That’s not far off the mindset I use in these kinds of decision, it should be very evident that I’m very much pro free speech and I regularly allow posts that I would be well within my rights both as owner and often as the subject of those posts (and posters) because feeling free to express your opinion has always been the core belief that’s driven this forum.
I’ve always said, post what you want but be prepared to back it up and we have a very, very healthy habit of challenging opinions that aren’t reality based without alienating the posters, and for the most part, it’s acted as a quality filter, flakes get called out and retreat.
Enlightend self-interest is a good basis for decision-making and, with new social media content laws potentially opening up forum owners to defamation actions for posts made on their platform, I’m going to have to be more proscriptive when it comes to statements about public figures that aren’t backed by facts.
I was working in media at the time and my big, big boss who fancied herself an Anna Wintour type had organised an interview with her. I was pulled in last-minute to film the interview for social, and was told it would be “about 10 mins long.”
I setup accordingly, and though it probably should have been atleast 2-3 man gig I just did it solo because, as always in media, there was no budget.
Thirty-five minutes into the “10 minute” interview the memory cards start to fill, then the batteries start to go on the lights and then the cameras.
It’s freezing cold in the office but I am dripping sweat watching everything fall to shit. There was a gap in the interview where I asked how much longer, and was greeted with a death stare and “we’ll go for as long as it takes.”
The camera’s SD card is gone and I’m stealthily trying to film with my phone just to get coverage and finally the interview ends… 65 mins in total.
I went outside to have a panic attack and weigh up my job prospects. I couldn’t sleep and spent my whole weekend thinking about how I fucked up and what I was going to do
Then, over the same weekend Yassmin Abdel-Magied said something that got picked up in the Telegraph. Everyone started coming for her, and that made me even more anxious because now we’re sitting on hot-topical content.
Luckily, said big, big boss was also a bit of a coward and on hearing of the controversy, binned the interview wanting nothing to do with her. She also got pushed about a year or so later for appalling work place behaviour.
