@user1271772 - agree it was not the right way to go about things in my opinion - the main issue for me was that I was planning on using the site for high quality PAMGuard questions and answers - but these take quite a bit of time and effort and I felt I could not invest that energy in a Stack Exchange team I didn't trust anymore. It was also dismaying to see academics who we'd been trying to persuade to use the site suddenly sent a message they were banned for a week - many didn't return.