Admin: No Politics / Race / Religion Post & Respect Privacy

[HendryTan]

1. BW Posting guideline with explanation is PIN up at http://www.blowingwind.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=67 .

2. The moderators have recently met to discuss our posting guidelines that were in place since June 2005. We are unanimous in our support of the Posting Guidelines and will moderate strictly where such topics are concerned. (ie No politics, religion, race issues. No Libelous post. Strict respect of individual privacy)

3. There were several posts recently where some guest posted libelous comments. Some even went to post personal private details about other members. We view such transgression very NEGATIVELY. We will Moderate and delete any such posts when brought to our attention.

4. Enjoy the forum, but do use it wisely and observe our POSTING Guildelines.

Cheers

Hendry Tan

On behalf of the Moderator

POSTING GUIDELINES

1. Refrain from discussing about Singapore politics.

Group political discussions in Singapore are restricted to political parties. We are not one of them. So please refrain from posting anything concerning political parties, elections, political figures, the judiciary etc. in this forum. However, comments on social issues especially regarding gay life in Singapore is encouraged.

2. No racist and anti-religious comments

Racist and anti-religious comments about a particular religion is forbidden. We live in a multi-racial and multi-cultural society and we aspire to respect BWers of any races or religions. Racist or offensive religious comments will be removed immediately to protect the sensitivities of our readers.

3. Do not post libellous comments

Do not post information about a particular person or organisation you know is not true. Even if you do not know if the information is false, it is libellous to do so. Readers making such comments will be held legally responsible for their actions. Fair comments and opinions about people and organisations are allowed.

4. Anti-social behaviour.

Anti-social posting behaviour undermines the board as a source of valuable information and puts off many members, thereby deterring their continued participation. Examples of such behaviour include(though not limited to): posts with large font and/or all in CAPS, making one line comments that has little information value, posting out of topic, making irrelevant comments, continuously posting mean and hurtful remarks to other posters, communicating one to one in a thread (please use the private message system for this) or making consecutive and repetitive postings. Threads in our forums should either be of gay, gay-appeal or have a significant level of interest from our readers.

5. Respect for others' privacy.

Do not post the private information eg. names, pictures, phone numbers, addresses, place of work of individuals without getting their approvals first. Exempted are people whose information are either expected to be in the public domain, eg. free-lance masseurs or therapists. Comments or postings of pictures of individuals already available in the national media is allowed unless libellous comments are made about them.

Violators of the above guidelines are usually warned, and their comments edited if necessary. However, serious violations will warranted an immediate removal of the postings. Serial violators and trouble makers will have posting restrictions imposed on them.

BW does not exercise editorial control over any posting or private message and hence cannot be held liable for any comments made by registered or non-registered users of this board. As much as possible, we will attempt to protect posters if they post something libellous or if they inadvertently broke the laws, by removing or editing the posting as soon as possible. However readers are reminded they are responsible for their own speech and comments. Just stay away from commenting about political issues, races, religions and making pointed references about people and we should be all right.

[Guest Guest]

Great!

Pls also review on the latest thread on 'PRC Hotpot issue' and the use of 'boycott' in the postings.

Is it too strong a word? Perhaps it should be soften by using the word 'stop patronize'?

Some of us are sharing our stories based on true event. It is not to spread hatre for PRC in Singappore.

The concern is more of a hygiene issue. It is a very thin line. It is also good to hear from the Gay/Lesbian PRC

and their concern for treatment for PRC working in Singapore. Singaporean need to know that using abusive against PRC

working here is also not acceptable. Perhaps thru these discussion, however painful ot uncomfortable, we are able to raise awareness of such behaviour due to difference in lifestyle/habit. Most important, the prevention of these 'unhealthy' practices. Thanks.

[doggySg]

Politics only for political group?

I though it is an issue for all citiens regardless of age,gender and sexual orientation as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Singapore is one of the signatory?

Hmm..So non-political party members should not go to the polling booth during General elections as it is 'only for political groups/members' ??

[HendryTan]

Politics only for political group?

I though it is an issue for all citiens regardless of age,gender and sexual orientation as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which Singapore is one of the signatory?

Hmm..So non-political party members should not go to the polling booth during General elections as it is 'only for political groups/members' ??

Thanks for your feedback. At blowingwind, the moderators have decided that race, religion and politics are not topics we want to deal with in the forum.

Cheers !

[MeowPrince]

Way to go! I fully support this, as it enforces a little bit more sense of respect amongst participants on the forum. While it isn't easy to enforce and maintain, it is a sign of growth and maturity, IMHO.

Good job, admins! :thumb:

[Guest Guest]

Way to go! I fully support this, as it enforces a little bit more sense of respect amongst participants on the forum. While it isn't easy to enforce and maintain, it is a sign of growth and maturity, IMHO.

