Moderation Policy
Focus on areas of agreement, even if expressing partial disagreement
Example: “I agree with Alice that China is a threat, but I’m not sure tariffs are the answer”
Explain your reasoning
Example: “Inflation is a problem because it reduces people’s purchasing power, especially those with fixed incomes”
Provide evidence
Example: “This policy is popular; here’s a poll showing that most people support it”
Engage with evidence provided by others
Example: “I read the poll you cited, but it asked the question in a misleading way. Here’s a different poll with more neutral wording”
Admit error or are open to changing views
Example: “Inflation is still high after several months. It looks like I was wrong that it would be transitory”
Not so great posts:
Contain logical fallacies (may be downvoted by moderators, which would push them toward the bottom of the page):
Attacking the arguer rather than the argument
Example: “Bob is a Scientologist, so his views on economics must be wrong”
Lack of evidence is not proof of falsehood
Example: “Alice can’t prove she’s innocent of the crime, so she must be guilty”
Making a conclusion based on limited/unrepresentative data. Also, false analogies
Example: “Several politicians have been convicted of corruption. Therefore, all politicians are corrupt”
Circular reasoning or otherwise assuming parts of the argument
Example: “Everybody loves Bob because he’s such a popular guy”
Confusing correlation with causation:
Example: “Everyone who dies drinks water. Thus, water must cause death”
Wrongly assuming fewer options than exist in practice
Example: “Either you vote for my party, or you hate America” (assumes these are the only two possibilities)
Arguing against something else than what is actually being claimed
Example: “Republican policies are bad because some taxation is necessary for government to function” (assumes the general Republican position is to abolish all taxes rather than just reduce them)
Changing claims in the middle of an argument. Also, red herrings: bringing up an irrelevant detail to distract from the real argument
Example: “X won’t impact Y”(comment showing evidence that X impacts Y)“Okay but it’s not a big impact”(comment showing evidence that it’s a big impact)“Okay well actually this big impact is a good thing”
Justifying something by accusing opponents of being just as bad
Example: “It’s OK for my party to be corrupt, because the other party is just as bad”
Appealing to the opinion of an authority that is not trusted across the aisle
Example: “Rachel Maddow says that Trump was a bad president” or “Sean Hannity says that Biden is incompetent”
2. Make bad faith arguments (will be downvoted by moderators, and may be deleted altogether):
Hostility/rudeness/incivility:
Personal insults (not rising to the level of harassment), belligerent or overly sarcastic remarks, and accusations of bad motives or bad faith against other members. It’s important to note that this refers to style, not content
Example: “Alice is an idiot” or “Bob obviously hates poor people” or “Alice is a liar and she really just wants to screw over poor people”
Gratuitous tone:
Excessive profanity, all caps, rudeness to third parties, etc. It’s OK to discuss harsh language used by third parties (use-mention distinction)
Example: “FUCK JOE BIDEN AND ALL HIS PINKO COMMIE LIBTARD SUPPORTERS”
Example of an acceptable post: “Wearing a shirt saying ‘fuck the draft’ should be protected by the First Amendment”
Citing questionable (e.g. fake news ) sources :
This is not simply news that is biased or that fact checkers dispute, but things that are demonstrably false
Example: Russian propaganda claiming that Ukraine is committing genocide, Chinese propaganda claiming COVID-19 was initially spread by US soldiers
Low effort/sarcastic comments: “lol”, “haha”, etc.
Memes and uninformative graphics
Illegal content (copyright violations, libel, etc.)
Sexually explicit content
Graphic violence
Doxxing (disclosing private information of other members)
Threats / incitement / advocating violence or other criminal behavior
Harassment / bullying of other members, or advocating for such
Spam (“Click on this link and get rich quick!”) or other uninformative soliciting
Impersonation / misrepresentation of identity
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