The Forum Rules on Bigotry

vyo476

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Joined
Apr 10, 2007
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Location
Massachusetts
For the last couple of months I've been running mostly on gut instinct when it comes to the forum rules and racist posting. The idea, for me, behind banning overt racist posters is that we don't want the site to get clogged up with that kind of thing; this is a mainstream political discussion/debate forum and if we let the anti-semites know that we'll let them say their piece here they'll come pouring in and start adding millions of new threads every day. Before long there'd be more of that here than the political discourse the site was meant for, and I don't think there's anyone here that wants to see that.

Still, we do like freedom of speech, and so that makes this a sticky subject. We don't want racist conspiracy theories to become the main focus of the site, but at the same time we don't want handicap people's ability to say what they want to say.

Rather than making this decision for all of you I'd like to ask you what you think of the forum rules and what they should be.

1. Should there be a punishment for anti-semitic posting?

2. If yes, what should that punishment be? (warning, temporary banning, permanent banning, 3-strike system, etc)

3. Should the same rules apply to anti-Christian posting? Justify.

4. Should the same rules apply to anti-Islam posting? Justify.

5. Should the same rules apply to racist (anti-African American, anti-Arab, anti-Hispanic, anti-caucasian, etc.) posting? Justify.

6. Should the same rules apply to misogynist posting? Justify.

7. Where is the line between legitimate arguments (disagreement with Israel) and racism (Holocaust denial), especially related to other subjects (like Islam)?

It'd be helpful to me as a moderator to see what you all think about the rules. I can't promise that anything would change as a result but it'd be nice to see what peoples' opinions are on these things.
 
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For the last couple of months I've been running mostly on gut instinct when it comes to the forum rules and racist posting. The idea, for me, behind banning overt racist posters is that we don't want the site to get clogged up with that kind of thing; this is a mainstream political discussion/debate forum and if we let the anti-semites know that we'll let them say their piece here they'll come pouring in and start adding millions of new threads every day. Before long there'd be more of that here than the political discourse the site was meant for, and I don't think there's anyone here that wants to see that.

Still, we do like freedom of speech, and so that makes this a sticky subject. We don't want racist conspiracy theories to become the main focus of the site, but at the same time we don't want handicap people's ability to say what they want to say.

Rather than making this decision for all of you I'd like to ask you what you think of the forum rules and what they should be.

1. Should there be a punishment for anti-semitic posting?

This is tricky territory to negotiate. There should not be a punishment for anti-semitic posting per se. You could perhaps look at the concept of what constitutes hate speech over all. I think it's better to let them post their schpeil and then ridicule them with logic. However I understand your concern with them cluttering up the board. Part of their purpose I think is disruption and trolling. If their posts fall within the realm of conspiracy theories - shove them into the conspiracy theory forum and let the burdon of proof be on the poster to prove it isn't. That keeps the main boards clear

2. If yes, what should that punishment be? (warning, temporary banning, permanent banning, 3-strike system, etc)

....it's hard because there is a lot of grey area here. How to define it for a starter and should there be "protected groups" on a free speech site. If these kind of things are debated in a respectful posting manner (as opposed to a lot of slurs or personal attacks) - it would be hard to warrant banning. I would be inclined to make good use of the conspiracy theory forum . If it devolves into personal attacks (which it often seems to) then you have better grounds for action.

I am on one forum where we use banning as a last resort. We have a section where repeat offenders are expelled to - they are limited to only posting in that section. In addition that section is not visable to guests nor does it show up on the "new posts" search. We have certain things that do warrant a ban however - extreme personal attacks, extreme racial/ethnic/gender slurs and posting porn.


3. Should the same rules apply to anti-Christian posting? Justify.

4. Should the same rules apply to anti-Islam posting? Justify.

5. Should the same rules apply to racist (anti-African American, anti-Arab, anti-Hispanic, anti-caucasian, etc.) posting? Justify.

Numbers 3-5 - you have to have even handed rules...if you start picking out special groups for protection then I think you will be defeating the purpose of your board. It might be easier to have rules against personal attacks, trolling, flaming/baiting then hate speech which is harder to define.


6. Should the same rules apply to misogynist posting? Justify.

Not sure what you mean?

7. Where is the line between legitimate arguments (disagreement with Israel) and racism (Holocaust denial), especially related to other subjects (like Islam)?

This is also tough. I would say the tone of the argument? For example - you can argue against Islam, it's doctrine, it's tenants and support it but that is different from talking about ragheads and implying all muslims are terrorists or conspiracy theories. Likewise you can argue about Israel as a nation with a political agenda but when you start to apply that to "Jews" as a whole, the tone changes and usually, it turns toward conspiracy theories.

It'd be helpful to me as a moderator to see what you all think about the rules. I can't promise that anything would change as a result but it'd be nice to see what peoples' opinions are on these things.


This is a tough area in regards to moderation.
 
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