Effective immediately Web Talk-Newfoundland and Labrador will no longer allow the posting of comments by anonymous contributors.
Comments will now requires a blogger username and password.
Registering is easy and only takes a few minutes. While access to view articles will remain open to the general public, anyone wishing to make a comment will first need to register with blogspot. You can do this by visiting http://www.blogspot.com/
Web Talk has been online for more than 2 years and in that time has provided full and open access to anyone wishing to have their say. Freedom of speech is what Web Talk is all about and that will not change.
Unfortunately over the past few months several individuals have decided to use the comments section as a place to post personal attacks, abusive language and off topic statements that contribute nothing of value.
As a result the decision has been made to allow only registered bloggers to post comments.
This step will likely result in a decrease in the overall volume of comments however it is believed that the calibre of those comments will improve.
All comments, at least during the first days of this new implementation, will be monitered and moderated prior to publication. This will help ensure that even registered users do not abuse the opportunity provided to them.
Pre-screening of comments may cause some delay in publicaton however it is hoped this will be a temporary measure. It is hoped that the moderation and reveiw process can can be dipensed with over time as the content of the comments becomes more acceptable to everyone.
These steps were not taken lightly and were implemented in the best interests of the site, the readers and those who wish to provide legitimate commentary on the issues. It is hoped that it will result in a more focused debate and far less of the kind of abusive posting we've seen recently.
This is by no means an attempt by anyone to limit or censor legitimate debate, in fact the opposite is true. Posts containing information or comment contrary to the political or social beliefs of the editor will continue to be published as long as they contain valid points directly related to the issue being discussed and are not abusive or profane in nature. Rather than an act of censorship, these steps are being taken to help ensure that the views of readers are presented and discussed openly rather than stifled or undermined by personal attacks.
I was asked by one reader if I plan to block access the site by people who the reader believes disrupts the dialogue. The answer is no.
ReplyDeleteI will be reviewing comments and if a comment is nothing more than a bunch of inane questions or do not add value to the debate they will not be posted. If however they are valid (even if somewhat anoying) they will not be blocked.
This is, as the notice stated, not an attempt to stifle free speech but an attempt to ensure that a true discussion takes place.
I may, as a result of not posting some comments, end up being accused of censorship but I'm willing to deal with that if it comes up.
I'm all for free speech but as I've said in the past, "this is my sand box". It's anyone's choice if they want to come here but in doing so they must live with the rules I've set out or they are free to move on.
That's a good move Patriot IMHO
ReplyDeleteThanks Patriot! Your blog did need a bit of scrutiny, not because of your writings, but because of some of the infiltrators who sought to corrupt a good thing. Thanks for setting a code of decency and enacting the regulations.
ReplyDeleteI think that you have massive approvall Mr Higgons!!!GoodLuck And God Bless!!!
ReplyDelete