Moderation policy

The Blog is a discussion forum that welcomes candid dialogue and diverse views. This Moderation Policy is intended to ensure that all Blog users are able to participate in an exchange of information and ideas in a positive, constructive and beneficial way.

Blog Content

In accordance with the Terms, all comments, questions, ideas, materials and other contributions submitted by Blog/online comment users in relation to the Blog (collectively, “Content”) will be moderated before being posted.

Blog/online conversations are expected to follow the conventions of polite discourse. They should be carried on in a constructive and good-natured manner and should focus on the issues being discussed rather than the individual making the comment. Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Unlawful, objectionable or inappropriate Content does not belong on the Blog and should not be submitted for posting. This includes any Content that:

1. contains profanity or is defamatory, threatening, hateful, personally disparaging, harassing, indecent, vulgar, obscene, illegal, immoral or sexually explicit (partially masking profanity or other unacceptable language by substituting asterisks or other symbols into a word is not acceptable if the word remains recognizable);
2. is disrespectful of the Blog hosts or moderators, other Blog users or their opinions, ideas or beliefs;
3. appears to, or does actually, infringe the copyright, trade-mark, right of privacy, right of publicity or any other intellectual property or other proprietary right of any third party, including other Blog users (links to any third party materials should be included, rather than copying those materials into the Content);
4. contains information about, or images (e.g., photographs, videos or illustrations) of, any individual other than the individual submitting the Content;
5. impersonates another individual, living or dead;
6. attempts to make contact with a minor outside of the Blog forum;
7. advertises any product, individual, organization or other entity, or directs attention to another website for personal gain;
8. provides links to, or information about, other sites that contain unlawful, objectionable or inappropriate content;
9. contains long embedded URLs, excessive links, code or other materials that could compromise the integrity or security of the Blog, or of the server or the Website;
10. appears to be spam-like messaging or repeat postings;
11. is far off-topic or intentionally disrupts a Blog forum discussion; or
12. makes unproven or unsupported accusations against individuals, groups or organizations.

Any concerns you may have about Content posted by you, or about inappropriate Content posted by others, should be sent by email to CitizenEngagement@gov.bc.ca, citing the date and author of the Content in question.

Media Inquiries

Media inquiries will not be posted on the Blog. Reporters are asked to send questions through their regular channels.

Hours of Operation

The Blog is expected to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, subject to unforeseen circumstances such as power outages and system failures. Content can be submitted at any time.  However, given the need to manage provincial resources, Content may not be reviewed and posted immediately. Moderating and posting of Content will generally occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday, excluding statutory holidays in British Columbia. Content submitted outside of these hours will be reviewed and posted at the earliest opportunity.

Freedom of Information Requests

Please be aware that most government information, including the contents of the Blog, may be the subject of a freedom of information request. Please consider this when submitting Content as it is possible that some or all of the Content will be disclosed publically under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (British Columbia).

To protect your privacy, do not include your phone number, e-mail address or other personal information you would not wish to be disclosed publically in the body of any Content submitted for posting on the Blog. Instead, if you have an inquiry of a personal nature, please contact citizenengagement@gov.bc.ca.

Questions

If you have questions about this Moderation Policy or how it is applied, please contact citizenengagement@gov.bc.ca.