Weblogs ‘need content warnings’ Tim O’Reilly The code of conduct was drawn up by Tim O’Reilly Readers should be warned when they are reading blogs that may contain “crude language”, a draft blogging code of conduct has suggested
Source: BBC – Weblogs ‘need content warnings’
I’ve used the PICS system on various incarnations of my websites for years…
not self-censoring, but nothing wrong with providing a system so other people can self-censor…
hey… I don’t read Fox News or Bill O’Reilly, do I?
so why not allow people to block a site, from their kids or even themselves, that uses the word ‘fuck’ more than just a tad bit liberally… no pun intended… ;-)
frankly, I see no problem mandating that every website contain just such a header that PICS provides…
however, open discussion boards and public blogs, even moderated blogs, can’t predict what every person can or will say… maybe boards and public blogs should contain warnings that anything and everything may appear at some point…
I dunno… but making a moderator or owner of such sites responsible for the words and actions of others is entirely the wrong thing to do and wrong message to send…
would a house owner be held responsible for the graffiti scrawled on the side of their house? or a library for someone scrawling something objectionable in a library book?
that may not be the most apt analogy, but it is probably the best real world example there is…
you can’t compare a public blog or board to a newspaper… it can’t be held to the same content standards or legislation…
this is more than just about free speech, it is also about individual responsibility and not having others take ANY of that responsibility on themselves…
Frankly, I think this is just a ploy of O’Reilly to get his hands into something that up until now has been uncontrollable by big corporations… much, I’m sure, to their teeth gnashing chagrin…
it’s actually kind of insidious…