Last night I left this note on Kaveh Nouraee’s blog “Someone Is On A Power Trip“:
No Anonymouse is just playing with you. He does not have editorial powers. Neither does Niki Tehranchi or N. Canadai. They and many others used to but because of abuses by a few (not Niki or Canadai), I had to modify the powers of the editors and pick a few “chief editors”. They are five or six people (who’s counting?) who can delete comments, but that’s not necessarily their job. Only of half them actually spend time moderating comments from time to time. I’m responsible for 90 percent of the comment moderation. If you leave hateful, abusive, vulgar, or irrelevant comments, they will be deleted. Civil conversation people… civil conversation… give us something that would add to our knowledge, correct mistakes with kindness and generosity. Mean, sarcastic remarks… don’t need them.
****
I’ve copied the above here so more of you can see it. Last March I stopped allowing non-registered users to post anything they like without prior checking by me and other editors. See what I wrote back then “I hear you“.
Also earlier this month I wrote this comment in response to a blogger:
The internet has limitless space. Go say fuck and shit a million times a day against whoever you want, but say them somewhere else please.
A few years ago Harper’s magazine published an amazing letter to Congress by some American writer or professor. The guy used every curse word you can imagine to condemn a proposed bill in Congress to penalize/criminalize vulgarity on the internet. There were juicy curse words in every single sentence. He was using his First Amendment rights to the fullest and in the most provocative way.
But the same guy would not defend free speech in every circumstance. You cannot walk into a classroom and start cursing. The First Amendment does not cover that. You have no right to enter someone’s home and start shouting. And the example often used is that you cannot shout fire in a crowded theater. You’re not even allowed to whisper in a library for heaven’s sake!
iranian.com is not a library, theater, private home or classroom. But it is a space for civil discourse. You cannot constantly throw around obscenities. I’m not against saying fuck and shit or any other curse word. All who know me hear those words from me in almost every conversation.
But this is not the place for it. The point of having this site is to discuss, debate, understand and exchange ideas. Cursing and yelling and name-calling help none of that. They just make people angrier and angrier.
*****
Do I have the final answer in what kind of comment is ok or not ok? I do not. But unfortunately for you, I’m the guy running this place (with the kind occasional help of a couple or more volunteers) and I have to make quick judgements to delete or publish comments many times every day. I’m sure I make mistakes and sometimes go too far or not far enough.
But the idea is to have some sort of civility in our discourse. Remember: The person you are trying to bash in your comments is another human being — not the devil. He or she is just like you and me, but with a different point of you. How difficult is it to say hey, you are wrong for this and this reason, instead of calling people names and accusing them of being zionists or mullah-lovers or shah-worshipers or Rajavists or whateverists?
Treat your subject the way you would like to be treated: with respect. Let’s talk like intelligent human beings and learn from each other…
The comments are never going to perfectly reflect this desire for civility. There will be exceptions. You will see vulgarity on occasion. There will be anger and hate and personal attacks here and there. But you know what I mean…
Anyway, I’m doing my best as imperfectly as possible :o)
Enjoy and be GOOD!
