The "we don't discuss things before the courts" thing

When has boards been in that position though? MCD aside

Seems a few people should read up on the sub justice rule and hence why anyone associated with Boards should take all opportunity to halt the conversation immediately

Why anyone feels the need to discuss the fate of someone accused or the victim when no decision has been made is beyond me - there's enough examples of falsely accused being demonised in society to be ultimately found not guilty but social media pro's know better

As for non Irish cases - yeah free for all, unless asked to remove it

I've no issue with the rule about closing threads once the case is before the courts. But we've had examples recently where mods closed threads as soon as someone was arrested - not charged. I did query it in Feedback and never got any actual answer, so it's probably not surprising that people are a bit "Wtf?" about the whole thing.

'Give me an example when something happened, aside from the biggest example of when it happened'

Why would they want risk going through that twice?

I completely get their take on this. It's not a multi million euro organisation like other media outlets that can risk it. If the likes of the Times or something similar had legal proceedings brought against them they could fund a defence.

Boards.ie barely have the money to keep the lights on, let alone deal with legal proceeding being brought against them (again).

I think a lot of folks with absolutely no financial skin in this game have some pretty big ideas on how other folks should potentially put themselves at risk.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the MCD thing a threat of legal action against the site because people were complaining about MCD in general, it had nothing to do with an actual case before the courts, no?

And who do you think should be appointed to ascertain when the situation reaches a certain threshold? Practicing solicitors or mods with no training. Is this expertise to be paid or free gratis ?

or they could simply avoid any risk… and do as they currently do.

Perhaps post similar on politics.ie or Ask About Money in their misc. thread.

Well, there are places where discussions around ongoing cases does happen.

Anything that is too close to the bone is removed. On boards anything and everything is closed down immediately.

There has to be some comprise here because without one people will go elsewhere and this site will close down.

Since this thread started nobody has come up with a reason why discussing cases is something that is actually useful in and of itself.

When you read these discussions elsewhere do you think the participants find them helpful in understanding the cases ?

What do you think can be gained from such discussions that is not covered by court reporting ?

Why discuss anything online?

This platform is on its knees. Like it or not, people like to talk about these issues.

It's not to say I'm always interested in it myself, but seeing EVERYTHING being shut down on this basis must be doing something to discourage people from being a part of this supposed community.

So, correct me if I've taken you up wrong, both of you don't see any intrinsic value in discussing cases while they are before the courts.

You seem to see it as a tactic to draw more clicks and funds to the site in order to save it from closure.

I completely understand why boards takes no chances when it comes to Irish cases. The chances are small, but one case taken against the site has the potential to shutter it given the tiny margins it operates under. So, I have no issue with that. Comparing boards to other sites which aren't Irish and have deep pockets - and who do snip and censor plenty too - isn't comparing like with like.

Though it would be good to have some clarity over what the position is regarding cases outside of Ireland.

There is value in discussing cases before the courts, when appropriate. However, threads are being shut/deleted before anyone is even charged, let alone the court case commencing. The excuse given is 'it is before the court'.