Why, oh why ?

[Livinginanotherworld]

Why are all the posts about the Israeli Gaza conflict removed ?? Why is mumsnet censoring our right to an opinion. Do you think we are children ?? Every single post I have contributed to on this dreadful subject had been deleted. We all have opinions , we all have a right to speak, we may not be in agreement but ffs we all hold valid views. The world is in chaos but Mumsnet censors our speech. We need to appeal to everyone to think critically, to question the media, to speak out loud. Or do we just turn a blind eye and think of fluffy kittens ? Moderators please answer this.

I agree with not allowing brand new posters on such a topic, but name changing should be allowed. Not on the thread, e.g. as a sock, but I have been a MNer for years and NC regularly. MNHQ would see I've been consistent in my views since joining, and I haven't NC since before the recent escalation in the conflict, but I will in future, as I always have.

There’s a difference between not turning a blind eye to the horrors of this war and a website keeping up antisemitic/Islamophobic posts for the good of free speech.

There is now a separate topic - Conflict in the Middle East.
Another thread I'm on has just been moved to it! That was quick.

As they're entitled to do.

What a charming response. Some of us don't want to go looking for videos of people injured and killed which may or may not be authentic. Why would you need to, the horror is real enough.

You've got your own section now OP, which frees up AIBU of all the spamming.

Also not sure why new posters should be discriminated against.

It's not about discriminating against new users.

It's about discouraging trolls and fake accounts, people just joining to spread nonsense and people who aren't posting in goof faith.

No, I posted the thread to see what others thought. How on earth does my post contain made up offensive shit ? Seriously ???

If you do some research on the online safety Bill that's just passed you will most likely find your answers.

Because they end up inevitably about religion and race and no big organisation wants to be sued or blasted in the tabloids by hosting the discussion. Even if it should be talked about.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/conflict-in-the-middle-east

I am assuming they will be moved here.
People can go and start as many threads on the same thing with exactly same question as their heart desires now.

I am sure they would love to have been able to leave all the threads in place without having to delete a single post, I am confident they would see that as the optimal outcome.

Unfortunately they need to balance this with not providing a platform for the publishing and proliferation of hate speech and misinformation.

Are the mods suddenly equipped with a detailed history of the conflict to be able to judge exactly what is legitimate and what is inaccurate? As you've seen in the news it is extremely difficult to tease this apart with conflicting views, magnified strongly, based on little information actually coming out from trusted sources in the region.

Mumsnet need to provide a safe platform for debate without exposing themselves to undue risk, the implication of this is some threads will inevitably have to go - as it will not be possible for mods to strip out exactly which posts are fair and in line with the talk guidelines, versus which overstep.

Ultimately they can censor whatever they like, there are other websites which have a lower bar - such as Trump's social media platform - but they often get dominated by one side of the argument when posts rarely get deleted as the majority voice chases out the others.

Just to add I think it should be called conflicts around the world or something and could contain all war/civil war/coup/uprising talk about the many countries currently going through it.

I've reported a lot of Anti-Semitic threads. If they've been removed, so much the better.

The threads are really good, informative and interesting. They are also trolled, antisemitic/islamophobic and full of misinformation.

This. I saw one poster gleefully share "proof" from the Russian press agency before being called out, others using very overt antisemitism language (I'm sure there's Islamophobic language too), all sorts. And it's harmful. Someone who isn't switched on comes along, reads a persuasive post "explaining" not realising that it's Mary from Luton who last week couldn't find Israel on a map. It is harmful.

You asked why things where removed - I answered, at no point did I say anything about your post(s)

The thread that's now been moved, was spammed and personal insults were flying around. It was like reading pissed up teenagers throwing tantrums. Repeat repeat repeat "Israel are known liars". They then wonder why the posts are reported.

Ultimately they can censor whatever they like, there are other websites which have a lower bar

There are indeed, though personally I prefer this one. I'm sure the mods themselves would be the first to say they don't always get it right, but on the whole they do a pretty good job of deleting hate speech and the like

Anyway we hardly need to visit horrors such as Twitter and Tiktok when some constantly re-post sewage frrom those on here