Ed. note: this is a statement to readers from the Star’s ownership and staff.

Re. Whitehorse Star comments section at whitehorsestar.com

In past months, we have had an ongoing issue with the comments section of the Whitehorse Star.

The comments section is not about censoring anyone. As a 124-year-old independent newspaper, we know the importance of allowing freedom of opinion.

Our readers should be allowed to express themselves, but the Star does not have to provide the venue for that.

Keeping the comments section open is a choice we’ve made, but it can be cancelled at any time. The Star is one of few media organizations that permit comments, and it’s rapidly becoming too large a task.

The abuse that comes in is astonishing.

People are complaining that comments are censored or not put up fast enough. We don’t look at the comments on weekends or after regular business hours.

Moderating comments is very time-consuming.

Comments have never been moderated on a volunteer basis, as has been suggested by some people. We will not be looking for someone or group to do this, as it is just not feasible.

However a lot of the comments that we receive are just plain nasty to one group or another. Some might find it humorous – but that doesn’t make it publishable. (It is amazing what some people will write when they don’t use their real name.)

The biggest problem with the comments is the length at which some of you will go to when you don’t like a comment, or when your comment is 
not published.

Everyone who writes a comment thinks theirs is 100-per-cent right, and any and all dissenting views are wrong.

The hate and vulgarity that we see are incredible. We are sworn at, called names and even threatened with violence.

We have been told comments will be nailed to the door if we don’t comply.

Ninety-nine per cent of this is done anonymously, of course – and with the use of fake email addresses.

While we are doing our best to keep the comments section open, there are some who consistently make that hard to do.

Just because a comment doesn’t get posted doesn’t mean we are a Communist or Fascist organization that is denying people their right to have their opinions.

Furthermore, we don’t care what side of the political spectrum you are on. We are non-political, and give access to all points, from far left to far right.

If people have that strong of an opinion and want that belief out there for all to read, please consider writing a letter to the editor. With letters, of course, you are required to submit your real name, which, with very rare exceptions, will be published.

However, that being said, here some of the rules for the comment section of our website.

You are supposed to send in comments with real names, not anonymously, as well as genuine addresses – not some of the nasty, made-up ones we see on a regular basis.

In the past, in certain circumstances, we have allowed anonymous comments so people could avoid having confrontations with employers or people in public in a small city as Whitehorse. The problem is that some commenters take advantage of this.

We don’t publish anything that can be considered libelous and or slanderous, racist or discriminatory. (What you consider to be libelous or slanderous may differ from the law’s definitions.)

You are not supposed to insult or degrade anybody because you don’t like their appearance, i.e. clothing or hair colour/style or what have you.

The Star cannot publish content taken from Facebook that may violate a court-imposed publication ban, or any other information that we cannot independently verify. Just because you saw it on the Internet does not necessarily make it true.

In the final analysis, we are not obligated to publish any comments from anyone.