Comment policy

Our comment policy mainly intends to keep things clean and not denigrate another individual personally or by association. We also want every one of our commenters to pursue happiness, in other words, live and let live. This is a professional site, and let's keep it that way.

Since this site is intended for a global audience, and certain definitions differ from society to society and nation to nation, the values common to all societies are used. As the only arbiter of global definitions that exists is the United Nations, we use its vision as a guide, with our team members and registered users interpreting UN guidance, since according to the UN, interpretations do vary from society to society.

We expect each nation to respect the social norms of another, no matter how much they differ or how abhorrent they appear. Change comes from dialogue and respect, not war, insults or angry words. We can all learn from each other.

We believe in individual freedoms and freedom of speech over collective rights, except when denigrating another user. We all make mistakes, including us, but let's try to correct them when we do, and be tolerant of those who strive to learn.

Enforcement is based on a scoring system starting from 100 points. Points are deducted for a fault within a single comment; if one comment contains several faults, only the fault with the heaviest penalty counts. The scoring applies to comments only. No stereotyping is allowed.

There is no ideal of perfection, and we do not hurt people for failing to meet one, but we must respect all our readers. We have balanced our responsibilities to a universal audience as best we can.

Faults and strikes: [to fill: fault → strikes table]

Strikes add up during an evaluation cycle and reset at its end. A user who reaches 4 strikes cannot comment until the end of the current cycle. A user who reaches 9 strikes cannot comment until the end of the following cycle. We do not shadowban. As a company we choose redemption, however long it takes, over a lifetime of punishment.

Evaluation cycles: 1 January to 28/29 February; 1 March to 30 April; 1 May to 30 June; 1 July to 31 August; 1 September to 31 October; 1 November to 31 December.

A ban can be reversed at the discretion of The World Can Be Yours, or by a community vote that The World Can Be Yours starts. Removing a ban by vote needs a two-thirds majority, so the decision is broadly accepted.

The World Can Be Yours randomly checks comments and assigns strikes. Any user can report a comment until it has been reviewed. A reported comment is not removed until the review is complete, within 72 hours. We tell users the exact reason for a temporary ban. We follow the principle of innocent until proven guilty.

Our staff review every suggestion to change this policy.

We work with any national regulator within reason and follow its decisions. A vulnerable group based on religion or ideology is specific to a nation or political unit, and so not global; see the UN definition of a vulnerable group. The exception is the poor, who are part of every nation and political unit. The definition of genocide is the one of the UN Office on Genocide Prevention. A child is defined as in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Gender as a social construct is defined as by the World Health Organization.

Illegal content (for example hate speech or incitement to violence under Greek and EU law) is removed as soon as we become aware of it, whatever the score.