Posted April 26, 2008 - 10:41am by John Himpe

We recently started moderating comments on the News Talk websites. In fact, it's been about three or four weeks since we started the practice.

Why?

Well... it wasn't a reactionary measure. It wasn't provoked by some 'incident'.

It was in an effort to become better stewards of facilitating discussion. It was in an effort to ensure the comment threads don't get overrun with Spam for Viagra. It was in an effort to - because we deal with sensitive, topical stories and comments - ensure that all posts fall within the lines of good taste (no swearing), community standards (no hate speech or racist remarks), and the law.

So where is the line? How free is the speech on our site?

Like going to a private club that has a dress code, or going to a rink to watch your kid play hockey, this site has some house rules. The first is expressed quite clearly in our Terms of Service.

Rawlco shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor the content of the Site, including chat rooms and forums, to determine compliance with this Terms of Service and any operating rules established by Rawlco and to satisfy any law, regulation or authorized government request. Rawlco shall have the right in its sole discretion to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted on the Site without your permission. Without limiting the foregoing, Rawlco shall have the right to remove any material that we, in our sole discretion, find to be in violation of the provisions hereof or otherwise objectionable.

This isn't some Orwellian measure... this isn't in an effort to quash free speech... this is pretty much the same Terms of Service you'll find at pretty much every other credible site like news sites and major blog sites.

While unexpressed until now, I've been using a number of measuring sticks to determine whether or not a comment goes live. They are simple in concept... and pretty common sense. What gets your remarks booted?

- Glib, one-line pot shots that are more about trolling than actually advancing the discussion get nuked. We're here for mature, grown up talk and not... um... juvenile behaviour you're going to hear in a school ground.

- Use of language that is offensive. Comments like, "you are total useless, ignoramus assholes," (excerpt from a real comment, btw) will likely result in your comment getting stuck in moderation, and having your privileges to comment revoked. Same goes for hateful or racist comments.

- Comments which contain unconfirmed facts. "Well, my brother told me his best friend said that (insert politician's name here) was seen walking in to a no-tell motel the other night with a woman that wasn't his wife." That's nice... but we're not going to explore that here. Consider this one deleted. We're in the business of hearing what you have to think about things... not publishing libelous statements. If you think you have a real scoop... call the newsroom.

Again, think of this like a private club. It is our house... it is our rules. We have 'the hammer', but we hate using it. We hate using it because we wish people would be more mature.

In a world with services like Blogger and Typepad... if you really feel compelled to publish those comments that don't clear moderation... you have ways to do it. But you won't be doing it from our site.

To make it as cliche as possible... there are some good general ways to think about our take on commenting.

- Don't say something you wouldn't say in front of your grandmother.

- Don't say something you wouldn't say to someone's face.

- Say what you mean and mean what you say.

You get my drift.

So... comment away! But please... remember that speaking freely comes with responsibility. Consider this an outline of what that responsibility is.

John Himpe is Program Director of Rawlco Interactive and is a regular blog contributor to NewsTalk980.com and NewsTalk650.com.