An article from www.wired.co.uk dated May 26, 2019. Jim Smith is interviewed and speaks about the origins of the site. Jim also discusses the Trump board, the Brie Larson board and the ongoing battle with trolls. Two of the mods are also quoted in the article - Mod4 and another mod named Scott.
New boards are being created for political figures without movie or television credits, how does that play into policing trolls and being a legit movie site? It doesn't, it creates new feeding grounds. Ditch the Trump forum and all the other political figure forums and focus on movies and television. I'll hold my breath.
If we don’t have the Trump board and other political boards, the posters who post on those boards will migrate here. I’m positive most of us don’t want the arguing, the hateful ad hominem attacks on this board. If people want to vent about politics it’s good there’s a separate board for them to do so. BTW, this is the General Discussion board, not just for movies and television, and there are political comments at times. If a heated debate starts someone will usually post for them to take it elsewhere.
The trolls, socks, flamers, etc. don’t last long here. We not only have a good Mod Squad we have a group of posters who do a good job of chastising someone if needed. So, I say again it’s good we have those other boards.
I skimmed the article, and have not attempted to read 240 replies. I will say this, in my year of being a regular contributor in General Discussion (I joined over two years ago but wasn't a regular contributor until about a year ago) I rarely see the Mods pop up. Maybe they do on the Politics board (I virtually never go there), but it is rare to see them on General Discussion. Of course they may PM a contributor, ban them, and I would never see it unless someone noticed and mentioned it. I only remember that happening once or twice.
I think that's the plan - that the mods stay in the background. Mod5 pops up every once in a while with a comment - sometimes even a funny retort. I've noticed a few of the others chiming in here and there, though. But like you, I avoid the Politics board. It's a mess.