Good job, admins! :thumb:

is this a pap controlled website? whatever happen to free speech?

[HendryTan]

is this a pap controlled website? whatever happen to free speech?

This is a Gay Forum where even an anonymous guest like you can post. We do NOT know of any other major site in Singapore allowing such latitude.

We have chosen areas/topics we want to host and also NOT to host.

We chose to SPECIALISE in Gay topics for mature man. Our areas of discussion include gay cruising, massage, sexual escapades, gay saunas, sensual topics which are already in the "grey area". We do not intent to push on ALL "sensitive" fronts.

The BW moderators are highly opinionated individuals. However we also recognise that none of us have the specialty or insider knowledge in the sensitive areas of race, politics, religion; where you need "deeper knowledge" and finesse to moderate effectively.

On Free speech, we do NOT restrict your freedom, our house rule just say that these are not topics we like to host here. In fact there are very well run active community talking about politics, religion, race etc which we encourage you to participate.

eg theonlinecitizen is a good community. sammyboy is the most infamous. yawningbread is a very established site.

[Guest Ironrod]

Then BW should be a member or registered only site because you can't really control what guest says besides banning their IP.

Individuals should be responsible of what they wrote even in forum.

I don't see a point of this control since u guys allow guest to post anyways.

[HendryTan]

I don't see a point of this control since u guys allow guest to post anyways.

1. Thanks for the feedback on guest accounts. It is an issue we've received heavy feedback on.

2. The posting guidelines were codified in 2005 when the current generation of mods took over. It is far from perfect but it moves in the direction of Better Transparency.

3. The mods are up front with contributors on behaviour and topics that are NOT permitted in BW forum.

So when certain posts are deleted, you know why.

[Guest jayy]

Then BW should be a member or registered only site because you can't really control what guest says besides banning their IP.

I agree. The majority of offensive posts or outright spam are almost always created by these anonymous guests i.e. exploiting anonymity to post irresponsibly.

[Guest Guest]

Just as anyone has the right to freedom of expression or speech, are the moderators not exercising their own freedom by choosing which posts to delete? Isn't restriction and deleting a form of expression of disapproval?

As for having everyone registered to prevent irresponsible posting, are registered users any less anonymous? By requiring registration only serves to add a layer of inconvenience at most.

[Guest amidst_the_stars]

I agree. The majority of offensive posts or outright spam are almost always created by these anonymous guests i.e. exploiting anonymity to post irresponsibly.

Yeah. The difference between anoymous guests and registered members posting offensive posts is that guests can always get away with it and no one will ever know whos behind those acts. Whereas for registered members, they have already attain a certain level of identity in the forum and there is a possibility that they are already acquainted with some of the members in the forum, thus having some kind of familiarity here already.

I am a very good example in which a guest who is obviously a BW registered member that I have most probably have figured out who, exploits the anoymity of a guest to not only spam offensive posts about me , but resorted to digging out personal information abt me from other gay social networking websites and paste here to attack me personally. All because this guest didn't like and took offence at what I posted and was probably enraged at the fact that why I "hoodwinked" the mods to delete incriminating posts, in which I did not do anything except report what was done. Can you imagine if i had posted even more personal infomation in the other gay social networking website? In the end I was the one who got the shorter end of the stick because the guest is after all, anoymous through and through, unless the mod chooses to out him out.

Thus, from these series of events, its quite obvious that guests can have the upperhand if they choose to inflict libelous insults on registered members, although not all guests are like that. And if we registered members post offensive or divisive posts, we will get -ve reputaion points, have our posts down the Flaming Room , warnings from mod or even face suspension. All of these would be displayed for everyone to see in the forum.Thus registered members are the ones that are more vulnerable in this aspect because a certain level of their identities are already invested in this BW account, especially those who have placed their own face pics.

I know this forum is all about Better Transparency and I respect that, and that we registered members also have to take responsibility on what we write here. But if "guests" like what I described above do appear and create havoc again, will deleting posts be sufficient ?

Edited April 11, 2011 by amidst_the_stars

[waterballoon]

Well, every forum around restricts sensitive topics like politics, race and religion. Don't you guys know that it's actually illegal to post derogatory/racist remarks even on an online site like forums/blogs? So aren't the mods, in a way, protecting us?

Also, I agree that the posting of "Guests" is EXTREMELY annoying at times, but I think, it's also good that there's some sort of freedom going on, seeing as how this is a forum for gay men after all. I can understand that not everyone wants to be a member here.

Anyway, I really don't see how restricting race/politics/religion is in any way bad. Discussing too much on such sensitive issues often leads to misunderstandings, flaming, bashing, off-topic harsh treatment etc. Look at the PRC Hotpot thread, I think that's a classic example of how a discussion that involves a sensitive issue has gone out of hand.

