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I recently used the "flag a moderator" function to raise a concern about another user's posts. I was quite surprised to see that flag openly posted into a chatroom, along with my username and a timestamp.

While I should stress that I couldn't personally give a damn if all of my flags were published, I was wondering what the principle was;

Are moderators entitled to make flags public?

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    Wait, that was a flag? I thought it was a comment O_o – Ixrec May 15 '16 at 22:57
  • @Ixrec - It was a custom mod-flag. – Valorum May 15 '16 at 23:00
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    I also thought it was a comment... – AncientSwordRage♦ May 15 '16 at 23:08
  • @AncientSwordRage - Nope – Valorum May 15 '16 at 23:11
  • @Richard Out of curiosity, would you have minded had Thaddeus not included your name in the quote ? – Kalissar May 16 '16 at 15:10
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    @kallisar - Actually my initial concern was that Thaddeus mistakenly thought he was posting into the mod-chatroom and might say something inappropriate for general discourse. – Valorum May 16 '16 at 15:23
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I am informed such a breach of protocol is non-standard. I apologize for any inconvenience or disturbance this may have caused. It will not happen again.

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    I remain undisturbed but the apology is appreciated. – Valorum May 15 '16 at 23:32
  • Wait... has anyone published my flags? – Molag Bal May 16 '16 at 1:19
  • @anaranjada - No, it looks like it was just that one flag from me. I think you'd already commented by that point (in the chatroom you created) but no other flags of yours or mine (or anyone elses) seems to have been posted. – Valorum May 16 '16 at 9:57
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    While I'm with Richard on the general idea (I wouldn't care if my flags were public, as they are always worded in a way that assumes they might be), I'm curious at your choice of terminology. Could you please clarify if this it against the rules, or against standard protocol (which to my ESL ear implies that it's a typical custom, but not a rule). – DVK-on-Ahch-To May 16 '16 at 18:49
  • I was informed this was considered something that was NOT done. Broadcasting of a flag to the general populace is NOT protocol in any fashion; it is considered something which should be apologized for. It was explained to me as being against the general rule set of the moderator's role on the site. Having been informed, I will endeavor to maintain the standard as instructed. Hope that helps. – Thaddeus Howze♦ May 16 '16 at 19:03
  • If making a flag public is something that should be apologized for, why is there the option to do so in the first place? – Thunderforge May 17 '16 at 23:26
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    @Thunderforge It'd be hard for SE to literally deprive us of the option of pressing Ctrl+C with the flag selected and then Ctrl+V in a public chatroom :-) – Rand al'Thor♦ May 18 '16 at 1:49

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