Here are the official rules: Terms of Service - Straight Dope Message Board
Here is the entire section on Hate Speech:
Hate speech. Do not post hate speech directed against any race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or other group identity (except for political affiliation or leaning) in any forum. To elaborate:
- Hate speech – that is, slurs and other pejorative remarks about groups that in our opinion are clearly hateful – is prohibited in all forums. If you see instances of hate speech on the SDMB, please flag the post and we will take such action as we think appropriate.
- Not all pejorative comments about groups rise to the level of hate speech. We recognize there are differences of opinion on what constitutes hate speech. We leave it to the SDMB community to debate such questions, with the understanding that final judgment on what constitutes hate speech is the responsibility of SDMB staff. If you believe a post is hateful, you are free to say so, provided you abide by our rule against insults – see point #10 below. Others are free to disagree with you. The belief that the truth will emerge from the clash of views in open debate is a cardinal principle of this board.
The rule against hate speech includes the following prohibitions and clarifications:
- No slurs or cheap shots. Do not post slurs or other cheap shots based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender orientation, or other group identity except for political affiliation or leaning. Example: In a discussion of Henry Ford ordering his engineers to examine a foreign aircraft so they could copy it, poster A commented, “What the h*ll did Ford think he was, Chinese or something?” This gratuitous remark in a thread having nothing to do with China plays to the stereotype that Chinese people as a class are ripoff artists. This is a cheap shot. Remarks of this type will be modded.
Please note that we would not object to fact-based discussions of whether Chinese entities engage in intellectual property theft. This is a debatable proposition. See further discussion below.
- The rule against slurs applies to all ethnic groups including whites. This is a change from past practice. The goal of the SDMB is to promote civil discussion. Slurs impede this goal.
- Criticism of groups to be clearly framed as a debatable proposition. Criticism of groups or their members on factual grounds is not considered hate speech and is not a violation of SMDB rules, provided it is clearly framed as a debatable proposition. By this we mean that (a) the asserted criticism should be expressed in unambiguous language and not rely on innuendo, “dog whistles,” or the like, and (b) in principle, the criticism could be shown to be unfounded.
- Example #1: In a thread about Will Smith’s slapping of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards, user B urged others to Google a photo of the event’s producer (who was Black) and “draw your own conclusions.” User B also said that pointing out the “truths at play here … would get me permanently banned.” This post relies on innuendo, making it impossible to say what is being asserted, except that user B believes it constitutes a bannable offense. Such posts do not promote discussion. If you do not have the courage of your convictions and are unwilling or unable to express your claims clearly, do not make them.
- Example #2: In a separate thread, user C cited the post by user B in the previous example and claimed it constituted hate speech. User B responded, “The reason that the person who assaulted another person wasn’t escorted from the room is because the Producer of record is also an African-American… We all look out for our own. It’s human nature… I think that the Producer was looking out for his own.” This is a debatable proposition – it is easy to imagine alternative explanations for the failure to eject Smith. The question of whether it is racist is also arguable. If something is debatable, our policy is to let people debate it.
- We reserve the right to prohibit topics of which we have grown weary – see Tired topics for the current list.
- If we detect a pattern of pejorative or otherwise objectionable comments about groups by you that, taken individually, do not rise to the level of hate speech but that, in aggregate, detract from civil discussion, we may tell you to stop; failure to do so may result in suspension or revocation of your posting privileges.
- You are free to criticize a post as racist provided you refrain from insults. Direct your comments at the post, not the poster. “This post is racist” is not objectionable. “You are a racist” is an insult and may result in a warning or other mod action. Do not attempt to skirt this rule with remarks such as “only a racist would say such a thing” or other game-playing.
To summarize, slurs and other remarks that in our opinion are clearly hateful are a violation of SDMB rules. However, we do not wish to rule preemptively on every comment that could possibly be construed as hate speech and make such judgments on a case by case basis.
I’m leaning towards breaking the link.
Where does she state it “reflects her own opinion.”
We also want to allow conversation, but don’t want to support hate sites. In fact the link breaks now. The rest we’ll discuss and review.
After another flag and seeing how hijacked the thread has become, I’ve close the thread until Tuesday at 11am EST.
I’m also giving @DemonTree as short suspension while we sort this out. A warning might follow or a longer suspension.
Last note in this post: I’ve bumped this up to the Modloop. I’m asking a long suspension. It appears to be closer to trolling than posting in that thread. 110 posts is oddly obsessive also out of 1068 posts.