ByJessica Elgot, Jessica Elgot
When I started at the JC seven months ago, the website had few comments, blogs or interaction with our intelligent and forthright readers.
Less than a year later our website has been transformed into a place of lively debate, searing commentary and beautiful observations, and we have contributors we are thrilled to feature in the paper.
But debates on the JC website can turn ugly. And there are a minority of bloggers on the site who use the comments for personal abuse.
The JC.com is not a forum for a slagging match. We welcome honest, intelligent and even heated debate. But the terms ‘liar’, ‘troll’ and ‘antisemite’ are being bandied about all too frequently on the blogs. And it’s time we put a stop to it.
The JC doesn’t believe in censoring debate, and until now we have allowed most users to have more or less free rein to express themselves. But we do post-moderate comments, usually after legal issues are brought to our attention.
I will now no longer be tolerating any post by any user which is abusive in its entirety. Any post made for the sole purpose of abusing another user of the JC.com will be deleted. Any blog which is personally abusive will be deleted.
The decision of the moderator is absolutely final, and users will not be able to influence what is and what is not deleted.
If users persist in abusive comments, I will have no choice but to ban them from the site. I never want to do it, but in a minority of occasions it becomes necessary.
Anyone commenting below, claiming that the abuse is all a result of ‘so-and-so,’ and what does and what does not constitute antisemitism, will be utterly ignored and probably deleted.
On behalf of the web team, thank you so much for your participation and your debates. We love to read them, but please chaps, let’s keep it civil from now on.