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Freedom of Speech --- At Oldpoetry


  • I-Like-Rhymes
    Apr 21 6:51 AM
    Reply
    What do we mean by Freedom of Speech?

    Even countries with Freedom of Speech legislation do not allow carte blanche to anyone to say just anything. Laws of slander and libel are equally strong, laws forbidding deliberate incitement to violence are commonplace.

    At Oldpoetry should there be TOTAL freedom of speech or should it also be limited in some way?

    In the long run we can have no hard and fast rules for comments but I would strongly urge that we refrain from comments that fall into these groupings.

    Irrelevance: Comments not linked to specific poem or poet on which the comment appears. Eg simply praising the poet on a page devoted to a single poem.

    Insults: Comments that simply insult the poem or poet without making comment on the value (good or bad) of the piece.

    Vulgarity and Profanity: Comments that are not suitable for 'tender eyes and ears' -- even if they have been written by a 10 year-old!!

    Personal Attacks: Comments that attack the writers of previous comments without contributing to a responsible debate on the issues raised.

    It is perfectly acceptable to disagree with a previous comment or to decry the work of a particular writer or piece of writing. But shouldn't such opinions be accompanied by reasons? That is the basis for healthy debate

    Equally comments praising another comment, writer or poem should be accompanied by reasons. "I love Chaucer" is not contributing much to any debate (its also ambiguous ).

    Lets have sensible debate and common decency.

    Well those are my thoughts what do the readers think?
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