Stormtrack Censorship

Warren Faidley

Warren Faidley

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I'm a little dismayed that Stormtrack has begun "censoring" posts they find objectionable because they wish to protect specific individuals based on personal opinions, not editorial content.

Freedom of speech is protected under the First Amendment. This includes parodies and pokes concerning public figures, especially when such comments, no matter how silly, are based on reality. Are we to assume that some chasers have reached Muhammad status? Are posts that center on problem chasers, fakes or misbehavior to be removed or locked because the editor(s) are friends with such individuals or have some obsession with them?

I'm not saying gross personal insults or false information should be allowed, but banning comical or editorial posts that have a basis in truth is a slippery slope towards censorship. This very problem caused many veteran chasers to leave Stormtrack.

W.
 
Sure, i don't agree with the skeptics but gee, you remotely question anything about CC and they'll release the hounds on you and automatically disregard everything that person says. Granted, they say stupid things more often than not but still, if they want to spout off, let them. You slightly go off topic on there and you sometimes get banned.
 
I have mixed feelings on it. There has to be some degree of moderating to maintain civility. Otherwise, anyone could post all sorts of vile things about someone else and have no repercussions other than someone else getting mad at them. I remember when ST underwent a big reorganization after the original forum began to become a free-for-all with all sorts of idiotic statements being thrown about (13, 14 years ago??? I can't recall, im going senile) Then people had to register under their real names, there were tighter controls on membership, and civility was restored. Now, with the latest reorganization, I think it's good that there is an effort to make sure things don't get out-of-hand, but at the same time, it can go too far, I don't think a humorous statement or a controversial one is automatic grounds for being censored.

ETA: OK, now that I see that an entire thread has vanished into the ether, I see where this came from.
What I would suggest is that: censorship has its place, but it MUST BE TRANSPARENT. The original thread./post/whatever, must remain public with all the 'offensive' things intact, and if something is too offensive to retain, there must be a public announcement of WHY IT WAS REMOVED. This is the only way moderating can succeed in a forum like this--trust me, ive seen this happen in numerous forums.
When things just disappear into space and im left scratching my head...not good!
 
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Warren Faidley said:
I'm a little dismayed that Stormtrack has begun "censoring" posts they find objectionable because they wish to protect specific individuals based on personal opinions, not editorial content.

Freedom of speech is protected under the First Amendment.
Click to expand...

I appreciate your public concern. I would like to remind you that Stormtrack is not a government entity and is, in fact privately owned. There are rules clearly set forth; rules each and every member has agreed to upon becoming a member here, specifically stating that ad hominem attacks are not permitted. My goal is to bring this community back together by providing a place for us to talk about the weather and chasing it. Berating a peer, regardless of context, will not be welcome. In addition, and for clarification regarding censorship, since I took this site over in January, the thread you're referring to is only the second one we have closed. The prior closing involved a personal attack. Censorship allegations at this point in the game are ridiculous.

If anyone has a concern or comment regarding this, or any other aspect of this site, I'm more than available to you via PM.
 
OK, Steve, those are admirable goals, and I am behind them 100%!
But as I point out above, when you close a thread, EVERY part of the thread that is not offensive and does not violate the rules MUST be retained for all to see. When something is removed, there has to be a statement that something was, in fact, removed, along with a short explanation for the removal. (*violation of rule such and such*) When the thread reaches a dead end due to attacks or whatever, then simply close it with a statement to that effect, so that there can be no further posts in the thread, but leave everything up that point intact for all to see. Trust me, if there is no transparency, the forum WILL fail. It doesn't matter if it is one thread or ten--censorship without transparency is NOT 'ridiculous', it will very quickly drive away a good percentage of those who value free expression (like Warren, me, Shane, etc).
 
Stan Rose said:
But as I point out above, when you close a thread, EVERY part of the thread that is not offensive and does not violate the rules MUST be retained for all to see.
Click to expand...

I'm unsure of why anyone feels their freedom is in jeopardy. Don't post ignorant things on this board and there will not be an issue with your freedoms.
Here is transparency for the thread of concern that we closed. The final post is from a staff member explaining exactly why it was closed. I support the staff 100% in their decisions.
https://stormtrack.org/threads/reed-timmer-tornado-identification-chart.28485/
 
Was the post a personal attack, or just poking fun? I know some people don't like the chaser being made fun of and may have been borderline attacking, but if it's just in good fun I don't see an issue with it. It's hard to tell with text the emotions behind a paragraph but that's what I was getting out of the thread...I mean it isn't too far from truth lol
 
Honestly, I don't see why the thread was closed and why it was even an issue that someone posted it. I just now saw the thread, it looks like it was just posted with good intentions and wanting to be comical. IMO, sometimes it's better to just let threads be rather than close them. If the MOD's would have just left it alone, it would have quickly faded away with few people seeing it. But now since it was closed, it has become a bigger issue than it really should have. I just don't feel that thread in question falls in the category of being a personal attack. Sometimes, MOD's just need to use better judgment and leave personal feelings aside, which this should have been the case when the thread mentioned was closed. Just my .02 cents.
 
I'm on board 100 percent. We are kind of like kids, in that if we don't have clear cut and enforced rules, it's way too easy to slide down the slippery slope of what's allowed. A huge grey area doesn't do anybody any good. I agree that the Reed posting was funny, but clearly was an attack on Reed.
Not allowing this helps prevent the next one which any one of us is the target and we really don't need to breed hard feelings here
 
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It honestly doesn't matter anymore. It's done. No need for this thread to lead down the same path and everyone hoing at eachothers throats.
We can all be entitled to our own opinions even if it's making fun of someone...but again Reed does over exxagerate a couple things here and there...but back on point. There's no need to be sensitive about anything...especially over the internet. There's too many sensitive people walking around as is
Let's just let the mods do their jobs whether we agree with their decisions or not. We're not always going to like something. You can't please everyone all the time
 
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