FAQ: Comment and Moderation Policy
Q: What is New York Divorce News’ Comment Policy?
A: Community and Commenting Guiding Principles
In order to promote an open and transparent conversation, New York Divorce News moderates comments on news stories and blog posts.
Moderation, by its very nature, is subjective. The lines can be blurry. But our staff moderators and community moderators are guided by a series of basic guidelines. These guidelines include compliance with U.S. law, including copyright law, and regulations pertaining to intellectual property.
In general, the best way to determine whether a comment is appropriate is simple. Ask first whether it’s inappropriate. Ask whether it violates any of the guidelines outlined here. If it does, then it should be deleted. If it doesn’t, the comment should be published or left alone.
Here are our four guiding principles:
(I) New York Divorce News welcomes all users to join our community and to comment and treats all members of the community equally.
We do not discriminate based on the person who is posting, and we never censor comments for political or ideological reasons. We never delete an appropriate comment because we disagree with its viewpoint or ideology, and we never publish an inappropriate comment because we agree with or support its viewpoint or ideology. We also do not tolerate ad hominem attacks of any kind.
(II) We want New York Divorce News to be home to open, transparent conversations in which people connect, discuss, share ideas, and debate the issues.
This can sometimes lead to frustration, anger, hyperbole, or the use of biting humor. Courtesy can vanish, manners abandoned. As a community dedicated to being open and transparent and committed to fostering a vibrant discussion of the issues of the day, we can tolerate this.
We also allow a reasonable level of profanity. But our commitment to a basically civil tone means we do not allow extravagant or superfluous profanity or speech that is otherwise vile. We use our common-sense judgment to discern between the two and err on the side of openness and transparency.
In this area especially, we defer to the flags left by our users in the context of our growing community reputation system.
(III) We are also committed to maintaining a non-toxic atmosphere.
As such, we do not allow hate speech, nor do we allow speech that advocates or supports hatred or unlawful violence. We do not allow racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, or other intolerance. Likewise, threats of violence or threats to anyone or any group’s personal safety are not acceptable. We also do not allow false claims or misleading implications that any individual or group perpetuates hate or unlawful violence.
We do not allow comments that criticize others based on physical appearances or mental characteristics. We do not allow comments that celebrate the death, illness, or personal loss of any person.
(IV) Members of the HuffPost community deserve to be free from spam, and we do not allow posting the same comment multiple times within one thread or on multiple threads.
We also flag and delete all comments containing business solicitations or other advertising of personal interests, blogs, or websites. (A link to a personal blog is fine.)
Spam includes comments that are off-topic. If off-topic conversation inhibits or prevents on-topic conversation, we consider it comment hijacking, and do not allow it. That said, we understand that New York Divorce News’ comment threads aren’t just about content. They’re also about conversation. And in natural conversation, people exchange pleasantries, greetings, congratulations, praise, and other social gestures. So we err on the side of facilitating an open conversation, even when that means permitting limited off-topic comments and conversation. Also in this area especially, we defer to the flags left by our users in the context of our growing community reputation system.
Q: I posted a comment. Why can’t I see it on the site?
A: There are two scenarios under which your comment may not appear:
1. It may be pending approval. Comments are moderated BEFORE they appear on the site, and this takes time. Since the volume of comments on the site has grown rapidly, there is often a delay between a comment being posted and it being approved, especially during peak hours. We appreciate your patience and ask that you refrain from posting the same comment repeatedly.
2. Your comment violated the policy above. We pride ourselves in providing a medium for engaging and thought-provoking stories and encourage our users to speak their minds freely, provided comments fall within our commenting policy. We must respect our writers and protect them from vicious and inflammatory comments. They too are entitled to free speech- the right to share their opinions without being subject to scathing and mean-spirited remarks.
Q: Why am I blocked from commenting on New York Divorce News?
A: There are a few scenarios under a comment might be blocked:
1. A comment is extremely abusive, off-topic, uses excessive foul language, or includes an ad hominem attack.
2. If a commenter has previously posted comments that are abusive, off-topic, used excessive foul language, or include ad hominem attacks, a New York Divorce News moderator may decide to ban the commenter’s IP address. This means the abusive commenter is banned from commenting on the site in the future, even if the later comments are not abusive.