On Sun 2 Dec at 10:38am Dexter wrote:
I see you have finally pulled yesterdays awful example of Internet bile & hatred. Apart from deleting this garbage I would like to know what you are doing about it or indeed you reported these crimes to the police?
Even if you didn't do the decent thing, after seeing it on line for 13 hours I reported it to the police this morning.
I hope you are doing all in your power to gather the data on the culprits & at the very least make a statement & apology for this vile & disgusting example hatred.
I hope others will make a stand and do likewise
www.sussex.police.uk/reportonline.
Webbo, you can contact me on my email address if you wish.
On Sun 2 Dec at 10:57am Ferret wrote:
I emailed the person who runs this forum this morning, and to his/her credit, the comments and threads were deleted immediately. This does not happen very often. He/she has a very relaxed attitude towards comments which include racism, anti-semitism, drug use, homophobia, crude sexual references, mysogyny, xenophobia and other offensive material. The forum provides a voice for the worst elements of the region's lowlife.
You can contact the "Webmaster" by email
webmaster@lewes.co.uk
On Sun 2 Dec at 11:06am Man wrote:
I'm certainly not trying to justify some of the awful comments on this site but I suspect they come from one or two sad individuals who get a thrill from provoking a reaction. They may well be adolescents. Webbo should do all he can to remove them asap and if possible prevent them posting again but apart from that they are best ignored and even pitied for the empty lives they must lead. Don't let them ruin this forum for you.
On Sun 2 Dec at 11:31am Ferret wrote:
@Man Your comment could have been written by Webbo. It is basically what he/she has written to me in the past. I cannot agree with the "best ignored and pitied" remark, as they need to be confronted and silenced. It is all very well for them to spout their poison amongst their equally foul-minded friends, but our children and decent people should not have to read their filth on a public forum using the town's name.
On Sun 2 Dec at 11:44am Man wrote:
I'm not sure I know what you are suggesting is done ferret. If you mean confronting them on here by arguing against the basis of their racist comments then go ahead. I'd sooner not waste my time and allow what could be an interesting thread to be hijacked by these idiots, thus giving them the attention they are seeking. I shall continue to ignore them until webbo gets round to removing their posts.
On Sun 2 Dec at 11:59am Ferret wrote:
@Man It only takes a minute or two to email "Webbo", including a copy and paste of the offending post. He/she can't police the site 24 hours a day, so some terrible comments remain visible for hours, sometimes days. Ignoring racism, homophobia etc is not an option in my book.
On Sun 2 Dec at 12:11pm There's the rub wrote:
Webbo expects us to police the forum, and email him. While taking the £ from the adverts. Names and sign - in is the only answer.
On Sun 2 Dec at 1:46pm Fairmeadow wrote:
There can be a very fine line between views that may not be expressed legally in the UK and those that are merely considered offensive by members of the illiberal left, such as Ferret.
We do still have a measure of freedom of speech, though Ferret may wish to suppress a wider selection of views s/he disagrees with.
Expression of views about race is currently tightly regulated. Expression of views about drug use is not. With the exceptions enshrined in the Equalities Act, we remain free to say or write what we think. Ferret has no right not to be offended.
On Sun 2 Dec at 2:17pm Clifford wrote:
I probably disagree with you about most things Fairmeadow, but on this i do agree. We have no right not to be offended and we should have every right to express our opinion, obnoxious as it may be. It's only by the clash of ideas, opinions and even insults that we can make our minds up. My taste is for insulting religion and right wing politics, and I expect to get back as good as I've given.
On Sun 2 Dec at 2:28pm Ferret wrote:
@Fairmeadow "Ferret has no right not to be offended". Hmm, confusing. Are you trying to say I have a right to be offended by offensive comments? In which case you are right. And as for being a "member of the illiberal left", it really has nothing to do with being illiberal or left in political terms. I'm pretty sure the vast majority of ordinary people do not wish to see the ravings of lunatic racists, homophobes etc on a web forum which carries their town or district's name, and which might otherwise be a valuable local asset.
On Sun 2 Dec at 2:37pm Ferret wrote:
@Clifford "My taste is for insulting religion and right wing politics" is also ambiguous.. I presume you mean you like to insult those who have different religious beliefs or politics to yourself, not that you enjoy insulting those of a religious persuasion, and that you are yourself right wing.. If you can do that within the bounds of common decency, fine. I am neither religious or politically rigid, so I have no particular axe to grind.
