Criticising a method you do not agree with

[speedymama]

In light of the current legal predicament that MNHQ finds itself under, I was wondering about the legality of openly criticising a method that you do not believe. For example, on the weightloss section, there is a Rosemary Conley thread. If I followed her routine but found it did not work for me, am I wrong to criticise her methods in an open forum? If it worked for me, I would openly praise it and recommend it to others so what is wrong with the converse? Similarly, on Amazon, purchasers are encouraged to give their review on items they have bought. If you disagree with the content of a book, you give the reasons why and do so without impunity.

I am genuinely interested in a legal perspective on this. FWIW, I was a fan of the instigator of the current situation because the methods suited my situation.

TIA

my understanding is that youcan criticise the methods..but not the person who is suggesting them...so you coudl say

Th emethod jessajam suggests is a pile of crap and I think it is dangerous

but not

Jessajam is crap for suggesting this or jessjam is a dangerous person because she suggests crap

actually, you can say whatever you wanta bout jessjam...i don't care!!

That's what I thought and that's why I don't understand why we are now not allowed to comment on the methods. Last week I attempted to potty train my twins using a certain method and wanted to comment on the book. Now I can't and that to me is just plain silly!

Sidetracking a little, but I do know that Amazon screen their posts (I used to work for them) Any posts with swear words or actually attacking that person ie their character, rather than methods, are not put online. And they can edit reviews, so that the poor star rating will remain but the actual text review will not...

Yes, that is the take I had on it too.

Comment on the method and not the person.

so you can say what you like about a method with out fear of any come back..........

just thinking out loud....

Think so Popsy.

However - you can't even do that about a certain nobody on MN know - there can be no mention of that person, the mehtods or anything!

That was my understanding, until now ....

right

however with all this not mentioning anyone or any methods about nothing, there have probably been more mentions about nobody then ever ever ever before

Some people feel strongly about some methods, and this can lead to accusations that, for example jessajam does not know what she is talking about and is a silly cow...which if I were more litigious I could take offence at as it implies I am not an expert on jessajamness after all and could stop people turning to me for advice on jessajam...d'y'see? This could then wind those people up even more, leading to more comments of the 'silly cow' variety..and so on

You're not allowed to comment about some people at all because being sued costs a lot of money while you are fighting the case and MN does not have the money. MN have repeatedly asked people just to discuss methods and not individual people behind methods but (a) people may have strayed the wrong side of that line and (b) MN could still get sued and the legal costs could put them out of business even if they are legally in the right. If no one mentions certain people at all then it is much more difficult (and probably impossible) for any kind of legal action to be brought than if there winds up being long-winded expensive legal discussion of exactly what the implications are of what was said.

So, legally you could comment on the methods but from a protecting-MN point of view you can't do it here.

The law is a funny thing. If you like someone's method and praise it and them, and make recommendations to your friends, then that is not a problem (particulaly if they become rich as a result) e.g. JK Rowling became popular through word of mouth initially but I personally don't like her books. If on the other hand, you disagree with a method and that person, you can be sued e.g. I don't believe in the Scottish Baby Whisperer (can't remember his name) and I can't believe he has a programme on TV.

Hi There. Just popped in from Bad Mothers Club to lend a hand of unity and say we are outraged on your behalf. Not with the ladies who run this site, but the censorship. Mothers United Will Never Be Divided. xxx

Hi Speedymama,
Nothing wrong with discussion of methods as a rule, so long as they steer clear of the personal. It's just in this one particular case we felt it safer - due to the threat of site closure - to impose a blanket ban.
Best,
MNHQ

Thanks for the clarification Justine and I wish you and the others HQ a speedy resolution of this situation.

Nice of you to show your solidarity Bumwipes. Now is the time for all the parenting sites to stick together.

Justine, There are a lot of messages (use current messages to search) that mention the Miss Unmentionaable person by name, right now. Some are weeks old some are very recent, shouldn't they all go?