civil /sivel/, adj ... 7. polite; courteous. ... (The Macquarrie Dictionary)

This quote is from Haraldson's Edicts of Equity in Sheri S. Tepper's science fiction book Six Moon Dance.

... Opinion [is] language, cuisine, the arts, culture, tradition, religion, sexual and reproductive practices ... to which each person is entitled, and the free expression of which is guaranteed up to and no farther than the point at which that expression conflicts directly with someone else's opinion. Direct conflict shall be defined as incivility directed at a specific person or group ...

Theoretical liberties, however, were too often defined at the expense of actual civilities ... Persons were allowed ... under the guise of free expression, to shout in the faces of those who held differing opinions and to intrude on their privacy. Liberty has two legs. Vigilance is certainly one, but civility is the other.

Pinkboard has been a place where people have generally been able to express opinions that may not be popularly held. However the expression of such opinions has often led to personal abuse and other incivilities. The perpetrators have then refused all but the most drastic attempts to moderate their debate and steer it back into civility. They further argue that such attempts are removing their right of freedom of speech.

Rights come with responsibilities. The right to freedom of speech comes with the responsibility to behave civily. On Pinkboard freedom of speech will be allowed up to the point at which its expression becomes uncivil.

Because of the previous uncivil behaviour of certain people this will be enforced by moderating certain parts of Pinkboard. Postings will be read before being published and uncivil messages will be rejected.

Often humour or sarcasm is used to illustrate a point. This is very easy to misconstrue as incivility. If you are using humour or sarcasm then you will need to make it extremely obvious that this is what you are doing.

Criticism that is destructive in its intent will be considered uncivil. Constructive criticism will be permitted and is encouraged where it does not contain other incivilities.

All postings on Pinkboard must be assumed to be personal opinion, except where they are direct quotes from official documents. Pinkboard takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any postings.

Pinkboard must also comply with the laws of NSW and Australia. In particularly libelous material is not permitted on Pinkboard. Material may be libelous if it can affect the reputation or standing of another person. Truth is not a defence against libel.

There will be cases where an incivility is not recognised, or where something is misconstrued as uncivil. These cases may be discussed with me (Panther) via email only.

Pinkboard reserves the right to alter or remove absolutely anything placed on Pinkboard at any time without notice.