*** ALL MEMBERS *** Ending Rudeness, Hate, Bigotry: Getting Back to Basics

Good Afternoon.

Our staff would like to announce a change, or should we say an enforcement, on a long standing ATS policy that has recently gone by the wayside.

Changing Tides

Over the last several months, something has changed on ATS. The atmosphere and the conversation have changed. The language, the intent, and the general atmosphere of the boards has become acerbic and tactless. We've allowed a very loud few to obfuscate the goals and spirit of ATS.

ATS' Owners and Staff are aware that sensibilities, and the internet, change with time. Moderating has adapted to accommodate those changes, but at some point things need to be reined in to make sure that we do not lose that vision and set us back in our goals.

Those goals have always been very simple: Respect and decorum are mandatory to productive discussion.

ATS is here to provide a place where issues of the day, both the political and the conspiratorial, can be intelligently discussed. There are many places on the internet where people can do this, but ATS strives to remain above the crowd of available sites by requiring a higher degree of civility, decorum, and tact from our members. Recently, that has become less and less obvious in the activity on ATS, with hatefulness and bigotry frequently seen bubbling to the surface.

This will end now. We will no longer tolerate the tactless and the rude. We will no longer allow blanket statements about whole groups of people for no other reason than they offend you.

As per our Terms & Conditions:

16) Behavior: You will not behave in an abusive, libelous, defamatory, hateful, intolerant, bigoted and/or racist manner, and will not harass, threaten, nor attack anyone.

This will apply to all corners of ATS, in all realms of discussion including race, religion, sexual identity, political affiliation, nationality, etc.

Strong opinions are expected and they are welcome!

Let it be known that this is not an attempt to create an echo chamber. ATS will always value the opinions of all members, but we insist that these opinions are presented tastefully and with respect to our community values in mind. NO members who have 'unpopular' opinions will be subjected to punishment, so long as the T&C is followed.

A tough year, even without the hate.

With 2015 leading into a Presidential Election in the USA, we all know how busy ATS will become. New members come here seeking a different kind of conversation and they won't stay if this place is filled to the brim with discussions not worthy of our motto, neither will our long term members if things don't change. We certainly intend to change things.

ATS will not become a soapbox to spread any brand of hate. Some will call this censorship, and in all honesty they would be right.

ATS will not cater to the hateful, the bigoted, or the asinine. We have always maintained the "Right of Community Management" here at ATS. Our community is everything to us and it will not be sullied by the few who refuse to or are incapable of discussing divisive issues with tact and respect.

24) Right of Community Management. This is a privately owned discussion board community. TAN reserves the right to take action against any member, or member Posting, which is deemed to be devoted purely to disruption, represents behavior contrary to community building, or in cases where the content is contrary to the core ideals of the Websites. This action may include removal of your Posting and/or complete banning of your username and IP address. TAN reserves the right to eliminate or edit any content deemed inappropriate for the discussion boards, news network or any affiliated sites. TAN reserves the right to establish limits on topics that may be discussed if, in their opinion, the discussion of those topics attract an audience that is counterproductive to maintaining the ideals set forth in the Terms and Conditions of Use and the Terms and Conditions of Membership.

What happens next, is up to you all.

Let's this be a final warning to all those who fall in the categories we have mentioned.

Hateful posts will be removed and associated accounts will be terminated.

The staff will not indulge long, drawn out arguments over the fairness of this policy, nor the results of the actions taken when YOU choose to violate the rules.

There will be no feigned ignorance of this policy and no 'misunderstanding' of its intent.

Those of you who feel the need to break the rules, or believe that they do not apply to you, be warned. Speaking louder than everybody else, while pushing your hate of the day will not be tolerated.

Period.

At the end of the day, every ATS member, including Staff, must ask the following questions:

-Is this content good for ATS and it's community?

-Does it support our values as we see them?

-Does it bring us closer to our goals of being the #1 online community for alternative discussions?

In relation to what has transpired and been observed on the boards to reach the point we are currently at, the answer is "NO, hate and bigotry is not good for ATS or it's members." We imagine most of you will agree.

It's with those thoughts in mind, that we will now be enforcing the above.

No matter how wildly the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it.



Edit To Add.

As there has been a little bit of confusion, the Mudd Pitt forum will be the only place shown any leniency in this policy, since the goal was to provide a place to fling mud at each other on political topics. Not hate, but mud. Where left vs right can have a little bit of a brawl without getting your knuckles stung.

BUT, be warned, that any outright personal attacks, or hate will still be removed. Participate at your own risk and your own peril.

Sounds fair enough to me.
I haven't been punished in a while though.
How about those who just cry troll but don't present any other alternative argument?
I find those a bit tiresome, I come here for discussion, not fakebook style lame insults.

Will this be an 'across the board' enforcement, or will it be selectively applied based on your personal preferences?

originally posted by: grainofsand
Sounds fair enough to me.
I haven't been punished in a while though.
How about those who just cry troll but don't present any other alternative argument?
I find those a bit tiresome, I come here for discussion, not fakebook style lame insults.

