There has been an increasing number of content that is bordering or crossing the lines concerning making "threats." So much so that we have been formally contacted regarding some content. We are better than this.
I'm not a lawyer, and you're not a lawyer, and it isn't Voat's place to defend illegal content. We don't have a staff to review content and don't have a team of lawyers dedicated to deciding what is and isn't lawful. I'm not also into endlessly debating what is and isn't legal as subjects like this often devolve into when everyone at the party is an "internet expert."
We have to deal with this issue and if content is in the grey area, we are going to remove it upon request. We also have to cooperate with law enforcement, I hope everyone fully understands that we are not attempting to operate outside of the law. Voat's purpose is to provide a collusion and censorship free place for discussion, not taking on a government.
It's easy to avoid this entire area: Word content maturely, avoid implicit and explicit language concerning the involvement of violence and the content won't be in question. Simple, so very simple.
After this post there will most likely be "users" testing this line and hoping we remove their content in order to claim censorship on Voat. This is just how things like this work. Don't fall for this Voat. It would be simply incredible if we just worked together on this instead of the typical shit storm posts like this usually generate.
As a reminder: Voat is for your personal, lawful use. See it here: https://voat.co/help/useragreement
That's all. Thanks for reading. Carry on.
Edit:
ProTip: I decided to post this before anything legal would prevent me from doing so. I have a feeling I know where this is going to lead.
I've also updated the canary to reflect this as well (this may be the last time that little guy gets an update, we will just have to wait and see).
view the rest of the comments →
TheNerdyCowboy ago
This statement should be sufficient if it stays sticky.
To expect the forum to be moderated by the hosts seems foolish. To take action as individuals against others( exempli gratia reporting a direct threat that seems legitimate to the authorities so they can take action against that individual).
Because police are lazy does not mean the forum should be closed. It is like them closing down a bar because drug dealers frequent the place instead of arresting the dealers.
If we are being pressured by authorities we should respond with "Do your job and take care of that individual and quit trying to bully me into doing your job for you". If a member of the communitu commits a crime (like saying they are going to personally kill Trudeau) then it is the police's job to find and stop them not ours. If they are too cheap and lazy to the point of trying to force us to work for them at our expense we should remind them that the community members pay taxes for a reason.
The police should be treated with respect, people don't join them to enforce tyrany. We should politely explain the situation. Along the lines of " This is a pubpic forum and we are hosting it. Criminals are part of the public and your duty to handle. I understand this task can be difficult but it is not my duty to do it for you, if I wanted to police the public I would be a police officer. You asking us to do your job is like asking a bar owner to investigate their patrons when everyone pays taxes for the police to investigate and capture criminals.