Community Rules
Our comment threads are small on purpose. These are the house rules — short, so there is no excuse for not reading them.
Argue with the idea, not the person
Disagreement is welcome and usually the most useful thing in a thread. Name-calling, mockery and questioning someone's right to be here are not.
No racism, no harassment
Racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic or ableist comments are removed without discussion, and so are personal attacks on other commenters or on people named in an article.
Do not post other people's details
No names, addresses, workplaces, phone numbers or photographs of people who did not choose to be part of the conversation. This includes screenshots of private messages.
Nothing you would not sign
Your name and comment are published and stay public. Write as though someone who knows you will read it, because they might.
Keep it on the article
Comments should relate to what the piece is actually about. Promotion, recruitment pitches, link-dropping and repeat postings get removed as spam.
Tell us if you see something
If a comment breaks these rules, email us rather than replying to it. Reporting reaches a moderator faster than arguing does.
How moderation works
Every comment is read by a person before it appears, normally within two working days. We are a small team, so a comment posted late on a Friday will not show up until the following week. Nothing is published automatically.
If we remove a comment we will say so by email where we can. Repeatedly breaking these rules means we stop publishing your comments. If you want your own comment taken down after publication, just ask — no reason needed.