We at SDN recognize that it can be confusing and even upsetting when a popular member is banned.
However, just as we take the Terms of Service and the Service Agreement we ask you to sign seriously, we also take seriously our responsibility to uphold the integrity of SDN.
Therefore, in accordance with the TOS, when it becomes apparent that a user is willfully attempting to deceive others about his/her status, posts incorrect information or inappropriate content and subsequently is unwilling or unable to rectify the situation when asked to by SDN staff, we consider it our duty to protect the membership by removing that member. We do not distinguish between an advertiser posing as a medical student or a person posing as an attending; the violation is the same. We rarely need to use our resources to verify information provided to us but when complaints are made we act to protect our community.
Therefore, after extensive discussion with administration and after carefully examining his posting history in Pre-Medical Allopathic and elsewhere on the forums, as well as other details of his account, we came to the conclusion that there was no reasonable way that TopSecret could be who he claimed to be and thus acted to remove him before his misleading, and often outright patently false, information could continue to mislead other users.
We'd like to think that most users are honest but recognize that this will not always be the case with such a large community. Therefore, all users should be cautioned to take information on SDN as a source, but not their only source, which should be verified.
Furthermore, for the sake of privacy of the user banned, the volunteer team rarely reveals to users at large why a particular user is banned, as it often is related to privileged, private information that we are not at liberty to discuss. It's not that we're trying to hide anything, but sometimes we simply are not at liberty to discuss these kinds of things.
Hope this helps.