[suckmenao]

Yeah. The difference between anoymous guests and registered members posting offensive posts is that guests can always get away with it and no one will ever know whos behind those acts. Whereas for registered members, they have already attain a certain level of identity in the forum and there is a possibility that they are already acquainted with some of the members in the forum, thus having some kind of familiarity here already.

I am a very good example in which a guest who is obviously a BW registered member that I have most probably have figured out who, exploits the anoymity of a guest to not only spam offensive posts about me , but resorted to digging out personal information abt me from other gay social networking websites and paste here to attack me personally. All because this guest didn't like and took offence at what I posted and was probably enraged at the fact that why I "hoodwinked" the mods to delete incriminating posts, in which I did not do anything except report what was done. Can you imagine if i had posted even more personal infomation in the other gay social networking website? In the end I was the one who got the shorter end of the stick because the guest is after all, anoymous through and through, unless the mod chooses to out him out.

Thus, from these series of events, its quite obvious that guests can have the upperhand if they choose to inflict libelous insults on registered members, although not all guests are like that. And if we registered members post offensive or divisive posts, we will get -ve reputaion points, have our posts down the Flaming Room , warnings from mod or even face suspension. All of these would be displayed for everyone to see in the forum.Thus registered members are the ones that are more vulnerable in this aspect because a certain level of their identities are already invested in this BW account, especially those who have placed their own face pics.

I know this forum is all about Better Transparency and I respect that, and that we registered members also have to take responsibility on what we write here. But if "guests" like what I described above do appear and create havoc again, will deleting posts be sufficient ?

Well, every forum around restricts sensitive topics like politics, race and religion. Don't you guys know that it's actually illegal to post derogatory/racist remarks even on an online site like forums/blogs? So aren't the mods, in a way, protecting us?

Also, I agree that the posting of "Guests" is EXTREMELY annoying at times, but I think, it's also good that there's some sort of freedom going on, seeing as how this is a forum for gay men after all. I can understand that not everyone wants to be a member here.

Anyway, I really don't see how restricting race/politics/religion is in any way bad. Discussing too much on such sensitive issues often leads to misunderstandings, flaming, bashing, off-topic harsh treatment etc. Look at the PRC Hotpot thread, I think that's a classic example of how a discussion that involves a sensitive issue has gone out of hand.

It's all fun and game until someone gets offended, girls.

(...then it gets hilarious!)

Oh well, those notty members should behave more like a good girl like me...I mean, cmon a bunch of mature men brainstorming out a decision on rules and regulations is not to be questioned at all anymore.

When in Rome, act like the Romans. When there's no free speech, just shut the fxxk up. When censorship is going on, just enjoy the show how they want you to. And it'll be good 4 u.

[Guest theFword]

4. Enjoy the forum, but do use it wisely and observe our POSTING Guildelines.

Cheers

Hendry Tan

On behalf of the Moderator

i have a question for the moderators, regarding the F word. i notice it being edited. why? are we being too prudish here? in many other forums, the F word, in all its permutations, appear everywhere and anywhere.

[azuchan]

i have a question for the moderators, regarding the F word. i notice it being edited. why? are we being too prudish here? in many other forums, the F word, in all its permutations, appear everywhere and anywhere.

Most of the time words like s*x, g*y, f*ck, an*l, and so on are triggers for spambot attacks.

[flamempire]

Dear BW moderators,

I want to say one very, very important thing. In my opinion, your collective decision to suppress discussions about politics in this forum might do damage to Singapore's LGBT community in the long run. Let me explain why.

This forum is the place where most Singapore gay men congregate, interact, and share their opinions. This is a PERFECT place for us to discuss about politics, especially on issues that are relevant to our lives as gay men. You might contend that there other venues or forums in which we can do so. This is indeed the case. However, there is no single forum that is able to gather enough attention among gays as BlowingWind.

I am a student of politics and history. LGBT history is one of the topics I am learning now. In this subject, I learned how homosexual communities in Western countries slowly gained political ground over the repressive, conservative government they had been living under. This political victory was catalyzed by the presence of LGBT forums in which ideas can be exchanged and opinions can be heard. It is in these forums that uninformed members of LGBT community learn more about their government, their political systems, and the voting and lobbying strategies they can execute to improve the quality of their lives.

Look at western Europe right now. Gay marriage is performed in seven countries and prejudice against gays is almost nonexistent. One of the main factors that lead to this status quo is the fact that gay communities in these countries are very knowledgeable on their rights and the things they can do to achieve these rights. They know which parties to vote for and which leaders to turn to.

It's time we used this forum to discuss about politics. I'm sure that the outcome will be dramatic. One day, Singapore and all other countries in this world will legalize gay marriage and prejudice against gays will be a thing of the past. However, this journey will not be a painless one. Opening a political space in Singapore's only gay forum will be a perfect first step towards achieving our collective, god-given rights.

Yours sincerely,

Flamempire