Few things steam me more than readers complaining that I'm somehow censoring comments. All I can say is #1 it's just me and I try to have a life, and, #2: "have you looked at the comments lately????"
You don't have to spend more than a few minutes wading through comments on my stories to see I generally leave them alone unless they turn into personal attacks on me or other readers. I leave them even when I know the comments are left by the very same cybercriminals I'm writing about. You wouldn't believe how many times those comments turned out to be extremely useful down the road, BTW.
There are hundreds of comments in moderation on a recent story that will probably all stay there. They are a mix of pro and con comments, but it's mostly people attacking each other and being assholes. Some days, I can't even bring myself to look at the comments in moderation b/c they're just so awful and shitty.
But what really steams me are the people who think they have a "free speech" right to have a comment published on my site. Like this person, who wants to know why their comment, which matches the theme of about 30 others in moderation (by anti-spam, not by me), and about as many already published:
"My husband and I attempted to post a comment several times on your March 30 article, “How Each Pillar of the 1st Amendment is Under Attack.” In a respectful and well-researched manner, we pointed out that the article omitted any mention of the pro-Hamas nature of recent college campus protests.
We tried to resubmit the comment multiple times, softening the language each time, while still aiming to highlight this important point. However, the comment was never approved for publication.
Can you please explain why?
I would be happy to share the comment directly. We sincerely hope that you will uphold the principle of free speech by allowing space for this perspective, especially when it addresses the concerning omission related to anti-Semitism."
BrianKrebs
npub1vc…0axsh
2025-04-06 14:47:49 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1vc39pnjdqd77zzdxff4qyv8h3x0ey2mkx33c3vl8egr0a9ysxkxsk0axshPublished at
2025-04-06 14:47:49 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "21a29267ececefdbce0d21d81ab01c9d114f5a565cfd37ab8cfbe9fb89a545e0",
"pubkey": "662250ce4d037de109a64a6a0230f7899f922b76346388b3e7ca06fe9490358d",
"created_at": 1743950869,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs/114291564153286220",
"web"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://infosec.exchange/users/briankrebs/statuses/114291564153286220",
"activitypub"
],
[
"L",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"l",
"pink.momostr.activitypub:https://infosec.exchange/users/briankrebs/statuses/114291564153286220",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"-"
]
],
"content": "Few things steam me more than readers complaining that I'm somehow censoring comments. All I can say is #1 it's just me and I try to have a life, and, #2: \"have you looked at the comments lately????\" \n\nYou don't have to spend more than a few minutes wading through comments on my stories to see I generally leave them alone unless they turn into personal attacks on me or other readers. I leave them even when I know the comments are left by the very same cybercriminals I'm writing about. You wouldn't believe how many times those comments turned out to be extremely useful down the road, BTW.\n\nThere are hundreds of comments in moderation on a recent story that will probably all stay there. They are a mix of pro and con comments, but it's mostly people attacking each other and being assholes. Some days, I can't even bring myself to look at the comments in moderation b/c they're just so awful and shitty.\n\nBut what really steams me are the people who think they have a \"free speech\" right to have a comment published on my site. Like this person, who wants to know why their comment, which matches the theme of about 30 others in moderation (by anti-spam, not by me), and about as many already published:\n\n\"My husband and I attempted to post a comment several times on your March 30 article, “How Each Pillar of the 1st Amendment is Under Attack.” In a respectful and well-researched manner, we pointed out that the article omitted any mention of the pro-Hamas nature of recent college campus protests.\n\nWe tried to resubmit the comment multiple times, softening the language each time, while still aiming to highlight this important point. However, the comment was never approved for publication. \n\nCan you please explain why?\n\nI would be happy to share the comment directly. We sincerely hope that you will uphold the principle of free speech by allowing space for this perspective, especially when it addresses the concerning omission related to anti-Semitism.\"",
"sig": "cc686cd0787677e7273f90b612b47d9d326b2fbb06bf8b9d89b71cf05c75e3040aaee0cbd8d8577bc2a86976d46349ece108155050f2e8d57414a7165724c2aa"
}