Swearing

Longbow

Longbow

Longbow

Soldato
Joined
15 Jan 2004
Posts
10,185
Can I get clarification on what's allowed on here? I've e-mailed several admins, but got no response. Does this thread need updating?

From what I can work out:

Not Allowed
  • Linking to a Youtube video with swearing
  • Not full staring out a swear word

Allowed
  • Linking to a news site's video with swearing


What about these?

  • Linking to a news site that doesn't fully star out swear words?
  • Linking to a Youtube video with swearing in the comments?
  • Linking to another forum/reddit with someone swearing in the comments?
 
Think I read a mods posts somewhere saying they have slightly relaxed the issue with swearing and linked videos with such.

But that didn't mean all out foul languge.

Was something along those lines and was about a week ago.
 
The forum automatically blanks out swearwords like **** or ****

It even blanks out your password if you type it in to stop account theft, pretty cool if you ask me. Try it!

Password: ***********
 
Regardless of the nature of the linked page (news, image, video, entertainment, whatever) - if there are prohibited words in it it isn't allowed.

For this reason swearing and the posting of "adult" or offensive material is forbidden. Simply replacing some of the letters in a swearword with a * or any other character is not acceptable. If you must then please replace the whole word with ***** or other repeated character.

Images containing nudity, adult or offensive material, including swearing are prohibited. Please check your images before posting. No watermarks or URLs for sites containing content that wouldn't normally be allowed such as competitors, adult sites etc.
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Comments are difficult to police as they are ever-changing and some articles have thousands of them. You can't expect mods to pick through them looking for certain words. If the comments have immediately clear or excessive swearing at the time of posting then it will be picked up. If something hasn't been picked up it likely hasn't been seen so report it or message a mod. I'm always happy to help and am pretty quick on the email.
 
To answer the original thread - which was temporarily moved so that I could run past some changes with the team. We hope that you appreciate/accept and not abuse the new guidelines below.

I am happy to entertain comments/questions and suggestions in this thread.

We will start applying these new rules as of now. Please be sensible, and do not this as an opportunity to push the boundaries or push the discretion we are allowing too far. We still expect mature responses, with any links posted to be relevant to the thread/discussion.

*These will be added to the FAQs*

Longbow said:
  • Linking to a Youtube video with swearing:
    We're trying to be more flexible, whilst we'd rather you didn't link to a site or a video with swearing, if there is some depending on how blatant and frequent it is we will either a) leave it b) delete the link. Worst case scenario will be if the content is deemed unacceptable or the post is purposefully trying to circumvent the swear filter; either to make a point or be funny or just that the poster did not take time to check how suitable the link is. In this case action may be taken.

    It may not necessarily end in a suspension or an infraction. e.g. if there are a handful of swear words in a 30 min video it is unlikely that we are going to bother doing anything about it. If it is a page littered with profanity, and does not add value to the discussion or thread then it will be removed - any further action will be discussed.

    For example: that Ronnie Pickering video is very much not acceptable. Lots of profanity, even in the title.

    The "cereal shop riot" posted on the Guardian site is acceptable.

    Embedding an image which contains swearing is not allowed as it basically circumvents the swear filter.

    If in doubt - ask, either by rtm'ing your post, or emailing us. It is up to you to be responsible for your posts. If you contact us, and it happens that your post is unacceptable it will be less of an issue than if you did not bother to check.


    [*]Not full staring out a swear word:
    The forum software automatically censors swear words, however if you only partially star out, it may seem as though you are trying to circumventing the swear filter. Either fully star it yourself, or let the forum software deal with it. Use "preview post" to check if the swearing has been filtered. Depending on the severity of the word, an infraction/warning may be given. If the swearing is considered excessive, despite warnings, then further action may be taken.

    [*]Linking to a news site's video with swearing:
    A few words in a news article it's unlikely we will do anything. If it is a page littered with profanity, and actually does not add value to a conversation or the forums then it will be removed - any further action will be discussed. If a link is posted purposely to circumvent swearing rules (i.e. a picture with lots of swearing, or a big swear word and nothing else) it will be treated as a cheeky attempt at circumventing the rules.


  • Linking to a news site that doesn't fully star out swear words:
    If the context is valid, and it is not every other word and within reason it is fine. Worse case the link will be removed and you will advised that it was a little OTT. However I doubt this will ever need any more than that.

    [*]Linking to a Youtube video with swearing in the comments
    That is out of our control, as long as the video is suitable. If it becomes excessive we may as a team discuss it - but I don't see our role is to police the internet, and expect a little bit of discretion from both our moderators and our users alike.

    If the link you are posting is to specifically to discuss a comment which is littered with swearing - this will be treated as excessive swearing and the link removed and an advisory left.

  • Linking to another forum/reddit with someone swearing in the comments:
    As previously stated, I'd rather we didn't purposefully link to sites littered with swearing, however, if it is occasional and in context and not excessive it will unlikely be removed. We do not want to suspend for petty things like that, but we also expect a bit of common sense. Again, if in doubt ask!

I suggest that if you post something which maybe is a little risqué that you RTM your own post. At least at that stage we will be aware that you are trying to mitigate the issue and look favourably on the post rather than moderating it unnecessarily. We want to be more flexible, but we also need you guys to be sensible and not abuse it or push the boundaries too far.

The reason we don't have swearing on the forum is that we want to have a place where people can discuss things without resorting to swearing or which leads to more aggressive personal attacks (which will still be moderated without compromise). It makes the forum a nicer place to be. So we will not be relaxing the swearing rules ON the forum or items that are embedded (like an image or youtube video with swearing written on it). However our approach to try and be more flexible with linked articles and items should hopefully make it less of a pain.
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I was taught by parents and at school that "bloody hell", "Sod's Law", "bugger off" and "crap" were all swear words, yet they're allowed on here.

Then on the opposite side of the coin, I was taught that "a-hole", a word that rhymes with "brick" and a word that starts with pill and ends with -ock aren't swear words, yet they are blocked on here.

So a bit confused :p

I know the really obvious ones aren't allowed e.g. the 4-letter word.

P.S. what about images that involve the v-sign? (and I don't mean victory!!)
 
OhEsEcks said:
What about swearing in music videos for the music / box office sub forum. Does this mean we can now post N.W.A?
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Think about it sensibly.

If it's a gangster rap video, chances are the swearing is going to be excessive. That said if you link with a warning as to what it is it rather than embedding it if we think it is excessive we're more likely to remove the link and leave it at that.

i.e. we're trying to be less harsh with the suspension/infractions for things which add value to the forums. So take the cereal shop incident - a few of the articles contained swearing, it seems daft to stop people linking to the article as it is relevant to the story/discussion. Posting a screen shot of some rude word just to post the screen shot of the rude work on OcUK isn't really adding value.

Anyway, all I ask, is that people post with care, and what I want people to realise that we will be less inclined to suspend for swearing - providing the guidelines now posted are being acknowledged!
 
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