my censorship policy
censorship, like discrimination, is a word normally ascribed negative weight improperly. both censorship and discrimination are necessary in regular human interaction. for example, when as a vegan i decide to eat at taco bell instead of mcdonald’s, i’m discriminating. when i delete non-conversational advertising from the comments at this blog, i’m censoring.
as this is mostly a political/intellectual site, i believe integrity requires actively preserving relevant opposition comments. to help keep threads on topic (if argument naturally leads away from topic, that’s fine) and the site from becoming a trash dump, i have two standards for deleting comments — one for general posts, and one for the off-topic thread:
criteria for deletion of comments from general posts (any of the following)
- nothing tying it to the post or an undeleted comment.
- not composed for this blog (e.g., pasted block from spammer on relevant topic).
- could materially aid potential criminals (e.g., personal info, such as a non-public residential address or “social security” number of a non-criminal).
- appears strongly to be for the primary purpose of linking elsewhere, for similar advertising using this site’s resources, or for activities that could get this site banned by its hosting company.
- appears strongly to be nonsense or irrelevant litter (e.g., “paoaoaoaidoio i gidgdigj”, “Balls!”)
criteria for deletion of comments from off-topic thread (any of the following)
nothing tying it to the post or an undeleted comment.- not composed for this blog (e.g., pasted block from spammer on relevant topic).
- could materially aid potential criminals (e.g., personal info, such as a non-public residential address or “social security” number of a non-criminal).
- appears strongly to be for the primary purpose of linking elsewhere, for similar advertising using this site’s resources, or for activities that could get this site banned by its hosting company.
- appears strongly to be nonsense or irrelevant litter (e.g., “paoaoaoaidoio i gidgdigj”, “Balls!”)
there’s one other reason for which i’ll delete comments, but it’s not happened here, probably never will, and i prefer to not discuss it unless it does.
no comment here will ever be deleted simply because it contains foul language, attacks against me or this site, etc. However, neither will the presence of such normally protected material help preserve a comment from deletion on grounds listed above. for example, i just deleted these two comments:
Wankers.
that from “Frank Rizzo”, and,
saltypig you are a worthless secondhander. You need a Dominique Francon to strap one on and violate you.
from “Ayn Rand’s Love Child”, not in the off-topic thread.
rational complaints about this policy, and suggestions for refinement, are welcome. irrational complaints are unwelcome but will be tolerated.