Does your forum have free speech, or does it censor?
- Thread starter Katrina
- Start date
I never really had an issue with censoring people or putting up boundaries when it came to discussing topics. The biggest thing for me was being respectful of others and their opinions. Other than that, I never really saw any reason to censor anything or put up any boundaries. I just tried to keep it contained into one board (kinda like our Debate Corner here) for those that wanted to participate in such discussions, but on the sites I was on, those types of discussions were never really overly popular with my members.
On one of the main Discord servers I frequent now, we have a channel specifically geared towards controversial subjects and hot topics, but it's an opt in channel and we're (generally) pretty civilized when we have discussions. It was, admittedly, not so much when we initially started it back in 2020 during that presidential election, but it was quickly moderated and respect was enforced.
I think the big thing for me, besides respect and having civilized discussion, is containment. I'm not against discussing controversial topics in a civilized, respectful manner, but I think it's also important to recognize that not everyone may want to discuss those topics, regardless of how civilized and respectful they may be. I think just being able to opt into those discussions when you'd like to is a nice option to have.
On one of the main Discord servers I frequent now, we have a channel specifically geared towards controversial subjects and hot topics, but it's an opt in channel and we're (generally) pretty civilized when we have discussions. It was, admittedly, not so much when we initially started it back in 2020 during that presidential election, but it was quickly moderated and respect was enforced.
I think the big thing for me, besides respect and having civilized discussion, is containment. I'm not against discussing controversial topics in a civilized, respectful manner, but I think it's also important to recognize that not everyone may want to discuss those topics, regardless of how civilized and respectful they may be. I think just being able to opt into those discussions when you'd like to is a nice option to have.
All the forums I manage that provide a customer service have a family friendly policy so the members can post anything they like about any subject so long as it's child friendly.
The forums that I own are geared more towards adult conversation so as long as the members are respectful towards each other they can pretty much say what they want.
The forums that I own are geared more towards adult conversation so as long as the members are respectful towards each other they can pretty much say what they want.
I adhere to the mentality that free speech is protected but that doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for that speech. When it comes to forum moderation, I align with keeping it on topic, not being disruptive, not attacking anyone, etc. As an HR professional, I navigate it as if I would a hostile environment. Is anyone targeted? Have I received complaints? Would it be welcoming for outside people looking in? Are policies being broken? Obviously, it’s a bit different on a forum since everything is written and you take body language out of the mix.
I think as long as you're not attacking a group of people or people on the forum free speech is okay on my forum. Everyone has their own opinions on things, but personally any negative opinion towards how someone lives their life or what religion they practice won't fly on my forums. Hate speech is not welcomed on my forums, but you can have a civil discussion about certain topics.
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