David Shove was not kicked off for his issue positions. He was unsubscribed
for consistently inflamed language (such as broadly referring to those he
disagreed with as corrupt without no proof, calling policies he disagreed
with "crap") and after several warnings. According to our procedures, I
could have removed David several months ago, but did not because I wanted to
keep him as a member of the forum.
David's posts have been moderated for several months - his more inflamed
posts (many, many of them) never made it to the list. None were censored on
their positions, all were based upon being personally disrespectful or
inflamed. At some point, it became clear he was never going to consistently
abide by the rules.
List discipline is not posted because it is handled privately and it is not
what (most) members subscribe to the list for.
The list's preamble states "This forum is about open exchange and
information sharing and not about being right with one's ideology. Attempts
to "win" an online discussion are discouraged...The goal of MPLS-ISSUES is
to bring as many people into this civic space as possible and balance that
with efforts to ensure that most members find value in the information
exchange."
Our rules against inflamed language exist to keep the most inflamed and
disrespectful from driving everyone else out. There are plenty of folks
still here whose views mirror David's, and have never received a warning, so
the charge of ideological censorship is simply wrong.
I encourage anyone who can't operate under simple rules of decorum -
disagree without being disrespectful - to find, or start, another forum.
David Brauer
List manager, Minneapolis-Issues
PS The full rules are posted at http://www.e-democracy.org/mpls/
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
Jordan S. Kushner
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2001 8:30 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [Mpls] censorship
I was informed that David Shove has just been banned from this list.
This is an outrage! Some of his messages may be a bit hostile toward
the DFL, but there is no justification for cutting him out of the
discussion. This forum should not be labelling itself as open or
accepting awards for promoting free speech if it excludes people for
merely voicing opinions in a way that the list manager deems to be
impolite.
It is also disturbing that a longtime participant can be cut out without
the other list members knowing about it. Who's next? What kind of
group will ultimately deemed "acceptable"? i think it is time to start
considering setting up a list that is truly open.
Jordan Kushner
Powderhorn
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Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
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_______________________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy
Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more:
http://e-democracy.org/mpls
