We’re trying to foster great conversation and we will remove comments that hurt that goal. You’re free to say whatever you like at other places, but not here. At Open Council we work hard to keep the conversation informative. The bottom line is that the editors and moderators have the final say on whether comments fall within our community guidelines.
- Remember the human. No harassment, bullying, and threats of violence.
- Be respectful. Provide constructive feedback on specific policies and actions.
- Stay on topic. Relevance to the subject of the post or to the previous comment.
We will remove anything we deem inappropriate, and these rules may evolve over time as needed. Doing any of the things listed here will result in your comment being removed, and serious violations will result in an instant ban.
- Personal attacks: Remember the human. Don’t attack or insult others. This includes calling other members trolls.
- Racism, sexism, and other discrimination: Attacking entire classes of people is just like attacking a single person: we’ll ban you for it.
- Commenting on someone’s physical appearance, voice, or style: Let’s keep discussion to the content, please. Even if you’re writing what you consider a compliment, it will be removed.
- Trolling: ”Trolling” is a big, messy term, but we know what trolls are and we won’t tolerate it. If you’re derailing conversations here at The Verge, we will take your comments and posts down, low-effort replies like “slow news day” and “tl;dr,” especially.
- Spreading misinformation: We are not a platform for spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation, and will remove posts promoting obvious falsehoods.
- Doxxing: Don’t reveal someone else’s personal information.
- Illegal activities: Posting links to illegal downloads, ways to steal service, and other nefarious activity is not OK here.
- NSFW material: Nope, not allowed. Even images or links that could be considered borderline are not acceptable. A good rule of thumb is that anything beyond PG-13 will get you in trouble, but we reserve the right to remove any post we deem offensive. This goes for pornographic material, vile language, gore and generally gross stuff.
- Complaining about coverage: We cover a wide array of topics, not all of which are comfortable, unchallenging, or reflective of your personal views. This applies doubly to review scores. While we’re not against discussions of our coverage, plainly stated accusations of bias or drive-by comments about a writer’s expertise are usually an indication that you’re not trying to be a productive member of the community.
- Spam: If it comes from a human or a robot, spam will be deleted. This includes self-promotion. Generally speaking, promoting your projects here will be treated like any other spam.
Above all, our team of moderators works to keep conversation here friendly, engaging, helpful, and productive. If we feel a comment or forum post is harming that endeavor, we’ll take action.
Have any questions, or need to get in touch with a moderator? Contact us here.