LDear readers,
We would like to talk to you about some changes to our reader comments section that we made in early 2022. At that time we invested a lot of money and effort in a technical and visual overhaul. But shortly afterwards, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began. This forced us to temporarily deactivate the comment function on FAZ.NET, especially on topics that affected Ukraine. This was not an easy decision. We had previously excluded topics such as the Ukraine conflict, the Middle East conflict and the refugee crisis from discussions. This happened because the number of comments that we should have blocked in these areas was simply too high.
Since then, we have tried to find a way to keep our comments section open while ensuring our guidelines are respected. Unfortunately, this attempt was and is not always successful. In the approximately 3,000 daily comments we increasingly come across insults and defamation. The tone of the discussions has become harsher and we have received complaints from both our readers and our authors if we do not intervene.
Of course, we continue to value constructive criticism of our work. She is important to us. However, this criticism should remain within our guidelines. Comments that comment on our authors’ appearance or question their competence based on their gender will not be tolerated on our platform. Conspiracy theories and false claims about our journalistic work also have no place here.
We want to maintain the opportunity for discussion, but not without conditions. For this reason, we have decided to severely restrict the comments section from today onwards and reduce it to a minimum for the time being. Some articles selected by the editors will still be available for comment. We will make sure to offer a balanced mix of topics, both detailed background reports and shorter news stories.
In the future you will find all comments that can be commented on on the “Readers’ Debate” page
For a better overview, we have restructured the reader debate area. Here you will find all articles that can be commented on. We strongly encourage you to read our Reader Opinion Policy before commenting, as it forms the basis for our moderation. We reserve the right not to approve comments without justification. If you find a comment that you think is inappropriate, you can still let us know using the Report feature.
We made these decisions based on our experiences over the past few months. However, we are firmly convinced that we do not want to close the discussion area completely. We know how important it is to provide a space for the exchange of opinions and ideas. We have not currently considered the option of opening the area only to subscribers.
In the future, we would like to continue to give space to different viewpoints and opinions – always with a rational, factual and sensible perspective. Critical discussions and constructive dialogues are possible, but they cannot exist without you, dear readers. Let’s look at this change as a kind of new beginning.
If you have any questions or would like to give us feedback, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
Best regards
Your FAZ.NET team
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