Trek friends,
On behalf of the moderator team here - we recognize that the political atmosphere is tense right now, which has lead to some heated interactions in the comments sections, and ultimately led to a discussion amongst us mods about the best way to handle political content in this community. There isn't one answer that is going to make everyone happy, but this is where we've landed today.
Firstly, Star Trek has been making political commentary since its inception in the 1960s, and if there is any singular point to the series, it's to inspire people to come together and discuss deep existential questions about ourselves and the society in which we live. With that in mind, we feel that it would be a disservice to the community to discourage or flat out ban political posts. What that means is that people are free to share their personal political opinions and make memes about politics and current events from a Star Trek angle. What that does NOT mean is that all opinions are socially acceptable - we are not going to tolerate intolerance, so any posts/comments that are directly racist, anti-LGBT, or are generally "othering" of a group will result in removal/ban. Remember that diversity and coexistence are Star Trek values, and that sometimes this is going to include people who hold opposing viewpoints. It's ok to disagree strongly with each other, have opposing party affiliations, or love/hate a politician, but please keep discussions civil and respectful.
This decision isn't necessarily permanent, and long-time community members will remember that we've tried different approaches in the past, so after a couple of weeks or so, please let us know how you feel about this. With the news recently, we figured it was a good time to readdress our moderation philosophy. We don't want political content to be the primary draw of the community, but we also don't want to feel like we are being too heavy-handed with our moderation, so we're hoping to strike a healthy balance here of people sharing the same silly memes without irl politics being off limits.
LLAP
Fantastic! ๐
Perhaps add a note explicitly mentioning that decrying fascism, racism, etc. is not "othering"? Like the Dominion, they are not simply out there living their best life, but actively trying to kill people (and succeeding all too often), but it is their actions that are harmful, not their overall sheer existence.
This exactly. Call out the action, policy, comments, but not broad generalizations inherent to people's existence. Like, "I think what politician X from Georgia said the other day echoes fascism." is fair game, but "Georgians are fascist." is not.
I like that phrasing:-).
The post does mention not tolerating intolerance which covers fascism, racism, etc.