[IMC-Boston-Editorial] sofia and policy

[visnusdream at juno.com]

i just want to say I'm glad there is some nice discussion going on about these issues.

Sofia, I think the lack of of "documentation" you mentioned is a significant problem. It has come up repeatedly. Unfortunately, I have no suggestions about how to solve it. We need a data base that is well organized, and search-able. I'm just not management savvy enough to even know where to look for the available software, nor do I have the skills to invent it. 

As you rightly point out the rules are clearly stated on the site; but when this latest article became an issue, one person made the point that we can delete whatever we want and we don't have to explain it. Although I respect the BIMC's right to do that, I think we should make every effort to explain our actions. I am posting the editorial guidelines from the site at the end of this message. None of them applies to the MOBE article. 

I don't even like the article; I think it was a ridiculous point to make. However, I agree wholeheartedly with tree monkey: we should feel compelled to explain to our contributors, with coherent statements, about why any particular article is deleted or hidden. 

There is quite a bit of criticism of MOBE on the site, but there is also a lot of criticism of ANSWER, the communists, the socialists, the capitalist, and the anarchist block. Whether we like it or not, the site is most frequently used by activists and they are likely to bring their differences of opinion to this forum. As long as the information is accurate, we should not get in the middle of these disputes, anymore than we should try to curb the dissemination of accurate but politically damaging information about the President. 
In a democracy, criticism is healthy. 

If we don't let people post negative things about MOBE, how will MOBE's leadership even know these questions about their ethics are of concern to the community?
 
Think about how different things might have turned out if the IMC forum would have existed, providing a space for engaging conversation, during the last years of the Black Panthers, when the FBI was destroying them with subtle internal propaganda. Part of the reason some of those tactics were effective was because there was no single place were the rank and file members could come together to  discuss the pertinent issues with other members of the community. 

IMC helps break down barriers and hierarchies. When a vibrant discussion is taking place, with lots of different opinions being expressed, even if I think the topic is trivial, I believe it is in the best interest of all to allow the discussion to continue. 

I'm glad that we were able to have this particular article re-instated.
Love,
Jamie 

We have consensed on hiding the following types of posts: 

1. Hate posts; posts that explicitly express sexism, racism, homophobia, or other forms of prejudice. 
2. Threats of Violence. 
3. Slanderous or libelous material. 
4. Personal attacks or insults. 
5. Advertising. 
6. Pornography. 
7. Duplicates or extremely similar posts. 
8. Disruptive or provocative material clearly intended to impede constructive activity on the site. 
9. Misinformation. 

We have consensed on deleting these kinds of posts: 

1. Any hate posting that also carries media such as photos, audio or video clips (to prevent the use of our server as a linkable storage space) 
2. Any post by an individual known by Indymedia to have consistently acted in a disruptive manner and that the collective has unanimously identified as a sabateur. 
3. Stories, pictures, video footage or other material that could potentially incriminate or otherwise endanger activists.