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I often ask questions on Stack Exchange sites. Sometimes several a day, but certainly a good number per month.

I have noticed that, in particular in the "History" category, my questions are not only "closed" (as they are frequently in the other categories, seemingly for no reason), but downright deleted so that it returns a "404 Not found" error.

Not one single word of explanation. Just gone. This is infuriating beyond words when you really need a history question answered and there's nowhere else to post it. Is somebody heavily over-moderating this particular Stack Site? It's like they are constantly awake, 24/7, to almost immediately delete my question.

They aren't even controversial questions.

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  • 9
    Looking at your account, you haven't asked any prior questions with these credentials. Were the questions asked with a different account (or accounts)? If so, has that account (or those accounts) previously been subject to sanctions by any site on the SE network? – sempaiscuba Jun 7 at 15:53
  • Retracted my close vote based on @sempaiscuba's comment. I thought that the original owner would always be able to go to their questions and they appear deleted to everyone else? – gktscrk Jun 7 at 16:39
  • @gktscrk That should be the case. But I'm not sure what would happen if someone is posting from more than one account and one (or more) of those accounts is subject to network-wide sanctions. – sempaiscuba Jun 7 at 16:41
  • Also, I didn't realize Meta needed a contribution level. If that's so, though, isn't there the [support required] tags here which identify this as a Meta-type question? – gktscrk Jun 7 at 16:43
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    @gktscrk That is to prevent too many troll posts from making it onto meta. It's one reason why "welcome to the site" upvotes are particularly problematic. – sempaiscuba Jun 7 at 16:52
  • Are you aware that users with a sufficient reputation can vote to close? One does not have to be a moderator to do that. The WWII topic is attracting many troll questions and perceptions on what is controversial may differ. – o.m. Jun 7 at 18:05
  • @o.m. Users with sufficient rep (currently 2,000) can also vote to delete questions. – sempaiscuba Jun 7 at 21:06
12

Given the limited information you have provided, I cannot give a definitive answer. What I can say is that, having looked at your account, you haven't asked any prior questions with these credentials. Had you done so, even deleted questions would be visible to you, and to users with sufficient reputation (and also to moderators and SE staff).


Presumably then, the questions you are referring to were asked with a different account (or perhaps accounts)? If that is the case, the question becomes has that account (or have those accounts) previously been subject to sanctions by any site on the SE network?

You say that your questions are "frequently" closed elsewhere on SE (although this will not have been "for no reason", as you claim. A reason is always given when questions are closed. You may not agree with those reasons, but the reasons will be stated). That may explain your problem.

If your account(s) have been suspended/deleted/destroyed for troll-like behaviour, or for spam, or for any other reason, then I would speculate that there are (presumably) automatic systems in place that will prevent you from posting again using those credentials.

[This is only speculation on my part: moderators are (quite rightly) not privy to the details of any systems like that. However the existence of such systems seems probable to me].


The solution here would appear to be straightforward. Just register your account and post your questions from that account. That way, you will receive the reputation from well-asked, on-topic, questions.

Obviously we would prefer that you refrain from asking questions that are off-topic, even when those questions are not, in themselves, particularly controversial.


If you cannot do this for some reason (for example because you are suspended or banned from the SE network), then you will probably have to either wait until you are able to (e.g. when your suspension ends), or find somewhere else to ask your questions.

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I have noticed that, in particular in the "History" category, my questions are not only "closed" (as they are frequently in the other categories, seemingly for no reason), but downright deleted so that it returns a "404 Not found" error.

You might not know, but there is an automatic process which deletes 'abandoned' closed questions if they're old enough and nothing happens to them. Closed questions cannot be answered (and they're never closed without a reason as you claim; the banner tells you why) and do not contribute towards a library of high-quality questions and answers about history, hence they are deleted.

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