Geelong Advertiser 1.39

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RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
1. Be adults: Commenting should be viewed as chatting in the street with other locals or a lively public meeting. Respect the opinions of others and don't take disagreement personally. Threats of serious violence - veiled or otherwise - are absolutely forbidden and may lead to you being banned and unable to comment in future. We reserve the right to delete comments if we deem them unsuitable.

2. Keep it clean: Sexually explicit or inappropriate comments, as determined by our moderation team, will be deleted, and people who post these may be permanently banned from commenting in future. Gratuitous usage of inappropriate language may result in you being banned.

3. Racist comments: Comments that denigrate a person/group on the basis of their ethnicity or religion will not be tolerated and may result in the poster being banned.

4. Naming journalists and criticising the Geelong Advertiser: If you have an issue with the way a story is written, you are welcome to say so. However, please refer to 'the paper', 'the Addy' or similar, when making your point. Comments that refer to a journalist by name will not be tolerated.

5. Trolling and other bad stuff: We aim to allow lively debate but reserve the right to delete content and ban anyone who breaks these rules as interpreted by the moderation team. Playful prodding of other people is allowed, but if your comment is hateful, abusive or incites violence it will be deleted and you may be banned. Abuse of the moderator(s) may get you banned as well.

6. Contempt of Court, defamation and other legal considerations: We also cannot publish comment that accuses people of corruption or other serious charges, unless these have been proven in a court of law. We cannot publish comments that could interfere with the course of justice, or comments the 'offend the dignity of the court'. This includes denigrating individual members of the judiciary.

7. Spam: Spammers will be banned immediately.

If you have been banned and want back in, you can write to journo@geelongadvertiser.com.au and make your case.