You troll

Just kidding

Hate, bigotry, abuse, threats and insults.

Yep, I can certainly live without those things, no matter what the thread.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

We've allowed a very loud few to obfuscate the goals and spirit of ATS.

That is a very telling statement . It seems to me that certain people are already singled out . If so and I could be wrong . It may serve ATS very well if they were notified through U2U. To be given time to adjust their attitudes while knowing they are on thin ice .



No offense intended. This is just a suggestion to try and cut out some drama .

a reply to: tothetenthpower

This will end now. We will no longer tolerate the tactless and the rude. We will no longer allow blanket statements about whole groups of people for no other reason than they offend you.

This seems to me only partialy true. ATS is allowed to mock certain groups of peoples. It seems acceptable to call whole nations backwards if its cultural acceptable even if it is wrong to do so. It is equally wrong to discriminated against people on religous, or economic grounds

I have in the past alerted such posts but have given up as nothing seems to happen

originally posted by: Seamrog
Will this be an 'across the board' enforcement, or will it be selectively applied based on your personal preferences?

I'm posting this as a staffer and reserve the right to moderate this thread.

What "personal preference"? The staff is all ages, multinational and comes from all bents of politics and religion. There is NO "personal Preference." In fact that is quite insulting to us.

I hope it is uniform. I have had a warning in a U2U about a recent reply in a thread that was not any of the quoted things, and made little sense, logically or otherwise. I asked for further explanation and was ignored. The same mod moved an entire thread of mine to The Trash Bin- it was none of the things noted either and could have gone to general chit chat as far as I am concerned- but it just gets trashed. I am feeling a little picked on by the same mod.
Otherwise, I am against any hate speech whatsoever. This is a good move.

a reply to: purplemer

and illegals, ban people for the hate speech against illegals

originally posted by: intrepid

originally posted by: Seamrog
Will this be an 'across the board' enforcement, or will it be selectively applied based on your personal preferences?

I'm posting this as a staffer and reserve the right to moderate this thread.

What "personal preference"? The staff is all ages, multinational and comes from all bents of politics and religion. There is NO "personal Preference." In fact that is quite insulting to us.

I beg to differ.

There is a demonstrable preference among many of the moderators.

a reply to: tothetenthpower

I am glad that such positive steps are being taken, to ensure the quality and ethos of this website, and indeed this community. It is a beautiful thing, and to see it ruined by ignorance would be a great, great shame.

originally posted by: intrepid

originally posted by: Seamrog
Will this be an 'across the board' enforcement, or will it be selectively applied based on your personal preferences?

I'm posting this as a staffer and reserve the right to moderate this thread.

What "personal preference"? The staff is all ages, multinational and comes from all bents of politics and religion. There is NO "personal Preference." In fact that is quite insulting to us.

To be fair not everyone is aware of what goes on in staff land behind closed doors, especially new members.
Mod land is a mysterious realm to some of us.

Just playing devils advocate. I know you all do a hard job.

originally posted by: Indigent
a reply to: purplemer

and illegals,

ban people for the hate speech against illegals

Hate speech against any peoples should not be tollerated. With freedom of speech comes responsbility

Thank you's
I for one am whole heatedly in agreement and support this move by ATS

originally posted by: Seamrog

originally posted by: intrepid

originally posted by: Seamrog
Will this be an 'across the board' enforcement, or will it be selectively applied based on your personal preferences?

I'm posting this as a staffer and reserve the right to moderate this thread.

What "personal preference"? The staff is all ages, multinational and comes from all bents of politics and religion. There is NO "personal Preference." In fact that is quite insulting to us.

I beg to differ.

There is a demonstrable preference among many of the moderators.

I may be wrong but as its been explained to be unless its a clear T&C no no a mod cant make a unilaterally decision and normally discuss it behind closed doors.

Serious questions here.

What about saying blanket statements on the dividers.. like Talk Radio or specifically someone like Rush Limbaugh. is "hating" him okay?

Or what about the endless "Obama is the worst president ever" and the upcoming "Hillary will make the worst president ever" followed by "Bush is a criminal and would be the worst president ever" Threads?

I guess, what I'm getting at, is it okay to cross the line as long as we're not insulting each other or...is an insult against Obama the same as insulting anyone on the left here...or is an insult at Limbaugh going to offend the talk radio listeners here?

Or the Mars...it's a rock threads?

I think I understand what we're getting at here, but I see just a tiny few grey areas.

a reply to: Greathouse

By few we mean that we know the MAJORITY of ATS members follow the rules and aren't here to disrupt.

The 'select' few, aren't anybody in general, but a kind of person. A kind of person who sees themselves above this community and it's values.

Those are the ones being targeted here. If that makes any member un-easy, then likely they are part of that group.

Of course, I am not referring you personally.

~Tenth

a reply to: Indigent Yes

a reply to: tothetenthpower

Thank you for the reply.

I just saw the particular wording and thought it wouldn't hurt to point it out .