- McLibel -

Messages should not be altered in any way.

Posted by: David ( Australis ) on October 14, 1999 at 17:03:55:

In Reply to: They cannot stifle free debate posted by R.C. on May 02, 1996 at 20:20:37:

One thing I have noticed about this discussion group. The number of times McSpotlight seams to place add on information to messages if they don't follow the 'put the boot into Macdonald’s' theme.

All good debates require arguments both for and against to be made without having any sort of censorship placed on it. Messages should not be altered in any way. Even altering headings can change the context of messages away from what the author originally intended.

McSpotlight should refrain from placing any comments on any messages unless it is for administration purposes. Otherwise, we are not going to get a fair debate.

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McSpotlight: We do not change the text of what you're saying in any way; but we reserve a right to commentate occasionally; while we could post separate followups, it's usually quicker for us to just add a footnote at the bottom.

As a moderator, if I see something that is blatantly untrue, or if I have some information that can help or inform, I generally add it to the bottom; the same goes for my fellow moderators. We also reserve the right to defend ourselves; we aren't going to just sit there and let people say "yorr site suxx and yu shuld all be shot, faggots!" (though if it's that bad, we generally just reject the message unless the poster has made a pretty solid point elsewhere.)

Although the majority of ill-informed people are pro-McD's, you can see if you look at the "mealworms-in-Macs" threads that we do not allow things we know to be untrue about McDonald's to go past either; we will step on rumours that McD's donates to the IRA for much the same reason.

As for the headings, there's a good reason for that; most people just hit the "Reply" button and don't bother to change the subject; and "Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: McDonalds" isn't exactly informative; so we try to pick a section of the poster's text and put it in instead. If you don't like that, put your own title in; unless it's extremely objectionable, we won't change it in any way. Promise.

I am a moderator; I am also a human; I *do* add comments, as do my fellow moderators. We will *never* alter what you're actually saying; we will never reject any message that is relevant and non-abusive. As stated clearly in the terms and conditions on the index page we will occasionally edit for brevity or clarity; but this is a *moderated* forum, not a newsgroup; and it is our job to keep a good moderated debate going.

If you don't like that, we're sorry. Feel free to set up your own unmoderated forum. We'll even refer people who feel the same way as you to it. This, however, is McSpotlight.


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