Gough: When it comes to social media comments on MRN, serenity now or civility please?

Muddy River News hears from all sides regarding issues in our coverage area and beyond.

It would be nice to attempt to raise the level of debate and let free speech rule, but it’s not that simple.

Hate speech isn’t free speech. You don’t get to yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater. You don’t get to accuse people of things you can’t back up. We’re not going to allow you to spout “alternative facts” on our platforms.

We utilize social media platforms to promote our websites. Often times, people give their opinions on issues when commenting what we post. Some will agree, others will not. When you maintain a respectful environment, you spark lively discussions. This leads to higher engagement. That’s how the game is played.

Now that the elections are finished, except for the runoff for the 2nd Ward Hannibal City Council seat, it’s time to start cleaning up our sandbox.

From now on, if you discover that you can’t comment on or see our Facebook page or other social media platform, look in the mirror and you’ll see why. Of course, you can still visit our Websites (muddyrivernews.com, muddyriversports.com and muddyriver.tv), but you won’t be allowed to view our social media pages.

I made this decision in late March when the social media comments regarding the Quincy mayor’s reached the level of sublime and ridiculous. Name calling, fake endorsements and downright lies. We didn’t take action then because we didn’t want lend credence to the notion we were playing favorites, although one candidate’s supporters certainly were more egregious in their actions than the other.

I’ll let you determine as to which side I’m referring.

I said this in a comment on a Facebook post earlier Wednesday.

“It’s real simple: You don’t get to call names, berate or bully people or say things you can’t back up. If you want to play with your own 400 friends, great. Our 28,000 followers don’t need it, and I don’t have time to play playground monitor. Free speech is great. What you’re doing doesn’t need to be tolerated. Clean it up or you’re gone. Since we’re a liberal rag, I guess you won’t miss us.”

That’s 28,000 Facebook followers. Over the last 12 months, we’ve had 1.9 million visitors give us more than 10 million pageviews on Muddy River News. Thank you for your support.

We are running a news and information platform that also is a business. You can disagree with us and the people who are debating issues, but you don’t get to spout off complete lies that you can’t back up. Not on our pages.

In other words, it’s not personal. It’s business.