POZ' criteria for censorship and sanctions

[wishihadacat]

Written to Ann: "I've noticed that in your role as moderator you often refer to having deleted threads or posts. Being the old civil libertarian that I am, I am curious about your criteria for censoring items or imposing other sanctions. What do you consider offensive, and why? Are these criteria established by yourself or Poz?"


I've read the policy thread but it seems a little arbitrary. I understand that you reserve the right to be the final arbiter of taste, but I think it is fair and reasonable to ask what criteria you employ.

[Ann]

Hi Wish,

We don't like to employ censorship here and it's fairly rare that posts get deleted.

However, there are two catagories of posts that are deleted without doubt - posts from AIDS denialists and commercial spam - including snakeoil spam.

We often delete posts from sock-puppets (people who use more than one account - a bannable offence in itself) when they haven't been responded to. If someone is banned, they no longer have the right to post here and that's why sock-puppet posts are deleted.

If someone were to post a photo showing full nudity, we'd ask that person to remove the photo from their post. This isn't because of delicate sensibilities as much as it is for legal reasons. We're not a porn site. Soft porn, such as you might see in the porn thread here, we don't mind.

Sometimes we delete threads that are duplicates - unless both threads have gotten reponses. In a case like this, we might merge the threads unless there was an obvious reason for the thread to exist in more than one forum.

I didn't personally set any criteria. Peter, Tim, Andy and I (and now Jan as well) work as a team. Peter has always been a staunch advocate of free speech and I have always followed his example on this forum. However, free speech carries with it responsibilities - such as the responsibility to remember that this is a support forum for a serious illness and as such, abusive posts have no place here. We encourage debate, but we also encourage people to limit their criticism to ideas instead of getting personal - and becoming abusive.

If you want further clarification, ask.

Ann

[wishihadacat]

Thanks for the thoughtful and cogent reply, Ann. If you celebrate mothers day over there on your rock, I hope yours is a happy and healthy one.
                                     - David