I took part in some Twitter exchanges with two fellow bloggers and tweeters on the perils of trolls last night. One was Frances Coppola and the other the blogger known as Puffles2010. I don't always agree with either, of course, but both make serious and worthwhile contributions to debates and both get ground down by trolls, as I do on occasion.
Puffles' best friend (you have to follow to understand) pointed out his 'house rules' during this exchange and they have made me rethink my own comments policy. As a result I have entirely reframed this policy.
I once said comments were welcome on the blog. I've changed my mind on that. In a fundamental change of policy I now make clear anyone can offer a comment on the blog but whether or not I accept that comment is entirely up to me. I've done this to make very clear that comments are published on this blog entirely at my discretion. The new comments policy is as follows:
This blog is written by Richard Murphy as a narrative commentary on tax, economic and related issues. It is not intended to be a discussion forum. You may, however, offer comment for publication here but in doing so you acknowledge and agree that I am under no obligation to publish any comment submitted and that the following conditions will apply to all comments offered for publication.
The first condition is that you have the legal right to offer the comment submitted and that it does not infringe the right of any other persons. You will be responsible for any costs arising if it is found that that you are in breach of this condition. Comments that do not appear easy to trace are unlikely to be published for this reason.
Secondly, the comment offered must be intended to develop the themes I am discussing. There are ample opportunities in a wide range of media for opposing the opinion I offer and you are welcome to use them. This blog is not one of those places. This blog is focussed on providing creative solutions to the tax and economic issues we face in the interests of all rather than a few. If your comment is not a constructive contribution to that process it may well be deleted.
Thirdly, I reserve the right to edit and amend any contribution to make it suitable for publication if I think it appropriate without consulting without you first or having liability to you for any change made.
Fourthly, I reserve the right to delete any comment or block any commentator who I decide is behaving in a disruptive or disagreeable manner and shall have no obligation to explain why or consequent liability as a result of doing so.
When trolling removes the fun from blogging I think such conditions entirely fair. And candidly, it's tough luck if you disagree.
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But Richard, how will people exercise their free speech now? They only have the entirety of the rest of the Internet in which to offer it! It’s not like anyone can just set up a blog for free in five minutes or anything…
Richard,
I think you are wrong on this.
I read your blog every day, and agree with almost everything you write. However, my opinion counts for very little.
You need to convince the people who believe the trolls and the more you exclude the adverse comments, the less likely they are to read your blog.
Somehow you have to reach the many who think in tramlines rather than the few who use reason
Most will still get on
I am a reasonable man
But I can assure you – trolls depress the spirits and I’d rather do without them than give up
They’re also less than 10% of traffic
Richard. For various reasons I’ve been struggling again to keep up with your blogging, but have been (belatedly) reading stuff. I was going to add a comment to your ‘a quiet word to the trolls’ blog, but when I got there a day late and saw over 40 comments I thought better of it (and anyway, Andrew Dickie and others had covered the ground more extensively than I ever could).
But anyway, had I contributed I was going to add that I first came to this blog back in 2011 as an informational and educational resource for myself. The blog is called Tax Research UK, after all, not ‘Let’s debate tax’, or anything like that that suggests a forum for online debate and argument, and it was the research element that was of particular interest to me then, as it remains now.
Of course, it didn’t take me long to realise that your interests are much wider than the title of this blog suggests on first reading. And I now appreciate why that is, given the role tax/taxation plays in society more generally. But whether tax related or not I have, over the years, learnt a tremendous amount from the blogs you’ve written and/or the many links to other material that you frequently provide. On that basis alone, I’d read this blog as and when I can if there were no comments facility at all.
However, as someone who was once a regular contributor of comments (and no doubt seen by trolls as a sycophant, though we’ve never met or discussed our various standpoints outside of the confines of this blog) I cannot deny that I’ve enjoyed that aspect of Tax Research UK, and indeed have often enjoyed reading your forthright responses to your critics. That said, I think the change in direction that you now signal for this blog is both sensible and timely, and consistent with the approach being taken by others of similar ilk across the internet/blogsphere.
But more than that, I suspect you’ll find it personally more satisfying – and perhaps a little less time consuming – than a blog that contains a confrontational element. So, whatever the form and function that comments take from this point on, I’d like to say thanks for all the (voluntary) work you’ll still be putting in.
Thanks Ivan
I suspect most don’t know how much time this blog does take
I started writing before 5 this morning
I will end late tonight
Now no one asks me to do that
But it also does not incline me to take the crap that’s thrown as a result and I know others get to feel the same
Good for you Richard, Wish you were not so reasonable, but there you are and if I wanted again read a “Libertarian” mind that is what I would search, blog etc.
It seems a shame that you have been forced to take this step. As I said on the earlier post ‘A quiet word to the trolls’ – the comments policy was for me, quite clear regarding abusive or time wasting comments (and I have had some deleted in my time) thus those who were complaining that you were ‘restricting their rights’ should probably have read it more closely before they entered the fray.I hope it doesn’t reduce the volume of comments but as I said yesterday, it’s your blog – those that disagree have a right to publish elsewhere….