Moderation policy

Every comment is read before it appears. This page describes the standard used, because a moderation policy that is not written down is not a policy. It is a mood.

The short version

• Argue with anyone here, including us. Disagreement is the point of the site.
• Attack the argument, the decision or the public role. Not the person.
• Say what you claim is true, and be ready to say how you know.
• A comment that is turned down leaves a public notice saying so and why.

What gets published

Nearly everything. Criticism of the Citizen, of this site, of council, of staff decisions, of policing, of industry, and of how any of the above treats the communities it covers, is welcome and is not a reason for refusal. A comment does not have to be polite, well written or correct to be published. It has to be arguable.

What gets withheld

These are the standing reasons. A withheld comment is recorded against one of them.

• Personal attack. Abuse aimed at a person rather than their conduct, argument or public role.
• Slur or dehumanizing language. Including anything directed at people because of race, Indigeneity, religion, disability, sex, gender or sexuality.
• Unsupported allegation of a crime. Accusing a named person of criminal conduct without a source anyone can check.
• Private information. Home addresses, phone numbers, workplaces, family details, or anything that would let a person be found.
• Threat or incitement. Any encouragement of harm to a person or property.
• Off topic or spam. Commercial promotion, repetition, or content with no connection to the entry.
• Legal risk. Content that would expose this site or its contributors to a claim, including material subject to a publication ban.

Being wrong is not on that list. Being rude is not on that list. Holding a position most readers dislike is not on that list. Neither is being brief — a short, sharp comment is judged the same way a long one is.

What happens when a comment is withheld

The comment stays in the thread as a notice. The notice shows the date and the reason. It does not show the text of the comment, and it does not show who wrote it.

The reason is published because a moderation record that nobody can inspect proves nothing. The text is not published because republishing it would undo the decision. The name is not published because a public record of decisions should not double as a list of people to go after.

Every decision, on comments and on submitted articles, is written to an internal audit log recording the moderator, the target, the action, the reason and the time. That log is what makes it possible to answer the question that matters: was this rule applied to you the way it was applied to everyone else.

Editing

We do not edit comments. A comment is published as written or it is withheld. Silent editing would make the published record untrustworthy in exactly the way this site exists to complain about.

If you think we got it wrong

Write to contact@pgunspun.ca and quote the entry and the date. There is no formal appeals process, and no promise about how quickly you will hear back. If a decision turns out to have been wrong, it gets reversed and the reversal is recorded in the log beside the original.

Accounts

Comments require an account, so that a decision can be explained to the person it affected. Accounts that repeatedly post material falling under the reasons above may be suspended. A suspension is recorded in the same log as everything else.