Private Information Posted on Website

[TotallyOz]

We do not allow private information of our members to be posted on this forum. It is a violation of our rules and is grounds for immediate banning of the individual posting this information.

 

We have not done a great job at stopping personal attacks during one thread on this board. As an admin, I should have stepped in immediately to warn members that this was not acceptable. I accept responsibility for this and will attempt to stop things from happening before they escalate out of control. It is often hard for moderators to determine what constitutes a personal attack and we have had this debate several times in the moderator forum. We will continually strive to make sure the site remains free of this at the same time trying make sure we give posters the ability to speak freely.

 

Personal information that is posted is not hard to determine. If you post personal information about a member on this board, you will be removed from the site. There are no exceptions to this rule.

 

Personal information is any information that identifies a person or his residence or place of employment and includes but is not necessarily limited to:

 

- first and last name

- residential or business address

- phone number

- Social Security number

- credit card number

- e-mail address

- Photos of subject or subject's family/friends/pets/place of residence or employment/study, automobile*, or auto license plate.

- IP address

- age or any other specific information which clearly identifies an individual.

[Gaybutton]

I would appreciate you contacting me if someone does that. If someone who does that sort of thing is also a member of my board, I'll ban him there too. I don't think any of the boards need people like that.

 

Unfortunately, some people get far too carried away on these boards. I think people ought to be aware that most boards are going to be very cooperative with each other when it comes to people who are out to harm others.

[Guest fountainhall]

Thanks to Scooby for making this regulation clear. I am ashamed to say I only recently looked at the Message Center policies. There is one other point which I am sure Scooby will not mind my highlighting here -

 

The expected conduct standard for the Gay Thailand forums is the same as that observed everyday in society by adults in our neighborhoods, towns, and cities. It is based on straightforward mature behavior, civility and courtesy that you find in a neighborhood Pub or Tavern where neighbors and acquaintances joined by occasional strangers come together to socialize in good temper, to share conversation, and to hoist, in moderation, a glass of favorite beer or wine or a cup of coffee or tea.

This certainly sums up the quality of most of the discussions on this forum over the years I have been reading it. Even when we disagree, we can do so within the accepted norms of good-tempered debate and an understanding that our views may often not reflect those of others.

[Guest gwm4sian]

We do not allow private information of our members to be posted on this forum.

 

Having read the rules, it would appear that the only protection afforded is to those who are members (other than host or go go workers)

 

Does that mean it is permissible to post ,for example, a report that so and so of such and such an address was suspected by the police of xx country of being a paedophile?

 

Or how about posting information about a business owner who was not a member or reader?

 

Or how about posting information about an ex-member (maybe now deceased)?

 

What about a board member who is arrested and charged with an offence? Would it be wrong to link to a newspaper report that included his full name and other details?

 

And if it is OK to quote information that is alrady "in the public domain" such as a newspaper, is the onus on the poster to monitor that information and alter his post should the public domain information subsequently be proved wrong or retracted in any way?

 

 

I am not trying to be awkward, just point out that the current rules may not be explicit enough to cover all circumstances.

 

Maybe it is better to have a simple rule that says "no personal information" without the current caveats and leave the rest to the judgement of the moderators?

[Bob]

Geez, I'm not sure this or any board needs rules to cover every hypothetical situation. Use reasonable judgment and you'll be fine (and you won't have to bother looking at the rules). I've actually never read them (and, yea, which probably means I only violate them once a week or so....).