech for fascism argument and how do you plan to deal with it responsibly?

Walfo: Well on free speech, I live in the US so I treasure free speech. I believe that these ideals should be left to the Mods to take care of, with no major intervention from European officials. Still, we must remember that this is a game, and not a place to battle out ideologies, but as long as they keep it to themselves, without targeting or insulting another person, then we should not try to create a problem.

[Asking the question by himself]
What is your stance on the debate between who argues in favour of double-standards on regulars and newcomers, thinking they are natural and necessary, and who argues against, thinking they are deprecable and unfair?

First of all, if someone makes an infraction, (we all make the mistake I even have to), that if you make a mistake by mistake, you should receive a warning. But for any regular who thinks that they can get away with doing whatever they want because they have been around, is wrong. As said by many of the other candidates, everyone is equal before the law, and nobody when doing it on purpose should receive special treatment because of thier loyalty to the region.
Gor Kebab, are there any specific questions that you were going to ask me personally? I would be happy to reply!

Gor Kebab: there were no personal questions for you from the HO. I don't have any either. However I appreciate you doing this. It shows how dedicated you are

SICE: So you're ok with fascists on the RMB?

Walfo: No, I am not okay with it, but I do not want to split Europe more and more into an ideological-fueled conflict. As long as they keep it to themselfs, what is the problem?

SICE: Alright, that's fair (I actually had a similar-ish position in the debate lol)
So are there any additional comments Walfo?

Walfo: No, unless anything else shows up, (still trying to get an answer from Gor Kebab about any personal questions) I am set. Best of luck to everyone!

SICE: Alright, so at this time, I'll be opening up the floor for people to input further questions if they'd like
So NNU asked a question earlier for you, Whom will you give your votes this time if a candidate you do not like is apparently winning?

Walfo: HA, I am confident in myself, and will not give up. This is my last chance for a while, so I am giving it all I got.


Moderator:
Gor Kebab

Candidates:
Anskerdank
Libertandonien
Sicilian imperial-capitalist empire
Rivierenland
Walfo

Additional Questions:
The New Nordic Union



RawReport