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Wednesday, September 17, 2025

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New comments policy discussion: please read

UPDATE: Thanks for all your comments. We will be working on the technological end of these options and launch a new policy shortly.

By Tim Redmond

Hi, folks, I am getting a lot of complaints about the comments here, mostly from people who feel that a couple of very active trolls are dominating the discussion so aggressively (and sometimes, so nastily) that nobody else wants to join in.

I have made it clear from the start that I don’t want to censor comments just because I disagree. I want lively debate. But as Markos says on DailyKos, if you have so much to say that you’re taking over the thread, you should start your own blog.

I am trying to develop 48hills into a progressive daily newspaper, which involves reporting and writing and fundraising and a lot of other work, and frankly, I don’t want to spend hours every day going back and deleting comments that don’t meet our policy. Besides, some of you can post far faster than I can delete.

I am considering several options, and am open to feedback. But the current system where a couple of people shut everyone else up and out — and where some people pretend they are other people — isn’t going to continue.

Option 1: Limit all commenters to one or two comments per post. Honor system at first, but if some won’t go along, I will block those addresses.

Option 2:  You can post all you want – but you have to use your real name. No more anonymous anything. And NO NO NEVER can you post stuff under someone else’s name to mock them. You post a real, verifiable, first and last name and you can go to town. Otherwise: We block you.

Option 3: Registration. This is what Kos does, and it keeps the trolls in check. You want to post on the site, you have to register (with a real name and email address). When I get the time, I approve you, and only then can you comment. You become a pain in the ass, and I kick you off.

Option 4: I turn the comments off completely and start a “letters to the editor” section where you can say what you want, but I will edit and choose the ones that get posted.

Again: I will not censor comments because I disagree with them. But you all know Gresham’s Law – bad money drives out good money – and I’m not going to let a few people so dominate the talk that it drives others away.

Fair enough?

Tim Redmond
Tim Redmond
Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

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