We prefer to contact a member privately via PM about rule violations. Mods may post in a channel about rule violations if it involves multiple members (e.g., asking multiple people involved in an argument to tone down) or when we feel it is necessary to show bystanders that a matter has been addressed (e.g., abusive language).
We generally observe a three-strike rule, but this is contingent on the member demonstrating that they are willing to abide by our rules and showing efforts to improve. We will let a member know if they are violating a rule and explain what we need to see going forward. In all but extreme cases (see below), this is a warning and the first strike. If we see the behavior again, there will be a second warning. The second warning may be accompanied by a temporary suspension of posting privileges at the mod team's discretion. After a third offense within a reasonable duration of time, we will either temporarily remove posting privileges or we will ban the member entirely, depending on the severity of the behavior and whether there have been demonstrable attempts to improve.
Likewise, members who have three rule violations in different areas ("first strikes" for three different things, or a "two strikes" in one area and a "first strike" in another) will have posting privileges temporarily removed or will be banned, again based on the discretion of the moderator team.
In instances where the second offense shows no attempt to improve or the member's interaction with moderators suggests that they have no intention of following the rules or attempting to learn from the interaction (e.g., argumentativeness or disrespectful language towards the mod[s]), that person will immediately have posting privileges removed or will be banned from the server, again at the discretion of the moderator team, based on the severity of the behavior.
Mods do reserve the right to temporarily revoke posting privileges or ban members with less than three strikes if we believe that a participant is acting to harm the SWG and/or its members (e.g., harassment, spam, doxxing), or if we have seen no attempt to respond to moderator instructions concerning behavior (e.g., continuing to make excessive off-topic posts in an inappropriate channel or "doubling down" on an argument after being asked to tone down).
