Subject: BS: Mudcat censorship - a proposal
From: Xanadu - PM
Date: 30 Mar 05 - 06:55 AM

I have watched the "Censorship on Mudcat" thread with dismay, as more and more attacks were made at Roger (Shambles) and the main issue became clouded.

In an attempt to get back to the basics, I am starting this thread with a suggestion for how and when to apply censorship on this forum, using elements of "constitutions" of other forums I attend.

Whatever the outcome of this discussion, it need not be applied to Mudcat; that is the prerogative of Max as the forum owner. But at least we can come to some agreement on the direction censorship could take.

Here are a few simple rules:

1. Monitoring (and censorship) of threads can be delegated to volunteers, who should be NAMED and announced and should always sign with their Mudcat handle in order to censor or modify or comment on a posting.

2. Ideally such monitors (or "clones" as they are often referred to) should only hold the position for a maximum term of 1 year.

3. The reasoning for any thread closure or post deletion should be announced publicly as a separate thread. This will allow discussion of the reasoning to take place without cluttering the original thread.

4. Legitimate reasons for post deletion can only be:
   a) potentially libellous statements
   b) overtly racist remarks

5. Legitimate reasons for amending a post can only be:
   a) to delete personal information given in a post
   b) to delete web links to pornographic or racist sites

That's it. What do you think?