Moderation philosophy regarding political content in this community

Trek friends,

On behalf of the moderator team here - we recognize that the political atmosphere is tense right now, which has lead to some heated interactions in the comments sections, and ultimately led to a discussion amongst us mods about the best way to handle political content in this community. There isn't one answer that is going to make everyone happy, but this is where we've landed today.

Firstly, Star Trek has been making political commentary since its inception in the 1960s, and if there is any singular point to the series, it's to inspire people to come together and discuss deep existential questions about ourselves and the society in which we live. With that in mind, we feel that it would be a disservice to the community to discourage or flat out ban political posts. What that means is that people are free to share their personal political opinions and make memes about politics and current events from a Star Trek angle. What that does NOT mean is that all opinions are socially acceptable - we are not going to tolerate intolerance, so any posts/comments that are directly racist, anti-LGBT, or are generally "othering" of a group will result in removal/ban. Remember that diversity and coexistence are Star Trek values, and that sometimes this is going to include people who hold opposing viewpoints. It's ok to disagree strongly with each other, have opposing party affiliations, or love/hate a politician, but please keep discussions civil and respectful.

This decision isn't necessarily permanent, and long-time community members will remember that we've tried different approaches in the past, so after a couple of weeks or so, please let us know how you feel about this. With the news recently, we figured it was a good time to readdress our moderation philosophy. We don't want political content to be the primary draw of the community, but we also don't want to feel like we are being too heavy-handed with our moderation, so we're hoping to strike a healthy balance here of people sharing the same silly memes without irl politics being off limits.

LLAP

17 comments

Just a reminder about not tolerating intolerance.
The Paradox of Tolerance disappears if you look at tolerance not as a moral standard, but as a social contract.
If someone does not abide by the terms of the contract, then they are not covered by it.
In other words: The intolerant are not following the rules of the social contract of mutual tolerance.
Since they have broken the terms of the contract, they are no longer covered by the contract, and their intolerance should NOT be tolerated.
via: https://newsie.social/@ZhiZhu/109667839755020395
- Oh trust me, it's what I said repeatedly during mod conversations about this. I will leave the people who want to try that shit a bloody streak on the pavement before I let them infect Ten Forward. Just because we have come to this conclusion doesn't mean we're going to sleep on anything. I will crucify those who try. This fags furious.
  
  Thank you and the other mods for your vigorous protection of this space. Ten Forward, since its (recent) inception, has been nothing but a place of joy for me. We need what joy we can get, especially now, so I'm immensely grateful for this space and the people who share their ridiculous Star Trek memes, inside jokes, and absurdity.
  We "Khan" make it through this.
  Edited to fix a typo.
  
  This fags furious.
  This reminds me... I had fun explaining to my daughter today that when we move to Britain, she needs to understand that 'fag' means cigarette and the longer version of that word (it got auto-removed!) is a kind of meatball made of pork.
  I also told her that if she's worried about it, I'm sure asshole kids will still be happy to call her a dyke to make her feel at home.

As always, hats off, the mod team here always does an excellent job and is compromised of some of my favorite people on Lemmy.
Thanks for all the hard labor to make this space comfortable for all.
- <3

I was slightly nervous when reading the title but as always completely agreed with the well thought out decisions by the team. Trek has always been at the forefront of social justice and it is very much fitting that its memes reflect that now. As Picard has demonstrated to Q time and time again, humanity can overcome this shit
- Yep! It's a running theme in Trek that humanity doesn't resolve our differences by ignoring them or by ostracizing people we disagree with. Messy, but respectful coexistence is better than homogeneity.
  
  Wow, so VERY well said:-).

Fantastic! 😍
Perhaps add a note explicitly mentioning that decrying fascism, racism, etc. is not "othering"? Like the Dominion, they are not simply out there living their best life, but actively trying to kill people (and succeeding all too often), but it is their actions that are harmful, not their overall sheer existence.
- but it is their actions that are harmful, not their overall sheer existence.
  This exactly. Call out the action, policy, comments, but not broad generalizations inherent to people's existence. Like, "I think what politician X from Georgia said the other day echoes fascism." is fair game, but "Georgians are fascist." is not.
  
  I like that phrasing:-).
- The post does mention not tolerating intolerance which covers fascism, racism, etc.

17 comments