So….. a certain thread on this board is being taken down, despite massive interest in the topic and TOTAL lack of slander or attack.. Naming no names nor title threads, what are your views on this in the light of freedom of speech online or more specifically, here at GP?
This thread its'self is hardly grounds for libel is it Jez? (Although the thread in question really was not either!) Please leave this open for discussion!
Personally I feel appalled and it is making me rethink being here and further purchase of The Green Parent magazine. Which saddens me as I enjoy it and pass it along/advertise by word of mouth when folk ask what I read.
Must we only have pro-everything discussions? If so what is there to *discuss*?
I assume this is here in the right place - being a debate forum and all
Being really thick here, but which thread are you refering too? ???
Whichever it is, a conversation cannot discuss anything without points of view, so as long as it is not out of the boundries, I too agree with freedom of speech.
Yes, can someone tell me what this refers to as I've been hopping in and out here when baby and time allowed and have missed this.
I agree with freedom of speech in a forum, SO LONG AS, it does not become offensive or bullying. So far on this forum, I don't think I've seen any unpleasant posts and even when quite tricky subjects have been broached, like vegetarianism and vaccines, everyone here seems to be very respectful in their differing opinions, so I'm suprised if a thread has had to be withdrawn due to it being too controversial. ???
There have been a few threads recently about Steiner education that included posts from people with very negative experiences who have been openly critical of Steiner education. At one stage a whole thread was removed. After several of us questioned this the topic was reinstated and the discussion continued. The threads have now been closed by Jez though it is not clear whether this means that all discussion of Steiner education is banned or just discussions that are critical of Steiner education. I feel extremely uneasy about anyone, either a participant on the forum, or a moderator calling for a discussion to stop, or actually banning a discussion. A topic should be allowed to continue for as long as people wish to discuss it, however difficult the subject, or strongly-felt the views.
I have respected Jez's request not to continue the discussion on the specific threads and have emailed him twice to find out exactly why the discussion has been closed.I've had one reply and I am afraid I am not at all convinced that there are grounds for the discussion to be closed.
I too am considering cancelling my subscription over this.
Yes, I was surprised when the threads were closed. I have always thought that the members of this forum are the most balanced and accepting of others' opinions and that is one reason I really like it. That is also why I coudn't understand the threads being closed becasue the posters were not personally attacking anyone or being nasty in any way - they were just honest expressions of people's opinions on Steiner :-\
I was one of the few who questioned the removal of the first topic and was pleased that it was reinstated, however, once it started up again i did begin to feel that not all of the posters where genuine. There were nearly 30 post by one person, all re-hashing the same info, and if i remember rightly she only posted on one other topic - once.
I am all for freedom of speech and i don't think that everything need to be 'pro' but i don't want to be a puppet for someone else cause.
The 'anti-steiner' movement was mentioned by the poster, and that she wasn't part of it, but i did begin to wonder.
For the record i didn't report my feeling to the moderator , however after the thread was ended and we got another 'newbie' posting the exact same stuff, i did, because i think it was the same person, different name.
These were just my thoughts and opinions at the time, they might be right, they might be wrong, i will never know, but i do think that the mods would not have stopped it without good reason.
I agree with Mothernature. IT wasn't the topic that was the problem or the anti-Steiner perspective being aired or the discussion about it, but the fact that this viewpoint was being expressed time and time again by a newcomer who didn't seem interested in discussing anything else, and brought up her views no matter what the topic. Having been a moderator on another site for years, this said to me 'troll' in no uncertain terms and it is the moderator's job to protect the members of a forum from that. Maybe I am wrong and she was a genuine person with a story to tell. She was allowed to tell it - again and again - until personally I was sick of it and felt it was affecting the atmosphere of this forum.
I totally agree with freedom of speech, however, I don;t agree that this or any other forum is required to give me a platform for that freedom of speech, and I would very much prefer to be a member of a moderated community where nasty people, spammers, virus-spreaders, trolls and so on are kept out. The moderation on this website is very open and transparent and we seem to be lucky that the members are all fairly peaceful and respectful, but it only takes one or 2 trouble-makers to stir up a lot of trouble and hate and hurt - I've seen this happen many times - and I'm willing to hand that responsibility over to the mods here and trust them to make a judgement call. Maybe they'll be wrong sometimes, or I'll think they are wrong sometimes, they are only human after all, but I don;t think moderation on an online forum is such a big deal.
Sorry for my ignorance but what's a Troll? I haven't heard of it before! I have to admit that I didn't notice that there were lots of posts by the one person - I think I only read a couple of threads started by them.
Hmm, like I said, I didn't get a chance to read the posts in question, but from what you've said, it does sound a bit suspicious, all from one person particularly. When I get a min, I will check out the link that describes what a 'troll' is. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the mental image of a small, plastic figure with dayglo pink hair! ;D
Oh Jez, you're doing a great job, don't be disheartened. The fact that the forum is such a nice place to be is down to you.
BTW, a troll is someone who comes onto a website with the purpose of stirring up trouble, causing arguments and hassle by introducing contentious topics, challenging online rules and often, telling people they're being 'censored' thus stirring up great arguments about freedom of speech. Hmmm, sound familiar? This one has succeeded rather well, sadly.
I don't know how many of you have ever actually been on unmoderated forums? There aren't so may of those these days, but if anyone remembers the old days of completely unmoderated, uncensored Usenet groups? Well, you can go back to that if you want, but I for one, would rather be moderated and actually be able to ahve a proper conversation without being flamed or spammed.
I don't envy your position, it is a big role to keep so many folk happy. Sorry if I was harsh on you esp. when I imagine some days it's a more-than the-jobs worth type of deal. good on ya for sticking with it all
I do think leweekend came here with the one reason in mind, the one topic to discuss, her experience with her kids education to air. But I didn't mind that. It is interesting to hear another pov that clashes with the norm. I think she was being honest. I think tho, that when you go to boards (like she said she had been) and the topics get wiped out she prob. got enraged that she was being silenced, or maybe thought that someone was out to stop her 'dissing Steiner stuff…? Either way she prob. does come over as having this one axe to grind, over and over…. but maybe you would if no one listened the first time? I dunno. Her experiences rang true with my own which is why I (obviously!) think she was being honest.
I only saw a bit of the discussions that were ended. I'm sure we've all been in conversations with someone where we have totally apposing views or one person has a particular agenda that they want to push in the discussion and the conversation just goes around and around in circles. Sometimes either someone in the conversation or an outside friend might say, just agree to disagree and put the conversation to bed as neither side will convince the other to change their mind. I saw the closing of both topics by Jez as just that.
If the person was genuine, they had their chance to put their view and experience across and see other people's views and it's still there for others to read and do further research if they think it's necessary. If their genuine reason for being here was to alert people to the fact that there may be an underlying element to that way of education that people might not be aware of, then they've done that. I certainly don't think anyone's freedom of speach has been blocked.
Keep up the good work Jez. I personally enjoy being part of this forum, conversing with many interesting people, some I share views with, others I don't and I know that the moderators play a great part in this being a really good forum to visit.
