Digital Spy Reviews 113

Awful place. Avoid at all costs.

The forums are infested with cliques that will mass report you to get you banned if they disagree with you.

The mods are scared of those cliques and will always side with them instead of moderating fairly.

I have been on there since 2003..Today I got a 4 week ban for posting a youtube video of a New Zealand doctor, Dr Sam Bailey, regarding pcr testing cycles for co vid 19 in a thread. It wasn't, i felt, some crazy conspiracy site or wildly controversial, she did also make a rebuttal to a fact checking websites claims about one of her videos data being incorrect.

Posting a difference of opinion from a qualified medical doctor, isn't allowed it seems. I think someone flagged the post up, a member who has it in for me by the way she posts in responses to me, I sent her one private message asking her to please not post publicaly untruths about what she claims i posted. She fabricated in her post, for all to see, that I'd posted to an extreme conspiracy site that said nasty things about Dr Fauci, I didn't. Nor would I ever do so, perhaps I'm getting lumped in with full on conspiracy folk. Anyway, she wouldn't even acknowledge my one private message to her that i sent in good faith, and proceeded to be nasty in front of everyone who read her public post saying ' never message me again' The moderators removed my link and emailed me to say I'm banned for 4 weeks for spreading incorrect information because of the New Zealand doctors video and another regarding covid 19 data/info. This was NOT an Alex Jones or David icke type site either which I could understand being banned for or if it was one which puts out fearful stories. If anything the data I'd put out had been a counter balance to fear narrative in the news ad nauseum. Neil Ferguson makes mistakes over the last 20 years and he gets hired by the government!

To their credit the moderators did remove her nasty post about me prior to my ban. I'm not a believer in 'reporting posts nor putting someone on ignore as i believe its mostly ridiculous to do so, I have no one on ignore, including her, if you want to ignore someone then simply do so.

I believe we should speak to people on a forum as we would in real life and people know damn well they wouldn't speak to strangers in person like some do on forums.

If you post what is seen as 'wrong think' on digital spy you will be warned first for that, 'jailed' they call it where you lose some privileges, then banned for another offence, usually after your post is flagged up by another member. Apparently to some, having an opinion that isn't something you would see on the bbc news at 10 or what Piers Morgan tells you, automatically makes you a crazy radical deserving of a ban, no matter how reasonable the point made? I have found it a good forum too, great for advice and general chat, but be careful with your opinions on certain topics, even if you endeavour to be fair and see things from a different angle, and if you explain yourself in a lengthy and respectful post you may still find yourself banned or warned. The moderators seem much more heavy handed than over 17 years ago when I joined, also are they neutral or do they have a political bias?

Last year I dared to comment on the blm situation in a respectful yet challenging way of the narrative, even posting a video of black men and women who didn't agree with how some in the blm movement were going about things in order to add to the conversation. The result for me ? A 4 week ban for : I guess wrong think? Bans definitely have their uses for genuine abuse or offense, or constant bullying, but surely Digital Spy not for having your own opinions, not for posting links in good faith that may on occasion turn out to be deemed inaccurate ?? Do we want echo chambers, or should I have been allowed to comment and be allowed to link to black intellectuals such as Thomas Sowell and others and be allowed my opinion or post to Scientists who see things slightly differently?

My lesson for when I return? I must stick to posting what men on the BBC news say is correct on certain subjects and mustn't ever dare be wrong on there. I must only ever post stuff thats from the w.h.o or from Matt Hancock/Neil Ferguson and then ill be safe then from heavy handed moderators and from the minority of posters who sit with their hand on the flag/report button.

Read the other reviews on here, most are fair in their sincere assessment of what is still actually a good forum in most regards with decent people. I hope the moderators take on board these points about banning people for wrong think, though I'm sure that won't happen. Thanks for reading everyone.

