Banned for a week

I’d like to lodge a formal complaint regarding a week-long ban I just received. I started a thread titled "Post your photos here" in one of the subforums, but it was immediately deleted. Since I’m relatively new to the site, I assumed I had simply formatted things incorrectly, so I tried recreating the thread. That’s when I realized that the moderator mistywolf17 had slapped me with a seven-day ban.
In my view, this action was completely unprovoked. It makes me wonder: what is actually protecting us from the excessive and arbitrary use of the "ban button" by moderators on this forum?
A simple warning or even just moving the thread to the right section would have been more than enough; at least then I would have understood what I did wrong.
I really wish there were some kind of oversight system in place where moderators are held accountable for the sake of the forum’s health. Look, I get rules and I get censorship—that's fine—but there is a massive difference between a serious violation and an average user who ends up suffering an injustice through no fault of their own.
The moderator responsible for my ban was mistywolf17.
I expect an investigation into this matter, or at the very least, for someone to take a look at what happened here.
Thanks.

You really didn't need to start another thread.

First off, the ban was only for three days.
Secondly, you completely picked the wrong subforum, and there's already an image thread over on the Bulletin Board.
Thirdly, your original thread was deleted, and then you went ahead and opened the exact same one again. On this site, people can get cards or bans just for reposting deleted content, since we can't ban someone for the thread itself. Later on, anyone could just pretend they didn't realize their post had been removed.

Take a look at what got me banned. I wrote a perfectly normal, respectful message in the "Lonely Hearts" thread. As you can see, I was simply trying to encourage people to upload a photo and share a little bit about themselves.
In my opinion, the post was completely appropriate and posted in the right section.
It’s also fundamentally different from that "other" thread filled with pictures, because here, I’m actually asking people to provide some context and write something about who they are alongside their photo.

Paul Cooper9 said:Look at why I actually got banned. I wrote what I thought was a totally normal, polite little message in the "Lonely Hearts" thread. Like you can see, I was just trying to encourage people to upload a photo and write a tiny bit about themselves.
I honestly feel like the post was appropriate and in the right spot.
Plus, it’s different from that "other" thread with all the photos because this one actually asks you to say something about yourself alongside the picture.

The mods don't agree that the thread belonged there, which is why they wiped it. Look, you’re more than welcome to have your own opinion, and you even have the right to file an appeal in this subforum, but once a decision is final, that's the end of the road. You either roll with it or you deal with the consequences.

In the US, we actually have three separate chat threads specifically for this; if you just want some casual small talk or to meet other folks on the forum without anything heavy, that’s where you go. We also have a dedicated classifieds section.

A thread like this—basically just a digital encyclopedia of people—doesn't stand a chance of staying up here. Just forget about it already.