Moderation

TalkLeft's Unusual Comment Policy on Trials

When I'm interested in a high-profile trial, one of my go-to sources for analysis is the liberal blogger Jeralyn Merritt, whose TalkLeft focuses on crimes with political implications. Merritt is a criminal defense attorney in Denver who has been running the blog for over a decade. While reading her posts on the George Zimmerman murder trial, I was surprised by a comment she made to a user of her site: I have repeatedly warned Ricky not to ask readers to help prove the prosecution case. ... He ... (read more)

2013/07/01

New Retort Feature Dies Horrible Death

After banning the same person more than a dozen times from the Drudge Retort, I decided to experiment with a new site feature this afternoon that turned into a failure of epic proportions. I'm documenting it here so that other people who run online communities will avoid making the same mistake. Throughout its history, the Retort has attracted a small number of users who delight in creating a large amount of trouble. They want to prove that no moderation system has ever been devised that can ... (read more)

2010/02/17

Help! Help! You're Being Repressed!

An excerpt from a recent comment to Workbench: Ha! I beg you to censor this! It will be the premier coup in my lodge, Rogers -- proving every single word I've written ... I granted his wish and deleted the comment. Fear of being called a censor used to work on me, because I believed that a commitment to free expression on the Internet meant giving wide latitude to readers who took the time to comment, even when they were hostile, abusive or obscene -- especially when I was the target of their ... (read more)

2006/08/15