I joined Digital Spy in December 2020 but my account was deleted just 3 days after I started posting. A forum member known as James2001 jumped on my first post within minutes labelling me a 'PBU/sockpuppet' and alerted the moderators because he was offended by my sensible suggestion that asylum seekers arriving in the UK could pick fruit and vegetables in exchange for their welfare payments. Although I ignored his baiting he must have been stalking me because two days later he responded instantly to my fourth post on an older dormant thread calling me an 'obvious troll', expressing disappointment that the mods hadn't 'dealt with me yet' and complaining they were 'intolerably slow sometimes' to ban people whose posts he objected to. Although two of the saner forumites stepped in to defend me against this small minded nemesis, a gang of neo-liberal fascist regulars soon rounded on me like a pack of wolves, twisting my words and attempting to put words into my mouth. Half an hour later I noticed 6 of my 9 posts (which had already attracted 7 "likes") had been removed and I was unable to log on. On checking my emails there was a message from DS Support informing me that my account had been terminated without warning because my perfectly reasonable comment that James2001 was 'resorting to insults because he had lost the argument' was in their eyes 'insulting and disrespectful' - yet avid Remainiacs like him unwilling to accept the result of the democratically held EU referendum frequently use highly inappropriate language against Brexiters, calling them 'c*nts' and/or 'barstewards' and/or 'gammons' with impunity and are even permitted to issue indiscriminate death threats to people who voted for Brexit without consequence. The left wing extremists who populate the DS politics threads will not tolerate anyone with alternative views expressing their valid opinions. From his DS profile and posting history it appears that James2001 is a bedroom dwelling, long term unemployed 34 year old man in receipt of disability benefits (probably for perceived mental problems) who still lives with his mother and has nothing more constructive to do with his sad life than spend practically every waking hour scouring Digital Spy for posts to unfairly call out as 'racist', 'bigoted', 'sexist', 'homophobic', 'Islamophobic', 'transphobic', 'xenophobic' etc. etc. and the snivelling snitch will then report these "offensive" posts to the pathetic, woke, Stalinist PC mods who pander to his every whim.

I have been a member on this site for at least 17 years. I have had some temporary bans overtime. To be honest there has always been a clique here (always).
I tend to just post now what I am interested in. I don't get too involved in the heated discussions. I will post if I feel my view is my own and justified but be prepared for retaliation. I know the DS offenders who are likely to bite back. The type have always been around!
It's just a discussion forum. You don't even know these people. Some people are seriously on here for the silly post count system which is in place. I'm sorry I have not got all day.
All I can say is DS is a quieter place now than it's older days. To be honest I think it was rife back then with backlashing insults and blows.

Interesting that my older review was removed, as well as many, many others, and yet the 5 star review from 9 years ago remains.

As usual, echoing the thoughts of others. Was a member for 15 years before being banned for no logical reason. I've never been banned from any site in my life, and am generally a person who tries to avoid any drama. I know for a fact that at least one person had an agenda against me, and assume that they had the mods ears.

If you want a nice discussion, you won't find it here.

I have tried to register with them a few times but never accepted. They don't mind sending you newsletters but wont let you become a member for some reason.

it is a rubbish forum probably controlled by egotistical moderators who love the power.

I hope the site goes down for good

The hub for all things inconsequential. DigitalSpy used to be good. I used the site and forums for years. Then at some point, the people in charge elected to destroy everything worth visiting in order to chase the dollars. Now the site is full of ads that ruin the user experience, and the articles are click bait pseudo-ads that offer zero. A once great website has imploded.

Recently the forum has been dominated by a nasty individual, who overacts dramatically with offence to perfectly reasonable posts , taking comments personally, crying to the mods like a school kid, asking for bans and threads to be deleted. . This same person will savage anyone with a different view, making defamatory comments with impunity, yet any complaint about this person seems to be met with indifference.
I realise this person may have problems mentally. In which case , why don’t the mods ask her to stay away from the forum until he/she is able to come back and take part in discussions reasonably and politely?

Nice enough forum but truly awful mods. I was banned for saying that although black face can certainly be awful and racist, maybe not every single case of it is, and we should look with a little more nuance at the intent behind it. E.g Papa Lazerou, Spirit of Jazz, Kids dressing up out of genuine affection for the characters etc.

There is NO room for nuance or adult debate on digital spy. Step out of what the mods deem the "correct" view and the wokefinder general will smash you out with the banhammer.

It didn't used to be this way. I was a member for nearly a decade and used to genuinely enjoy posting there. I'm a lefty liberal labour voter who fully supports BLM and trans rights etc and it's become even too woke for me. Its very sad what it has become.

It’s a clique. Impossible to become a member of the forum, yet easy to be sent a newsletter. All attempts to join have been ignored. Can still read, but the articles are just click bait and only a certain privileged friends of admin can post on the forum.
Power goes to some people’s heads.

They ban people for not being woke enough yet people who have multiple accounts like Hildaonpluto AKA Hitemupstyle are allowed to do as they like. That's the truth of it.

I was banned for being a 'former user' however I was not a former user and the account I was using was the only account I've ever had. When I questioned why I had been banned and what evidence they had to conclude I was a PBU they blocked me from sending them messages. Very strange forum.

