When a moderator on a discussion forum splits off a batch of replies to another thread for purposes primarily related to censoring viewpoints they disagree with by removing them from the larger, ongoing debate and marginalizing their impact.
While the site was owned by well known skeptic educational foundation, staff were apparently instructed to use a 'divide and conquer' strategy in dealing with any dissent. Arguments critical of policy were often split to new threads for being 'off topic,' thus diluting both their continuity and traction. It was a subtle form of censorship one wag dubbed as the 'censorsplit strategy.'
by Recursive Prophet September 12, 2009