Community Guidelines
DEFINITIONS
Site — CA News Forum (https://ca-news-forum.com)
Community Guidelines — The terms of service for the Site
Article — A news article originating from an authorized, outside source
Excerpt — Two or three paragraphs quoted from the Article
Featured Image — The photograph associated with an Article
Discussions — Conversation topics posted on the Site, based on an Article
Categories — Terms used to logically categorize Discussions
Comments — Personal remarks and replies posted on the Site
Owners — The owners of the Site
Moderators — The moderators of the Site
Members — The members of the Site
Author — The creator of a particular Discussion
DISCLAIMER
This Site is intended to facilitate conversations about current news articles. All Members must comply with these Community Guidelines, which are enforced by the Owners and Moderators. Members who fail to comply with these terms of service may have Comments deleted and, where appropriate, may have their privileges revoked temporarily or permanently.
The Owners and their successors and assigns are not liable for any errors or omissions on the Site, or for any loss or damages suffered as a result of anything appearing on the Site. Any information or views provided on the Site are current as of the date indicated, and are subject to change without notice. Any content provided on the Site is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and does not constitute any financial, legal, medical or other advice. Where such statements are based on information provided by third parties, they are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. Any photographs used are for illustrative purposes only. The Owners are not responsible for anything posted to the Site by third parties, and make no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of information contained in such material. The views expressed on the Site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the Owners or Moderators, who are not responsible or liable for anything posted by the Members.
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
1. Threats of bodily harm against anybody will not be tolerated.
2. Comments encouraging self-harm will not be tolerated.
3. Personal attacks or insults directed at other Members, the Moderators or the Owners are not allowed.
4. Insults against politicians and celebrities are allowed, provided they don’t break rules 1 or 2.
5. No spam, or promotions of any kind are allowed unless pre-approved by the Owners.
6. Comments are to be posted in English, except for occasional common phrases.
7. In lieu of quoting significant amounts of text from a particular source, please post a reference link with your own commentary added instead.
8. Images depicting nudity or sexual behaviour are not allowed.
DISCUSSION POSTING GUIDELINES
Any Member in good standing who has an account may Author a Discussion based on a news Article by clicking on the Post button in the header and filling in the required fields on the posting form. Each Discussion shall refer to one single news-related Article and must include the following items:
a) The Article headline, exactly as presented at the source.
b) The link to the Article.*
c) A Featured Image from the Article (where available).
d) An Excerpt from the Article (maximum of 2 to 3 paragraphs).
e) A choice of one or more appropriate Categories.
Approved sources for articles include media outlets, news aggregators,* letters to the editor, corporate blogs and websites, pro sports league and team websites, and school publications. Articles behind a hard paywall or which require a subscription or login are not allowed since not everybody can view it. Social media sites and personal blogs are not allowed as sources. Should the source Article not include a photograph, the discussion author may choose a substitute photo for the Featured Image providing that it relates directly to the subject matter and context of the article and does not politicize or add personal commentary — memes are not acceptable as featured images.
Owners and Moderators reserve the right to make edits to posted Discussions without notice, including correcting or modifying the headline, adding or changing a Featured Image, altering the Excerpt or closing and removing duplicate Discussions. A Discussion is considered a duplicate if it links to the exact same article or video as that of a previously posted Discussion. Articles about the same subject but from different news sources and authors are not considered duplicates. Note that the Owners and Moderators reserve the right to disapprove Discussions which do not comply with our Site’s values or guidelines.
* When posting a Discussion based on an Article from a news aggregator site, the Article link must be to the media outlet that first published the Article, not to the aggregator.
MODERATION
This site has several volunteer Moderators whose task it is to approve new Discussions and enforce channel rules, and it’s often a thankless job. They come from various countries, backgrounds, genders and beliefs and provide their services at various times during the day, when their schedule permits. No single Moderator can possibly review all of the comments posted on the site each day, so we rely on overlapping schedules to cover as many as possible. Moderators may, at their discretion, remove inappropriate Comments and, where necessary, temporarily or permanently revoke Member privileges. Abuse of Moderators while they are conducting their official duties will not be tolerated in any form, so if you are asked to move on, please do so, or face a temporary or permanent revocation of membership privileges. Note that our Moderators are Members, too, and as such you’ll often see them commenting in threads and conversing with other Members.
FLAGGING
Members are encouraged to help out by flagging spam and inappropriate or offensive comments so that they will be brought to the attention of the mods. After clicking on the red flag relating to a particular Comment, select the appropriate reason for flagging from the choices provided in the drop down menu. Those who flag comments remain anonymous to other Members and to the Moderators — only the Owners will see who flagged a Comment.
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
The interpretation of rules can be subjective and Moderators are authorized to use their best judgement, but Members may not always agree. Members who would like to dispute the closing of a Discussion, the deletion of a Comment, loss of privileges or the conduct of a Moderator may send a private email to the Owners at canewsforum@gmail.com. Where applicable, please include the ID link of the Comment being disputed.
SPAM
Advertisements, promotions, inappropriate and non-English Comments and Discussions are all subject to closure or removal without notice and potential permanent banning from CA News for the poster. Under normal circumstances our security measures will prevent spam Discussions and Comments from being posted in the first place, but any that slip by can be brought to our attention by flagging the Comment or sending us an email about the Discussion in question.
Updated: May 2022