Why dont boards.ie believe in free speech

Ekancone

Hi im new here, im basically using this cause i cant access the Peoples Republic of Cork site from work. Anyway im really put off by the number of moderators in each thread and the idea that a thread can be locked just because someone has a dissenting view. Whats the story with this? It just makes things very difficult and results in a borefest of a forum.

Killaqueen!!!

Not all mods are like that. But I do agree that this site is to heavily moderated. I've been to otherforums where there were no mods and it worked fine. I agree in free speech no matter how much I disagree with it. This isn't trolling. Trolling is different. Most mods can't see the difference though.

There's nothing you can do about it anyway, they're always right..

Karl Hungus

daithifleming wrote:

Hi im new here, im basically using this cause i cant access the Peoples Republic of Cork site from work. Anyway im really put off by the number of moderators in each thread and the idea that a thread can be locked just because someone has a dissenting view. Whats the story with this? It just makes things very difficult and results in a borefest of a forum.

Because, depending on what people say, it can land boards in a lot of legal trouble.

We don't have absolute free speech in Ireland anyway, and if you were to publically libel someone, then they could sue you. Under Irish law, boards.ie is solely responsible for what's posted on it, not the user.

bugler

Fight the power you two.

seamus

For a start, this is totally the wrong forum for this.

Secondly, threads are never locked because someone has a different view. If we only allowed discussion where everyone agreed with eachother, then by God this would be a boring site. The number of new members and posts every day indicates that this is not so.

Thirdly, freedom of speech doesn't exist here. This is a privately owned website which publishes people's posts. As such boards.ie ie liable for everything people say. Thus, it has the right to censor and remove anything that people post.
By and large, we don't censor what people say because again, that would lead to boring discussion. Posts are removed mainly if they are:

1. Advertising
2. Abusive (even then we'll rarely remove it).
3. Libellous
4. Illegal

Apart from that, almost anything goes.

As for the number of moderators, keep in mind that moderators only manage threads on their particular forums. On other forums the moderators are just normal users. So while it may appear that loads of moderators are posting in particular threads, in reality they're just users.

We don't have absolute free speech in Ireland anyway, and if you were to publically libel someone, then they could sue you. Under Irish law, boards.ie is solely responsible for what's posted on it, not the user.

Well, in a strict sense, we don't have absolute free speech. But in the U.S., where the whole free speech thing is huge, yes you are free to say what you want without censorship, but "Freedom of speech" doesn't protect you from the consequences of what you say. Declaring, "I like little boys" in public will lead to the police smashing down your door. Calling someone a raping murderer without any proof, will lead to you being dragged into court and sued.

Freedom of speech doesn't mean that a person isn't responsible for what they say.

Karl Hungus

Just to point out, that what a moderator does 95% of the time, is clean up spam. We don't devote all our time to curtailing your expression.

Beruthiel

This is a privately owned site.
The owners have the right to run it whatever way they like.
They can get sued for what you say - hence there is no freedom of speech here, common sense is required.

This thread has nothing to do with this forum.

/edit
jeez seamus and Karl, ye's are fast

Ekancone

Killaqueen!!! wrote:

Not all mods are like that. But I do agree that this site is to heavily moderated. I've been to otherforums where there were no mods and it worked fine. I agree in free speech no matter how much I disagree with it. This isn't trolling. Trolling is different. Most mods can't see the difference though.

There's nothing you can do about it anyway, they're always right..

Yeah, makes me not wanna post here though. Know any good forums urself? PM me.

Ekancone

Beruthiel wrote:

This is a privately owned site.
The owners have the right to run it whatever way they like.
They can get sued for what you say - hence there is no freedom of speech here, common sense is required.

This thread has nothing to do with this forum.

/edit
jeez seamus and Karl, ye's are fast

Again, this is why i wont be frequenting here. Oh and if free speech isnt a topic covered by humanities then what is?

seamus

*yawn*

Moved to feedback.

If you actually had any useful criticism to make, you'd reply to my post.

Crucifix

daithifleming wrote:

Again, this is why i wont be frequenting here. Oh and if free speech isnt a topic covered by humanities then what is?

So you registered just to say you won't be using the site?

meglome

The boards.ie guys do and have done a huge amount of work for the online community for years for free so as you can imagine they wouldn't want to be sued for something someone else said. I wonder how many people on boards would say some of the things they do if a few of them got sued for their troubles. It's a tightrope for boards, by rights the user should be responsible for what they say but boards are responsible. It seems to me it's like the manufacturer of a megaphone getting sued for what the person said into it.

Ekancone

seamus wrote:

*yawn*

Moved to feedback.

If you actually had any useful criticism to make, you'd reply to my post.

This exactly my problem.

delly

Worst.thread.ever.

Seriously, you followed the whole registration procedure just to say your not happy with how a site is run, a site that you haven't used before or have no knowledge of the history. I rarely think of a STFU moment but I would think that this comes near enough to one.

