It would appear this forum has been taken over by chinese style authoritarians who decide what we should be allowed to think and talk about. It’s very sad. Honestly one of the main problems with ‘the situation’ is the self-censorship of the media and politicians in obstructing and dismissing honest and objective discussion. it’s shocking quite frankly and not something I expected here.

Disappointed 🙁

and he is still the best English player I ever saw……

Perhaps if people self-censored a bit there wouldn’t be a need for censorship.

There’s arguing an objective case based on say UN resolutions and there’s what’s been censored.

There’s the legal aspect too, some of the posts were plain illegal and this is a public forum.

‘Honest and objective discussion?’ Are you new here? (I know you’re not Daz)…

Thought this was going to be about the BBC censoring Ru Paul’s Prince Andrew jokes… 🙄

This is a mountain biking forum run by a magazine – keep some perspective!

Indeed.

+1.

^^ What hels said.

Pop over to Reddit if you want to vent.

.

This is a mountain biking forum run by a magazine – keep some perspective!

+1

That thread was just going to descend into abuse in under 30 minutes as has every other thread on here on the same subject. Right decision to close it IMHO.

some of the posts were plain illegal

Ah yes, falling foul of the Critism of Israel Act must be a worry.

…this forum has been taken over by chinese style authoritarians

Why the dig at the Chinese? People of Chinese heritage are constantly facing discrimination and hate crimes, there is no need to feed this toxic climate with sweeping unfounded comments like that.

it’s shocking quite frankly and not something I expected here.

I totally expected it, If I was in their shoes, it’s the call I would’ve made as well. Sure there’s a place for discussion, but nothing’s going to be achieved by a bunch of opinionated white middle aged men getting all hufty about it on a bike forum apart from handing out a bunch of bans

A quick glance at social media will tell you that there are too many people who cannot differentiate between someone who happens to be Jewish/Muslim/Chinese/etc and the actions of the nation state of Israel/ISIS/a plague that was first detected in Wuhan etc.

There are a number of twitter accounts amplifying holocaust denial and plain old racism on the pretext that Israel is doing bad things to Palestinians, so I can understand why the mods are choosing to close threads.

It’s a bit of a shame. There are many topics where I regard STW as my primary news source (UK politics, Covid amongst them). Discussions that contain disagreement often tease out and explore views and facts the MSM either ignore or just don’t have the time to fully report on.

Sure there’s a place for discussion, but nothing’s going to be achieved by a bunch of opinionated white middle aged men getting all hufty about it on a bike forum

Might as well close the chat FORUM

Another vote of support for the mods from me. It isn’t a discussion that will ever enlighten anyone, and it’s almost certain to include quite a lot of racist and/or illegal posts. Yes, it’s an appalling situation, but no thread on here is going to help.

So, are we really not allowed to discuss whats going on in the Gaza strip on here? What have I missed here? Considering the mud slinging on many of the recent threads on here, I do find this current action somewhat disturbing.

Sure there’s a place for discussion, but

The problem is every time the subject comes up there is, predictably, the awkward people who won’t blame the Palestinians.

If everyone just blamed the Palestinians I can’t see that there would be a problem.

Might as well close the chat FORUM

I wonder how many times a day Mark thinks that..? 😉

Maybe they knew it would turn into a round and round competition of trying to prove who is more politically savvy than the others, I’m cleverer than you! I can type longer! I can do more embedded quotes! ad inifinitum until they had to close it anyway out of sheer boredom.

It’s a bit of a shame. There are many topics where I regard STW as my primary news source (UK politics, Covid amongst them). Discussions that contain disagreement often tease out and explore views and facts the MSM either ignore or just don’t have the time to fully report on.

Exactly my thoughts. I read a number of MSM papers, this forum can often provide other insights or views that I don’t read elsewhere. Yes, it’s unquestionably a contentious & uncomfortable issue to talk about – but shouldn’t we be able to cope with such things? Sometimes the only way you can deal with certain attitudes is to flush them out & challenge them. Having said that if the powers that be don’t wish for that to happen here then it’s up to them.

This is a mountain biking forum run by a magazine – keep some perspective!

