Subscribe Feed (RSS)Freedom of Speech and the Internet: Should Comments be Moderated?
May 7th, 2007 by Joshua Dorkin | Filed under Blogging, Commentary, Social Media.
I just read an interesting post over at the Bivings Report titled, Online Venom or Vibrant speech?, where author Todd Zeigler looked into a recent article on the Washington Post and examined a comment made about moderating comments on Post articles. It seems that the online edition of the newspaper gets some extremly rancorous and vicious comments.
Should there Be Complete Freedom of Speech Online?
I started thinking about the whole concept of commenting and realized that this takes place across the net including on other online newspapers, blogs, social networks (Digg, especially), etc. I know that I was quite taken back when I was the recipient of some pretty nasty comments on this blog. For a long time, I kept the comments in the moderation queue, but eventually decided that it was important to share all views, as long as they didn’t harm me or anyone else. In this and in most other cases I see, the commentor proved their ignorance by spewing hateful nonsense. On the other hand, however, had this comment taken it a step further, I would have never allowed it to see the light of day.
That said, I am amazed by all the hate that is posted online, especially in political sites like Politico and the Huffington Post. What happened to intellectual debate? Is our country so full of ignorance and hate that we are no longer capable of discussing heated topics without reverting to racist and other rants? I am saddened by this and fear that it will worsen as I have children and they grow up.
Back to moderating comments . . . .
Websites Should Absolutely Moderate their Comments
I think it is perfectly acceptable to moderate comments on forums, blogs, social sites, etc. so they comply with your personal or company goals. Why should someone have to put up with hateful comments on their personal blog? Why should a forum about cars put up with comments about sex? Why should political websites put up with people demeaning and insulting others?
They shouldn’t!
If people are incapable of posting well thought out and civil comments, why should they have a voice? All the types of sites I’ve mentioned are private property (in a public domain). Should the Washington Post allow racist and hateful posts? No! The Post is a private company with an image to uphold. I know I don’t want to read a bunch of nasty comments after viewing an article.
People talk about free speech, but fail to recognize that freedom of speech does not cover what a private enterprise can and should allow.
In case we’ve all forgotten the first amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Nowhere does it say that freedom of speech is protected in a private enterprise.
What do you think? Should newspapers, blogs, social networks, and other online media moderate the comments on their sites?
Well, if people want to moderate their comments, sure, they’re perfectly within their rights on their own private websites.
But I think it’s unfortunate that people _have_ to, if they want to be certain that no complete garbage will possibly end up being posted, and also to be certain of avoiding any legal liability…
I recently saw a blog post titled 12 Important U.S. Laws Every Blogger Needs To Know, and, darn, how depressing it is to me that there is so much legal red tape to worry about.
This kind of thing is the reason why I hope Usenet newsgroups will never die.
Free speech can be smothered on individual private websites all too easily, but, unless I’m mistaken, the laws are a lot blurrier when it comes to Usenet. Long live Usenet!
As long as there’s at least _some_ venue, _somewhere_, for total freedom of speech, it doesn’t bother me as much when private websites censor things.
Hmm, in light of the First Amendment - I wonder if government websites permitting feedback to be posted on the site, but which then proceed to moderate that feedback, are unconstitutional?
Hmm, I have no idea… just wondering, though.
Thanks for the feedback. I agree with you on Usenet, but given the need to protect yourself, moderation is essential, IMO. I also caught the 12 laws post . . . it is a bit scary, huh!
Definitely! All that legal junk seems to make moderation necessary even if one wouldn’t _mind_ hosting a complete freedom of speech free-for-all on one’s website.
I think you’re absolutely right, we should be able to moderate comments as much as we want. If people want to say anything and everything they want, they should start their own site.
Nothing wrong with moderation.
Freedom comes with responsibilty or else it just becomes a free-for-all. And that quickly degrades to a place where there is no place left for freedom.
And after all, if it’s your blog, shouldn’t you be free to do what you want with it.
I’m glad I’m not alone here . . . I was actually thinking I’d get slammed for this post, but it good to see that so far there is some agreement on the subject!
yeah its unfortunate that moderation is necessary but it is - i still run a few communities and spam is something we have to deal with on a daily basis
although i must admit when posting on blogs it is annoying to see your comment being put in a queue as it holds up the discussion
I am for moderation as well. Allowing only good content to be added to your blog post, forums, etc just makes sense. It adds value. If it was “free-for-all” (as Shane commented) then your credibility goes down the drain quickly.
I agree with you about moderating comments. I see a blog like a house. I wouldn’t just allow anyone in my house
I personally moderate all my youtube videos. Anyone posting hate-speech or racist comments are blocked, and their comments are removed.
ebaum’s videos need moderation badly…i’ve stopped visiting the site entirely because of the comments people leave. Youtube has a far better community. It’s a good example of what can happen without moderation. It starts to affect the site as a whole.
Hey there, I totally agree with you regarding the moderation of comments on websites. Speaking on behalf of this topic, I just recently wrote an e-mail to the Youtube video company about this issue. I stated that nowadays, websites like Youtube are a breeding ground for all sorts of rude and racist comments. People now post their hatred and ignorance on that website and it is very bad. I hope that they will respond quickly and I am still waiting for their reply.
I like what Mojo said before me, ba careful hwo comes into your house.
I think you have the right to choose what goes up on your site, but I also believe in the absolute freedom of speech which is why I started my own site where the comments are not censored and people can say what they want.
I agree with those who agree with moderating comments. Over the past few weeks, I don’t know what is going on, but I’m finding myself increasingly offended by comments I find on pages like youtube, facebook, and other popular sites. The ones I’m most offended by are the ones where the people commenting remain anonymous. If something isn’t done, and sites aren’t moderated, how far will it go? Think about how bad it will be just a year or two down the road.