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Author:   Matt Deatherage  
Posted: 1/20/05; 10:39:39 PM
Topic: NoTalkRight
Msg #: 1040 (top msg in thread)
Prev/Next: 1039/1041
Reads: 8166

NoTalkRight

I'm a big fan of Jeralyn Merritt's TalkLeft blog, and I sympathize with the problems Jeralyn (a working attorney) has had in dealing with trolls and comment spams, but this is just not the way to proceed:

I suspect that anti-choice people will read this post and want to leave comments here supporting the action of the mortuary and church. Since I will have to wade through their comments and delete those that do not conform to TalkLeft's commenting rules, prominently displayed on the home page, I've come up with a solution: All comments supporting the action will be deleted unless a $2.00 paypal donation to TalkLeft to cover my time to read them is made. (Long quotes, especially those from the Bible, and comments that violate TalkLeft's commenting policy will be deleted regardless of payment.)

In anticpation of freedom of speech complaints, remember, TalkLeft is a personal site, I am not the Government, and I am not obligated to host comments. If the thread gets hijacked or too many responses supporting the action are made without payment, I'll shut down the comments.

She's well within her rights, but it's still wrong. Making people pay to post an opposing point of view is worse than what our opponents do. I know the trolls get bad, but I can't see how this is any way to deal with them. I don't have better ideas, but I know a bad one when I see it.

# - Posted to Politics on 1/20/05; 10:39:41 PM - Discuss -

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