Tom Dunne

daithifleming wrote:

Again, this is why i wont be frequenting here. Oh and if free speech isnt a topic covered by humanities then what is?

I am sure I can speak for the vast majority of people who use Boards.ie and say, I'm gutted. I beg you to reconsider. We need new blood to keep the debate going. Please stay.

Now, bring on the cat pictures....

seamus

daithifleming wrote:

This exactly my problem.

What is? That we attempt to partition the site into different topics?

Would you prefer a single big melting pot to discuss anything and everything?

Dades

daithifleming wrote:

This exactly my problem.

And that is exactly your problem. Did you even read the lengthy, sincere responses you got to your post?

Oh wait, I'm a mod - I must be oppressing you too!

Ekancone

Crucifix wrote:

So you registered just to say you won't be using the site?

I registered and had a look around, and all i see are a bunch of locked threads and a moderator - member ratio of about 4-1. I dunno, maybe im too used to the PROC, where pretty much anything goes, apart from racism, libel, etc. Thats a private forum too with thousands of users and its grand, just saying its a shame that the forum has to have 'locked' threads.

aidan_walsh

if free speech isnt a topic covered by humanities then what is?

Free speech may be a Humanities issue. Free speech on boards is site feedback, so this is the more appropriate forum.

Karl and seamus have already covered the rest pretty well, so there is no need to repeat what they said.

cornbb

Ekancone

seamus wrote:

What is? That we attempt to partition the site into different topics?

Would you prefer a single big melting pot to discuss anything and everything?

Well, since you're asking for my opinion i think ye have gone a bit OTT with the amount of forums, its like a ghost town in some.

Ekancone

The Atheist wrote:

And that is exactly your problem. Did you even read the lengthy, sincere responses you got to your post?

Oh wait, I'm a mod - I must be oppressing you too!

You're not oppressing me, its just a ****ing boring forum because there are too many of you.


EDIT: See! You blanked out a curse word! Hahahaha god almighty!

aidan_walsh

moderator - member ratio of about 4-1

This is horribly mistaken. Many members of boards only frequent a small number of forums, many only visit just the one. Also, mods are regular members outside of the forums they moderate.

maybe im too used to the PROC

Maybe. boards is a much larger site, and as such needs to be more heavily moderated.

Thats a private forum too with thousands of users and its grand, just saying its a shame that the forum has to have 'locked' threads.

I advise you read some of those threads to see why they may have been locked. There are numerous reasons, each forum having its own rules.

Anyway, you don't like it - thats fine. Boards can't be all things to all people.

cornbb

daithifleming wrote:

You're not oppressing me, its just a ****ing boring forum because there are too many of you.


EDIT: See! You blanked out a curse word! Hahahaha god almighty!

Quit yer trolling.

Karl Hungus

I think this fellow is just a complete troll.

Don't like the place? Nobody is forcing you to post.

Zombrex

Does my right to have shelter/place to live mean I can live in your house daithifleming?

No, of course not. Just like the right to free speech doesn't mean you have the right to circumvent the mods on this privately owned and operated website.

I find it rather bizarre that those who complain about free speech on this website tend more often than not to not actually understand what freedom of speech actually means or entails.

seamus

daithifleming wrote:

Well, since you're asking for my opinion i think ye have gone a bit OTT with the amount of forums, its like a ghost town in some.

Great, some genuine feedback.
Having been here for so long, I don't even notice any more. The number of forums has steadily grown though since it started. If forums aren't being used, then they're recycled. The number of forums is a reflection of the diversity of topics and the wishes of the users.

You're not oppressing me, its just a ****ing boring forum because there are too many of you.

As I explained already, moderators are just normal users. Everybody replying here to this thread is just a user. So Moderator:User ratio in this thread is about 0:10 at the moment.

Words are censored as part of the software. There's no need to remove it. If you can't express yourself without needing to swear, then what you say isn't worth reading.

Zombrex

Karl Hungus wrote:

I think this fellow is just a complete troll.

Most likely a banned user re-registering. I always get suspicious of posters with like 5 posts who have suddenly worked out that they hate Boards.ie and want to complain.

darkmaster2

daithifleming wrote:

Peoples Republic of Cork site from work.

If boards.ie was like the PROC then I wouldnt even bother looking at it. That forum is a complete disgrace.

nesf

PROC is not boards and boards is not PROC. They run under different philosophies and appeal to different audiences.

That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with either of them though, they're just different ways of doing the whole internet forum thing.

Tar.Aldarion

daithifleming wrote:

I registered and had a look around, and all i see are a bunch of locked threads and a moderator - member ratio of about 4-1.

Couple of hundred moderators, hundred thousand members, 4-1?

If things were not done like they are the site would be a big mess and would not be worth visiting. Is it actually that hard to post about a topic in teh forum for that topic and stay within the rules?