The Times and gender critical comments.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

Dh occasionally comments on Times articles. Today, he has tried and tried and tried again, to comment on a piece in today’s paper about rapists being allowed to identify as female, and their crimes being reported as female crimes in Scotland. He keeps getting told that his language ‘may upset the Times’ community’, but has finally managed to get one past the moderators, asking if the Times is ready to lose female readers when they feel thrown under the bus by the Times.

The piece is in the Scottish edition of the Times.

He feels - and I have to agree - that the Times has caved to the TRAs on this issue.

My understanding is that IPSO is such that all MSM conform to these linguistic usages, no matter how misleading they are.

www.pressgazette.co.uk/ipso-commissions-research-into-standards-of-uk-media-reporting-on-transgender-issues/

More discussion of that piece here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4221733-Rape-suspects-can-choose-to-self-identify-as-female-Times-Scotland

I've actually been impressed with the comments that get through the censors. Some of the commenters are excellent. I feel the same about comments to the New York Times articles.

I have also had GC comments refused by the Times moderators recently. I’m surprised and annoyed about it, as the Times was one of the last bastions of women’s rights.
Having to resort to censorship and silencing the opposition is proof the TRAs have lost the argument, in my view.

The Times, like Mumsnet are under repeated attack from those who forget that we live in a democracy and that free speech is a cornerstone of this. These people - the majority of whom are males skilled in coercive control and bullying - have managed to use politics and business to determinedly target women and women's rights. Evidenced by the story showing Scottish organisations and politicians having the backs of rapists, sex offenders and paedophiles rather than the interests of their women and child victims.

The moderation is wildly variable. It can be tricky to get gender critical comments to be accepted and then not deleted but over the past couple of weeks it's gone off the charts. On some stories I have comment after comment refused. Innocuous comments can get a flat refusal for them even to be submitted or a scolding warning comes up about how a comment will be subject to extra vigorous moderation. It is extremely frustrating to see disinformation posted by a trans activist and my reply to explain the facts get deleted.

Also, including a link will often get you a telling off or trigger a delay of up to 24 hours before you find out the fate of your comment.

It does feel like something has happened behind the scenes at The Times recently.

I comment regularly and don't think I've been censored, though maybe I haven't commented in the past couple of weeks; there are usually lots of GC comments.

At the moment just about any GC comment will attract this warning, at the very least:

Some members of the community may find your comment inappropriate. Try Again?

I have been censored twice in the last week, for polite comments. Thinking about cancelling my subscription.

Hmm, that's disappointing, it was always a place for robust views.

Today it seems like every comment is being moderated on the article about people accused of rape. I think it’s great that they do in fact print articles on the topic. Even with the heavy moderation. The one related to the alba party had plenty of comments go through and for those lurking on the comments section of the times I’m sure it is still useful to read the comments that get through. And the lurkers must wonder why some comments don’t get through.

The moderation is wildly variable. It can be tricky to get gender critical comments to be accepted and then not deleted but over the past couple of weeks it's gone off the charts.

There does seem something in the air in recent weeks, not just The Times' comments.

I wonder if Trans Media Watch and friends are on manoevres.

I have had comments deleted and then wrote and asked why and it was this simple - I had written 'get a grip' and it was taken as being rude. Do not be rude in your Times comments. However, if you suspect foul play write to the Editor. I suggest doing that before cancelling your subscription, only because the Times is a respected newspaper and if you leave, that means fewer and fewer fighting the GC corner. Bags of letters and I also wonder if a concerted campaign to IPSO might make them look again at what they are expecting journalists and editors to agree to.

I believe there might be a case for someone holding a GRC being classed as female, but I do not believe someone without such a certificate can claim discrimination under the EA and therefore public interest would be best served by accuracy

Did you see the fun and games earlier in the week when The Times put up effectively the same article on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to trash Margaret Lynch, an Alba candidate, for pointing out that Stonewall was showing support for a document that, in effect, was looking to remove the restriction on adolescents being about to consent to sex?

The moderation for those articles was insane.

and..........I wonder if they've had a new recruit in their Equalities department. Maybe Aimee has got herself another job?

In one of the Margaret Lynch articles where the journalist responsible went to war against the readership in the comments my comment was deleted because I said he was "telling off" people highame.

you bad person nauticant wash your mouth out with soap.

@nauticant

In one of the Margaret Lynch articles where the journalist responsible went to war against the readership in the comments my comment was deleted because I said he was "telling off" people highame.

Is that typical in the Times that the author of an article will respond in the comments? His way of responding was really odd. He wasn’t able to take on what was being said.

I comment regularly but have rarely had anything refused. I’m not rude but robust - almost all the comments are GC

I've never seen the like BeanieSue. I think he was on some sort of mission to prevent the readership from turning to the dark side by going with an interpretation based on literal wording instead of his convoluted and contradictory interpretation involving ignoring problematic words and referring to other documents not originally referenced.

Whatever he was doing, it wasn't him being a journalist.

I had a comment removed querying why body dysphoria for gender and other forms of body image (such as anorexia) are treated so differently, which was disappointing. It really made me think whether the affirmation could possibly be right when I thought of it in that light. But the comment got censored. 😡

Something has definitely changed with moderation of TOL comments....but like on this site, there are always ways of phrasing things....

Some members of the community may find your comment inappropriate. Try Again?

This member of the 'community' finds this all extremely disappointing. The 'community' includes many who have subscribed as a result direct of the excellent reporting and commentary by journalists such as Janice Turner, Lucy Bannerman and Andrew Gilligan.

@happydappy2

Something has definitely changed with moderation of TOL comments....but like on this site, there are always ways of phrasing things....

I tend to assume it's a new intern who is using their own judgment.

I admit for a fondness for the days when Gillian McKeith blamed things on the" Spanish work experience kid."

When McKeith was first caught out on the ridiculous and erroneous claims of her CV - she claimed, for example, to have a PhD from the reputable American College of Nutrition - her representatives suggested that this was a mistake, made by a Spanish work experience kid, who posted the wrong CV. Except the very same claim about the American College of Nutrition was also in one of her books from several years previously. That's a long work experience stint.

www.theguardian.com/media/2007/feb/12/advertising.food

I have been in contact with the feedback team about a complaint and I was told that recently their comments moderating team has been changed. I said it was important that their choice of moderator didn't lose them subscribers/readers and the person I spoke to agreed and said it was important feedback.

I did ask for my call notes to go on record and I would recommend emailing [email protected] to make these problems known.

I called this number and got various emails addresses to follow up on my complaint.

0800 018 5177

It's possible that decisions makers haven't seen the impact of this recent change or realised how the comments sections are being managed now.

I imagine that it's only when it hits them in the pocket that they would really take notice so perhaps worth noting if you have the time and inclination.

Have just commented and everything is pending approval apart from one comment where I quoted the actual wording of tbe Act which was rejected.??? Having said that there are no supportive comments and some particularly robust ones. Are they using a new AI system perhaps?