Kim Stagliano: "We Don't Censor, We Editorialize"

Liz Ditz of the I Speak of Dreams blog alerted me to some items from Age of Autism's Facebook page:

At AoA's Facebook page:

RJ: Stop removing comments that oppose your views, that is called "censorship":

Age of Autism: No, it's called editorial. We have made a conscious decision on our content - and we're clear in our moderation guidelines. Your next snipe will escort you out the door.

Kim

More at http://counteringageofautism.blogspot.com/2010/05/sure-theres-no-sniping-on-aoa.html:

"We have mdae editorial decisions that affect our moderation, yes. And because of that, we have avoided the cesspool of sniping and autism denial on so many other sites." --Stagliano on Age of Autism's facebook page.

Well, that's certainly interesting. For those who are interested, AoA's commenting policy, as of May 19, 2010, 1:12pm EDT is:

We reserve the right to delete any comments sent to us at our discretion. Reasons include, but are not limited to:

• are abusive, off-topic, or use excessive foul language
• contain racist, sexist, homophobic or other slurs
• are solicitations and/or advertising for personal blogs and websites
• are posted with the explicit intention of provoking other commenters, writers or the staff at Age of Autism

It would appear that censoring editorializing comments that do not agree with the party line but are otherwise respectfully written, non-advertising and not intended to provoke other commenters, writers or staff at AoA fall under the "not limited to" portion of their policy.

What does it really mean, though, to "editorialize" something? Well, a quick search at Dictionary.com came up with this:

1. to set forth one's position or opinion on some subject in, or as if in, an editorial.
2. to inject personal interpretations or opinions into an otherwise factual account.

Alright. So, it is okay for people who read the blog and agree with their stance to post comments with personal interpretations or opinions, but not okay for those who disagree with their stance to post their interpretations or opinions. In other words:

to examine (as a publication or film) in order to suppress or delete any contents considered objectionable

Hey! That's the legal definition of "censor"!

What strikes me is that not only do the editors of Age of Autism censor comments that disagree with their views or point out errors of fact, but they do not apply their commenting policy equally. When people who support the AoA majority viewpoint post comments that are offensive, off-topic, use foul language or contain racist, sexist ("whore" is a favorite there) or other slurs, those comments do not get "editorialized".

In the end, Kim, you and your cronies at Age of Autism do censor comments. You can call a skunk a rose, but it would still stink.