CODED MESSAGE

posted by James Reel

    A couple of leading online figures have called for a blogger’s code of conduct, and it’s about time. The code of conduct doesn’t so much address the posts of bloggers as the comments posted by readers. You can read the first draft here at Tim O’Reilly’s site, and find answers to some libertarian objections here. The libertarian types, as usual, are screaming “censorship.”
    So what’s with all this hand-wringing over “censorship,” anyway? There’s a huge difference between controlling someone’s independent expression and supervising the content of a site or publication for which you are responsible. The latter is not censorship; it’s editing, and it’s necessary even in a free, civil society if discourse isn’t to be hijacked by bullies with nothing to contribute.