Do read the comments: Announcing a new approach to Stuff's comment moderation
Tuesday, 26 March 2019
March 15's malevolent terrorist attacks in Christchurch have prompted public discussion about the character of internet communities and the media's role in handling hateful speech.
The accused's abhorrent ideology was rehearsed in the darkest corners of the web, not on mainstream news sites, but it's still timely for us to check the health of Stuff's comments section.
Readers comment more than 7000 times per day on Stuff. All comments are moderated and about a third never see the light of day because they breach our rules for comments. Of the comments that are posted, most are fair expression – but it only takes a little toxin to poison an entire stream.
The exhortation 'Don't read the comments' is used all over the internet, not just on Stuff. But we genuinely want average readers to feel welcome participating in Stuff comments.
In our Civil Society project in 2016 we asked readers to help us build a better community. That made a difference. But we still need to do better. Too often, our comments section has allowed casual prejudice to seep in from the fringes.
* READ MORE: Stuff's rules for comments
Improvement begins with Stuff's moderation rules and how we enforce them. Effective immediately, we're making changes designed to cut out comment pollution.
We've introduced stricter terms and conditions for comments. They are now even more explicit about not tolerating personal attacks or prejudice. Commenters who repeatedly or flagrantly breach our rules will be banned.
These comment rules have evolved via community input over many years – including recent feedback. If you want to suggest a change, please email comments@stuff.co.nz.
In a new development, our comment rules now include a list of topics on which we will no longer open comments. It's not an exhaustive list but it points to the single largest change we're making: we'll be much more selective about when we allow comments.
We have abolished the ability for readers to upvote or downvote comments. That feature too often led to the most divisive comments being promoted. You can say goodbye to the thumbs icons – now, comments will simply be displayed chronologically.
We've made it easier to report bad comments. On each comment, next to 'reply' and 'share', you'll now see a 'report' button.
And we've introduced an 'Editor's Pick' function to set a positive example by recognising the best comments. We hope that highlighting the most intelligent, wittiest and most constructive comments will start a virtuous circle.
These changes should be visible on our mobile and desktop pages immediately, and will flow through to Stuff's iOS and Android apps soon.
Inside Stuff, these changes are accompanied by staff training on recognising borderline comments and common breaches of our rules.
These changes will not be universally popular. We'll be accused of censorship, and curtailing free speech. Others will say we should shutter the comments section entirely. Moderation is inherently subjective, so some people will see comments they consider inappropriate and conclude that nothing's changed.
But we hope these changes will help the majority of our audience feel that the comments section can belong to them.
In an era when many media outlets simply outsource comments to the unmoderated wilds of Facebook, we continue to see value in a curated conversation. We invest in moderation because comments connect us with our audience.
We hope the changes we're introducing will make our whole audience feel more welcome to connect with Stuff. But this isn't the final word on comments – we'll continue to check the health of our community, and further changes may come.
Note: In the last few days, we've had a problem on our Android app where enabled comments aren't showing. We're working to resolve that.
* Thank you to all the commenters who have offered feedback. Comments on this story are now closed.