Moderation Criteria - Inclusion or exclusion of a post (V.1.4b, 2007 edition)

   Submitted by Siriel Admin on 2003 Oct 1 - 10:39pm 

   [Themes:  ]

(V.1.4b : November 26, 2007, see the change in red.)

:: Comments are not judged by the Content Committee, but one must create an account to post or comment; with a valid e-mail) (a necessary mesure after being bombarded more than once by automated advert. comments).

The Siriel-Media Content Committee is not responsible for content of Comments, but we will nonetheless refuse hate propaganda or gross insults directed at users.

– Users can vote to state if they feel a Comment is hateful, violent or totally out of subject.

:: Identity (you have the right to be anonymous):
Though you must create an account to post or comment, your user name does not need to be real. Yet the e-mail you use must be functional, otherwise you will not receive the welcome message and the administrator will destroy this false-account.

:: Sources :
If you share a media article, you must mention the name of the original source (such as the name of the newspaper) and, when possible, the name of the author and the Internet link.

:: When a post is accepted, the Administrator will try to include a comment explaining the criteria, when useful… The Administrator should also contact the user if a post is not accepted (but we can’t contact you if you didn’t open a session-account when posting). – Users can vote for or against a post in the submission queue.

CRITERIA FAVOURABLE TO INCLUSION OF A POST

> “Relevance” : concerns a massive violation of a fundamental human right or what we call a ‘policy of mass destruction’ (Ex.: torture and political repression of many people; a policy which causes mass suffering or death to a group of people; a crime of war; an important violation of international law, etc.)

BUT some individual cases represent what a group of people are going through and, hence, postings for such cases could be accepted; especially if human rights organizations have not mentionned the case enough.

The Content Committee should be more flexible towards users from countries where there is no or very little freedom of press/expression.

The Siriel-Media is also open to announcements from citizen groups and non-governmental organizations interested by the subjects named above.

> Info that is little known or that would be very important to share:
the info must not be too widespread in the mass media *or* must be urgent to ‘broadcast’ more.

UNFAVOURABLE CRITERIA (which could exclude a post)

• Irrelevant :
A post may be considered not irrelevant if it concerns human rights violations that are “too individual” or which do not concern “mass suffering”. There are already many organizations and web sites specialised in rights violations such as Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, etc. (We can sometimes make exceptions: see above.)

• Info that are already known by people, especially if it was broadcast by mass media (on television for example).

• Duplication :
If there is other content on the site that repeats the same information posted and that the post in question does not add enough ‘food for thought’ or information.

• No source named for copyrighted material :
It pretty simple really: if your share a media article (commercial or non-profit), you must mention the name of the original source (such as the name of the newspaper). The name of the author would be appreciated (but it is not obligatory if the source is mentionned).

• Poor credibility :
If the information is not credible (if it sounds like it could be false), the post could be excluded. For Siriel-Media to be useful, we must avoid misleading information.

BUT this criteria does not apply the same way if the post clearly states that the information concerns an allegation and needs investigation and if it is posted as a warning about potential human rights violations (in the hope of preventing…).

• False data and exaggerated distortions :
We will not accept untruthful propaganda and gross exagerations.

Example : “Saddam Hussein killed millions of people !”
Admin : He is indeed responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people and is co-responsible (along with many other States) for the Iran-Iraq War and suffering under economic sanctions, but this statement is an exaggeration that does not contain reliable data.
Note: does not apply to the Comments.

• Hateful, racist or sexist propaganda or that encourages human rights violations
Note: This particular criteria obviously applies also to Comments (reminder: Comments do not require approval to be published on the site).

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