Also the forum is largely kept running by volunteer moderators (who are actual people rather than bots) who probably have better things to do than spend all their time trawling one thread where every other post gets reported and the same old faces end up being banned.

Pop over to Reddit if you want to vent.

+1

Yes, it’s unquestionably a contentious & uncomfortable issue to talk about – but shouldn’t we be able to cope with such things?

The answer is obviously not, it’s been done many times on here and always rapidly descends into name called / racist tropes. The same people are still here, nothing is going to change.

I’ve not had a coffee yet which is why I read that as

the same old feaces end up being banned.

Ernie nails it.

At the risk of putting words in Mark’s mouth. I can totally see why they’d shut down a thread like that. One started off yesterday afternoon, and could imagine a conversation  that probably went “I’m not going to spend my Thursday evening monitoring a thread about this issue”, We’ll just close it.

One of the reasons I haven’t participated in any discussion of ‘the situation’ is that it’s impossible to do so from one particular side (you can probably guess which) without being accused of being a racist. Some say people should exercise ‘self-censorship’, but what they really mean is they shouldn’t be allowed to voice a particular opinion. It’s simple culture-war politics and preventing discussion because ‘it offends’ only feeds into that and promotes it. It’s ironic that this place used to have a policy of no links to the Daily Mail, but then indulges in the same sort of intolerance of diverse opinions that the Mail and other tabloids are renowned for.

I’m curious, what other subjects are banned?

and he is still the best English player I ever saw……

He was. Most talented toon player in history. The only person to ever get near him in terms of talent and flare was Hatem Ben-Arfa.

Ernie thinks he’s being clever by finding a way to express what he thinks without getting the thread closed or a ban. And therin lies the problem.

Ah yes, falling foul of the Critism of Israel Act must be a worry.

Ernie thinks he’s being clever by finding a way to express what he thinks without getting the thread closed or a ban. And therin lies the problem.

this is not the only thread where ernie demonstrates his ability to be bit of a dick

This is a mountain biking forum run by a magazine – keep some perspective!

That si one of the wisest statements I have read on here in a long time.

but nothing’s going to be achieved by a bunch of opinionated white middle aged men getting all hufty about it on a bike forum

yet we still try.

It’s a not dissimilar situation to Trump complaining about being ‘censored’ on FB & Twitter. It’s their train set & their rules..

I prefer though, for attitudes to be aired & examined than driven underground where they can fester unchallenged. A tricky one – give something the O2 of publicity or starve it of exposure in the hope it goes away?

Personally, I would like a wee explanation of why threads are closed, as a final post.

give something the O2 of publicity or starve it of exposure in the hope it goes away?

Like the opinions of people who think it’s wrong to slaughter civilians with a massive mechanised death machine, or keep them locked inside an open air prison?

Anyway, I’m saying nothing more. I have huge empathy for Mark et al who have the difficult job of trying to keep this place in order, but as with everything in life the best policy is to try to treat people like adults and encourage them to act like that. These things are often self-fulfilling.

A quick explanation from the mods wouldn’t go amiss, however (with reasons properly explained) I think it’s a fair call to close them. Probably worth the forum rules being a bit more explicit if that is going to be the case moving forward.

I think @nickc summed it up perfectly:

nothing’s going to be achieved by a bunch of opinionated white middle aged men getting all hufty about it on a bike forum

Like the opinions of people who think it’s wrong to slaughter civilians with a massive mechanised death machine, or keep them locked inside an open air prison?

Putting words in my mouth – nice.

I’m not being drawn into stating my opinion on Gaza as I don’t fully understand it but I do like to hear others views – so crack on..

Given there’s only one public mod left I think explanations being posted is unlikely.

There are many topics where I regard STW as my primary news source

Hahahahaha!!!!! You’re kidding right? Couldn’t be more liberal biased on here if you tried.

The Covid thread has been the best single source of information on the topic from a few weeks into the pandemic.

keep some perspective!

Some automation should be added so every 5th post states that to remind people

Putting words in my mouth

No it’s just a general observation of the reality of censorship of this particular subject.

The Covid thread has been the best single source of information on the topic from a few weeks into the pandemic.

Without question – thank you TiRed.