ABUSE GUIDELINES

(adapted from USA Today)

All user content on our site should be civil and appropriate. But TodaY's THV must also take a light and consistent approach to moderation, so reader interaction can enjoy healthy development.  We realize that overreacting to comments or otherwise responding inappropriately can cause as much trouble for us as the comments themselves.

We recognize our audience has a wide array of backgrounds, perspectives and methods of expression. Hearing directly from readers tests our fairness more than traditional content handling, and we should rise to meet that challenge.

OBSCENITIES AND VULGARITIES
We ban all common obscenities. Delete any comment appearing to sneak around our list of banned words. Changing one letter of a word doesn't make it appropriate, and neither do most abbreviations. If you find a word that should be banned, inform management.  Interpret "vulgarity" as sexually, violently or disgustingly graphic references or descriptions.

What's not obscenity/vulgarity: Blanking the whole word is acceptable, such as in "He's a #$%& loser.  Light profanities used in everyday culture are also acceptable.  Examples include damnand hell. The same holds for culturally common abbreviations of profanities, like BS.

HATE SPEECH
Delete any comment using cultural slurs or stereotypes. For open and direct use of racial slurs immediately suspend the user.  If the discussion is about slurs then judge appropriately.

THREATS OF VIOLENCE
Also, delete any comment that involves a threat of violence or harm, whether the threat is realistic or not. These types of comments most often involve public figures or controversial players in stories.

What's not hate speech: Negative comments on cultural groups are acceptable if they are free of slurs, stereotypes and violence. "I wish we'd let the South go" or "Illegal immigrants aren't welcome here" or [Insert cultural group here] are breaking God's laws" are not hate speech. Historically debunked remarks, such as comments denying the Holocaust or disputing the cause of the Sept. 11 attacks, are acceptable if the comments are free of slurs, stereotypes and violence and do not break other rules.

PERSONAL ATTACKS
We prohibit users from attacking other users. While a user can attack another user's argument, directly insulting the other user is off limits. Be aware personal attacks often prompt responses. If a reported comment appears borderline, read the full discussion to get a better sense of the situation.

What's not a personal attack: Users often incorrectly report personal attacks on public figures, such as presidents and sports stars. We allow criticism of public figures, including all Today's THV journalists. Remove these attacks only if the text breaks other rules, such as those involving vulgarity or hate speech. Also, just as we distinguish between "personal" and "public," we also distinguish between "personal" and "collective." Criticisms of groups of people, such as political parties, are acceptable--again as long as the criticisms do not break other site rules.

ADVERTISING & SPAM
Advertising abuse constitutes the promotion of a product or service off a news report for reasons of personal gain. If you find a user advertising in a comment, visit the user's profile and look for more advertising. If a user advertises in one place, more advertising comments often follow elsewhere.

Spam comments posted the same messages repeatedly across the site are harder to spot. What may seem like an odd note in a conversation may be spam across many conversations on the site. If you suspect spam, visit a user's profile and read other comments. Delete all spam comments.

What's not advertising/spam: Be sure to distinguish a mention from a promotion.  In story comments, for instance, people can legitimately mention their bank or favorite exercise website if appropriate.

Also, the rules are different away from news reports. Users can legitimately mention and promote their businesses on their own personal profiles and blogs, as long as conversation stays civil and appropriate. Personal profiles and blogs are expressions of users' lives, and their businesses are part of their lives.

COPYRIGHT AND PLAGIARISM
Users must follow the same fair use guidelines we do. Posting a full story, blog post or image from another site is prohibited. We instead encourage readers to post links to content.

OTHER ABUSE
Abuse reported as other often falls under one of the above categories. If you receive a case that does not appear to fall under these guidelines, inform a manager.

IF THE CONVERSATION GETS HEATED

Reasonable people can use capital letters, exclamation points and mild insults in their comments, but exchanging combinations of these tactics can lead to more heated situations. As these situations often involve regular users, we want to diffuse the situations while retaining readership.

Attempt to diffuse a heated conversation by using the friendly and cool-handed manner of a moderator. Ask the readers to keep the conversation civil. Remind them we have to keep the conversation open and engaging for all. Using the generic section profiles to post these messages can help convey authority, so you can take a lighter hand in your wording. Keep your message short and do not take sides.

IF A PICTURE IS OFFENSIVE
We must follow Today's THV standard image guidelines. Images of violence, nudity or disgusting acts should be removed from the site as soon as they are seen. Also remove any images that include inappropriate text. If an image is borderline, consult an editor.
If a user's icon is inappropriate but their profile and comments are fine, you can delete just the icon.

IF A USER PROFILE IS OFFENSIVE
Profile abuse is rare. Users cannot report specific profiles for abuse, but they may report them in the comments or elsewhere. If you find inappropriate material in a profile in the "About me" or interests, for instance inform the network editor or the on-call editor. We can then leave the user a profile message, asking for a change; or we can e-mail the user. In worst-case scenarios, we can block the user's profile.

IF THE USERNAME IS OFFENSIVE
People are creative when making usernames, sometimes more creative than in comments. If you see a clearly inappropriate username, suspend the user's account and delete the user's recent comments.

IF A USER ABUSES THE "REPORT ABUSE" FUNCTION
Anyone, whether logged into our site or not, can hit the "Report abuse" button. If the reporter is logged in, the abuse report shows the reporter's username. If not, the abuse reporter displays as "Anonymous."

Users may abuse the function by reporting a multitude of comments or writing inappropriate comments in their abuse reports. In cases where the user is logged in, treat this abuse as you would comments. If the user appears to be repeatedly malicious, consider suspension.

For anything short of such a problem, simply ignore the report. Some users misunderstand the meaning of their actions. They may use abuse reports to respond to other people's comments, to vent or to attempt to silence other readers. Political comments are often reported incorrectly for abuse.

IF YOU'RE STILL UNSURE ABOUT AN ABUSE REPORT
If you're unsure about how to act on a report, consult a manager. If you don't understand an allegedly abusive comment, read the full discussion.  Seek the counsel of others to help clarify a situation.