Regrettably, managing mailing lists sometimes includes handling disruptive postings by participants. The disruption caused by such posts can range from slight distraction to a complete breakdown of normal work and so the remedies equally vary in range. It is the responsibility of all list admins to manage such disruptive behaviour, ensure that mailing list discussions serve the purposes of the list and that the IETF Guidelines for Conduct (BCP 54) are adhered to.
Disruptive postings can include, but are not limited to, messages that:
There are other, more difficult to describe forms of posting that disrupt the consensus-driven process of a Working Group.
WG list admins, normally WG Chairs, are expected to follow the rules set out in RFC 3934 Updates to RFC 2418 Regarding the Management of IETF Mailing Lists, which describes a method for giving warnings and, in the face of continued disruptive posts, suspending the participants posting privileges on the Working Group mailing list.
RG list admins, normally RG Chairs, are expected to follow the rules set out in RFC 9775 IRTF Code of Conduct.
If you need to moderate someone (or put the whole list into moderation) then please see Managing mailing lists for instructions on how to moderate someone and how to handle moderated messages.
Messages in the mail archive can be hidden but not deleted. They also cannot be redacted but a workaround is available as explained below.
If the message is unrelated to the IETF then contact support and ask for the message to be hidden.
If the message is related to the IETF then it is normally only hidden in the mail archive in exceptional circumstances and only on the instructions of an AD or the IESG. If this action is taken then it is normal to post an explanation to the list.
If the message needs to be redacted then, with AD permission, ask for it to be hidden in the mail archive as above and then post a redacted copy to the list so that an archival copy is kept, along with an explanation of the action.
BCP 83 allows posting rights to be indefinitely revoked from the any IETF mailing list using a Posting Rights Action, following a community consensus process managed by the IESG. If a disruptive participant on your Working Group mailing list is subject to a BCP 83 Posting Rights Action on another IETF mailing list, as chair you may simply remove their posting privileges on your Working Group's list without following the process in RFC 3934.
Independent of any action you take as a list admin to manage your mailing list, if a particular disruption on the mailing list also constitutes harassment, then you can decide to confidentially make a report of harassment (as can any IETF participant) and the IETF Ombudsteam will investigate the report as such. You can also confidentially contact the Ombudsteam for advice about how to handle a situation without a formal investigation being undertaken.