Banned for having a slightly different opinion
The admins on this are so biased or are just a pair of half heads! I was banned for having a difference of opinion on a matter in the general discussion section of the forum. There seems to be one or two that run riot and dont get banned by the mods its crap! if you want to 'fit' in like you are back at school then by all means try it but if your a bit 'different' then I wish you well if you want to waste time posting to snowflake morons who dont understand a difference of opinions. Also the site is run by Hearst which I gather is a news media type company which figures! more BS spouted.

Digital Spy has no idea what its writing about. They just guess what the writers and producers may put.
Looked up a few programmes I wish to learn about but just found complete drivel. Be ashamed people .
PS heres a headline appropriate to your usual crap.
Harry Potter stars in the next series of game of thrones and goes back in time to save captain Kirk from the evil Villain Oprah Winfrey!!

Articles are click bait and PC rubbish. You can scan the website and see how toxic its making the world. The people that write there sicken me. Used to be good when you could comment on articles now full of nutjobs with agendas. I hope the world swallows up the people that run that site and make the world a better place.

Like others have said, this has to be the worst forum on the internet. I was banned for - wait for it! - saying that JK Rowling is brave. The mods are absolute authoritarian nutjobs. If you don't play make believe and go along with their delusions, you're wiped out. (Reality is more important than your feelings, loonies.) Avoid at all costs.

This is a forum directed mainly at people who are barely literate, are addicted to shows like Love Island, and who only ever listen to artificial music by manufactured singers. Other members are thinly disguised professional PR people who are allowed to create fake posts which are blatant adverts. The moderators have absolutely no concept of either irony or satire and will give in to reporting from forum members who are as dumb as they are. For a while I was fascinated by the crass stupidity on display, but when I tried to close my account and found there was no way to do so. In the end I was reported for a perfectly legitimate comment by somebody who was so stupid that they didn't even realise that I was actually on their side. When the intellectually challenged moderators closed my account it was actually a relief.

For many years it was the go to place for Satellite and TV news.It had entertaining forums that you could have a laugh on. Now it's obsessed with reality TV and their forums are where truth, logic and good debate goes to die.

Question anything that's perceived as truth by their draconian moderators and they'll ban you for "downplaying" their pet theory. The result is that it is a fraction of what it was.

Oh, how Digital Spy has fallen. A once lively and fun community has been ruined by anonymous moderators employed by Hearst who allow incredibly toxic individuals to keep posting, but will permanently ban long-time members who don't go along with the Twitter hive mind.

For example, one forum member who openly expressed support for the slow torture of politicians and advocated violence against other political figures is still posting today. Another member who said the only good Tory is a dead Tory had no action taken against them. Not a good look for Hearst, who are also responsible for brands such as Cosmopolitan and Esquire.

And yet other perfectly decent posters who express support for JK Rowling's tweets about women, or who dare criticise the looting and violence committed by rioters at BLM events, wake up to find they have been banned for life.

Adult political discussion is a thing of the past. Now, dreadful bile is spewed forth daily by aggressive wind-up merchants and Labour party shills. If you voted Leave or Tory you will be mass alerted and eventually banned.

Sadly the issue will not be addressed until Hearst take responsibility for some of the hateful and borderline illegal content being posted on their site, and for the incredibly poor standards of community moderation that can only harm Hearst and drive others away in disgust.

Dreadful , i have been a member for 9 years , the last 6 months the mods have become dictators , i asked the mods for help with a post i made , i wanted reassurance it wasnt against their rules , even though i knew it wasnt , i got into an argument with another FM , which was started by them , so i contacted the mods again , it took them over 12 hours to get back to me with a warning for trolling , LOL trolling when i had asked them time and again to step in and act, the mods do not act with the rules , they act with their own opinions , which is completely wrong , even though you have not broken rules they will warn and ban you if they disagree with your point , except they are NOT Forum members they are their supposedly to moderate fairly , that doesnt happen on this forum , and if you try and contact them asking for a reason , they put you on ignore , they have no interest in taking complaints , so who do you contact , like with any corrupt organisation with no way of people to complain they can act how they like, the mods on this forum need retraining or to be fired , i mentioned my mental health , they threw "tell the Samaritans" at me , so not only do they ignore your concerns , they completely disregard anyone with mental health problems , a disgusting forum that has lost yet another long term member as i have no plans to post on such a forum with dictators in charge, who have no consideration for mental health problems