Standards Editor: Balancing civility with freedom of speech in the Comments section

Freedom of speech is not the same as a free-for-all, and maintaining balance within the comments section can be complicated. The Globe’s community guidelines attempt to provide a framework that allows for differences of opinion, and even heated dissent. “This ensures we are able to host a civil comments section on a wide range of articles,” the site states. (ICUC moderates the Boston Globe’s online comments as well.) This week, a woman was shocked to have had comments removed after four years as a subscriber with a squeaky-clean record.