On Sun 2 Dec at 4:17pm Balance wrote:
As with all things, balance. I believe in freedom of speech, and that might occasion some offence. Hate speech, however, is a different matter and is illegal. The web master should remove and ban any posters who espouse hatred or incite others to it. The only other thing is to say how annoying it is on this forum that reasonable questions that pertain to the local area are so often met with nonsense and insults. That is what makes it a pointless forum as far as I’m concerned.
On Sun 2 Dec at 4:18pm ivy wrote:
'There's the rub', the anonymous nature of this forum has advantages. People feel more protected when revealing information helpful to the wider community. At times it has in essence provided a whistle stopper's forum - more than one campaign on the side of the angels has been won via these pages. Useful in these secret and sometimes corrupt times.
On Sun 2 Dec at 4:43pm Earl of Lewess wrote:
I agree with Ivy. The anonymity can be useful when it comes to having an honest discussion about local issues, but there should be some mechanism for stopping the silly, teenage trolls and those who would use the forum to promote a local business (Aqua was the worst offender) or a political party. Of course there will be grey areas where some will cry "Hate crime!" at the drop of a hat, but common sense usually prevails. As for contacting the police, they're already overworked, so I would be reluctant to report people unless it's a last resort. It would be better to name and shame, if that's possible.
On Sun 2 Dec at 5:02pm David Stanley wrote:
Webbo does well considering its just a sideline for him. Nanny banning doesn't always work, exposing morons to ridicule is good for everyone. Whenever I hear the use of the word "vile" I can't help thinking of someone rather aggressively delicate who feigns outrage on behalf of "victims" who are usually indifferent and unaware of the vapour sniffing being indulged in on their behalf.
On Sun 2 Dec at 5:44pm Ferret wrote:
@David Stanley I do hope that the people who those vile comments which triggered this thread were directed at remain unaware of them, as I am sure they would not have been indifferent to them. They would horrify and anger any decent person who is aware of European history.
On Sun 2 Dec at 10:22pm Fairmeadow wrote:
Sorry the double negative was too complicated for you, Ferret. Trying to put it more simply, no one is allowed by the Equalities Act to express views others may find offensive on those issues protected by the Equalities Act. A person may, at the present time, still hold such views, but may not express them without consequences. Clifford should note that the protected issues include religious beliefs. However, people can be as offensive as they like about other issues, including your or their political views or your or their views on drug use, and if you are offended you just have to put up with being offended. To that extent we still have free speech.
On Sun 2 Dec at 10:52pm Ferret wrote:
@Fairmeadow No need for the sarcasm, your double negative was clear enough, but didn't express what you wanted go say. Never mind the law, there is also common decency. It may be legal to write about offensive matters (such as the pleasures of dogging, drug use etc) but there is also common decency. Thanks for you opinion anyway.
On Sun 2 Dec at 11:09pm Nathan wrote:
For what it's worth I'm very pleased to see intelligent debate on the forum. No ignorant mud-slinging, just differing opinions. This is what forums are for - not deliberately provocative nonsense from mindless morons. How we should respond to the morons isn't straightforward though. I know I'm guilty of rising to these trolls and I'm not proud of it but sometimes it's REALLY hard not to!
On Tue 4 Dec at 8:22pm Grumbleweed wrote:
Whilst not having read the offending article(s), so unaware of it'scontent, one has to ask why name calling is taken so seriously. If snowflakes feel they cannot cope with the actions of imbecilic morons who go out of their way to confirm they are low calibre in the intelligence stakes, then maybe the best course of action would be to avoid social media sites. What happened to free speech and the adage "sticks and stones will break my bones"?
On Tue 4 Dec at 11:28pm Ferret wrote:
@Grumbleweed: The comments went far beyond "name calling". They broke the law with respect to hate speech, never mind being in clear breach of the terms and conditions of the forum. Free speech has its limits, which is why we have libel laws and such things as the Racial and Religious Hatred Act. Some of us "snowflakes" respect the law enough to want to see it enforced.
On Tue 4 Dec at 11:49pm Green Sleeves wrote:
Well said ferret. People like grumbleweed simply don't see the consequences of hate speech, hence "sticks and stones" type comments. Er, no. People in minorities get hurt because of ignorant attitudes perpetuated by hate speech and normalising it.
On Sun 9 Dec at 11:06am webbo wrote:
@Ferret
Thank you for letting me know about the posts, as you know I deleted them as soon as I could. If I had known about it 13 hours sooner I would have deleted it then. As you also know I introduced mandatory registration before posting as soon as I could too.
I have also implemented much more closer monitoring of posts.
I hope this course of action will stop these vile posts and greatly reduce the amount of mindless trolling that has been blighting this forum for too long now.