This morning I deleted two comments from this site. As regular readers of this site know, I switched on comment moderation some time ago to prevent comment spamming. And quite honestly I sometimes use comment moderation to delete certain comments.
The two comments I deleted were based on rumors about corruption/skandals etc. Needless to say such comments are almost always left by anonymous commenters.
I would like to make a few points clear regarding my view on blogging, commenting and my ‘policy’ regarding these issues.
1. As a blogger I am not interested in publishing rumors and personal accusations/attacks on my site. My blog is my personal digital space that I share with others and where I allow them to share their opinions. As an owner of this space I have the right to edit what appears on it. The unedited, totally free and open discussion possible on blogs is a good ideal to strive for, but I have seen enough sites and discussion forums where the discussion degenerated into slander and abuse, and so some moderation is necessary in my opinion.
2. I am not a full time journalist or a newspaper. If something appears on my site that offends someone (or invites legal actions by individuals or authorities) I will have to carry the responsibility of dealing with that. I had cases of angry people call me over what has appeared in some of my Jordan Times articles. I understand that critical writing is bound to offend someone. But I don’t have the time or energy to deal with big complaints about slanderous accusations that appear on this site.
3. I am writing under my real name so I have to stand by what I write personally. Comments are often made by anonymous posters, who can easily say all kinds of things while hiding behind their anonymity.
4. If you feel very strongly about something and you want to talk about it in a way that you know will offend people or have legal consequences, I strongly advise you start your own blog under your real name (or under an pseudonym if that suits you better).
I really try to be as open as possible on this blog. But I still will exercise my right to edit/delete comments in a way that I feel personally comfortable with.
Comments
9 responses to “Rumors, slander and the limits of blogging”
So sorry this happened, Ahmad. I appreciated your article in JO, btw.
Good one.. i dono if this comment is useless but i liked ur post..
Sadly, you are the epitome of the self-interested bourgeousie who wants to “walk by the wall” and to hell with the world. You are so scared the mokhabarat will be on your tail? They can figure out the IP address of who sent comments and catch them.
You live to create a couple of fonts in your lifetime and design a few buildings. What did you contribute to putting right the ridiculous situation we live in? You are just too good at mentioning your mother in law and how she reads your blog. Man you are no different from those who sit in the mosque and pray day and night and to hell with the world around them. You sit in your little office and do the same.
You will mention Maani is ushured in but will willfully close your eyes as to why the suddent change, and are ready not to ask questions. You block your mind because you have surrendered to the status quo and are more than happy to ask “how high” when they say “jump”.
Man, this is sad for you to even publicly announce you will not allow free speech and you will protect the corrupt authorities from being exposed.
I absolutely agree with what you said …
People do not realize that by commenting on your blog, they are actually guests in your virtual house and they should respect this space and its residents and other guests
I posted about this a while ago and had some interesting feedback
Feel free to check here if you allow me to post this link on your blog:
http://anolita.jeeran.com/mind/archive/2006/4/40131.html
Jamal,
A correction: I only desinged only one font and I didn’t design a building till today. Sorry to disappoint you
.
If you are so concerned about corruption and have information about it, please start your own blog. But my blog is not for publishing rumors.
OMG! what are you talkin about there Jamal??
I enjoy Humeid’s blog alot, at least he doesnt talk about every and each blog talks about.. i find his topics worth reading and commenting, positively. and i think he’s free to allow ppl or not to comment.. it’s his OWN space..
About his mother and mother-in-law i guess this is a personal thing that he wanted to share to those who are interested, like me. it was nice of him to show that he’s happy and proud that they read his blog.. i also talked about my Mom and Dad, and dad had a comment on that, would that make me a bad person?
simply, the blog that i dont like i dont visit.. and i do visit this one..
No one needs to show off his courage and his defiance (isti3rad 3adalat)on the other person’s behalf.Everyone who has access to the internet has free access to blogging and can have his own portal to rant and curse.Also every blogger has the right to host the comments he agrees on,and discard the rest ,just like any one can have the guests he wants welcome in his home.
yes people should respect other people’s blog spaces and NO judgments as well as no rumors or else blog sites will turn into “7aki niswan” metaphorically.
Well, it’s a sort of dilemma. On one hand we strive for free speech in the arab world. And one the other, it’s a site OWNED by a person who also has the freedom to put or neglect whatever he wants here!
Anyway, I think in this particular situation it all ends up with who has the decision (who happens to be Ahmad here). And in my opinion; Ahmad, whether we like it or not, is the owner of the site and the person who call the shots.
One other thing that I want to say, I’ve always read about the so-called Arab Intellectuals Crisis which is basically the lack of free speech area. And I’ve always thought; there are millions of ways to express a self, why do they always ignore the existence of all these ways and keep crying over the limited number of means that really are restricted in a way or another? The buttom line is, there are hundreds of thousands of arabic sites (blogs, forums and such) where anybody can say anything without any kind of restrictions. So we don’t have to force our way in other sites especially the personal kind of them!
عذراً للكتابة بالعربي، بس أبوي بهيك مواق٠دايماً بيØكي: واØد عنده دكانة، شغل Ùيها ابنه ولا أخوه ولا إبن أخوه ولا إبن الجيران هو Øر،،، بالنهاية الدكانة دكانته هو مش دكانة اللي بده يشتغل Ùيها