Community Standards

Effective Date: June 1, 2024

At Los Banos Enterprise, we value public discussion and the free exchange of ideas. We invite our readers to comment on our articles, engage with our content, and participate in a civil and informed public discourse. To maintain a space that reflects journalistic integrity and public respect, we have adopted the following Community Standards.

1. Purpose of These Standards

Our Community Standards are designed to:

1. Promote civil and constructive conversation on topics of public interest.
2. Prevent harassment, abuse, misinformation, and defamation.
3. Protect the rights and dignity of our staff, contributors, and readers.
4. Ensure that contributions to the site reflect our mission of transparency, accountability, and truth.

By commenting on our website or social media platforms, you agree to abide by these standards.

2. What We Allow

We encourage:

• Thoughtful disagreement and debate on public policy, governance, and community issues.
• Opinions grounded in fact, with citations or firsthand experience when possible.
• Questions, critiques, or corrections submitted in good faith and framed constructively.
• Civic participation that reflects a desire to improve the quality of public discourse.

3. What We Do Not Allow

We reserve the right to remove comments or restrict access for content that includes:

3.1 Personal Attacks or Harassment

• Targeting individuals with insults, mockery, threats, or defamatory remarks.
• Comments that use dehumanizing or inflammatory language (e.g., name-calling, slurs).
• Attacks based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, or other protected characteristics.

3.2 Misinformation and False Claims

• Statements of fact that are demonstrably false or misleading.
• Conspiracy theories, fabrications, or doctored material intended to deceive or discredit.

3.3 Defamation and Libel

• Allegations of criminal behavior, professional misconduct, or unethical behavior without verifiable evidence.
• Misstatements about our staff, authors, or editorial policies.

3.4 Spam, Trolling, and Off-Topic Comments

• Repetitive or copy-pasted content, advertisements, or promotions.
• Intentionally derailing discussions with provocative or irrelevant commentary.

4. Moderation Authority

Moderation decisions are made at the sole discretion of The Enterprise. We reserve the right to:

• Remove or hide comments that violate these standards.
• Block or ban repeat offenders.
• Disable comments on particular articles or threads when necessary to maintain decorum.

If you believe your comment was removed in error, you may request a review by emailing us at [email protected]. All decisions are final.

5. Corrections and Rebuttals

If you believe a published article contains an error of fact or mischaracterization, we welcome formal requests for correction or rebuttal. Submissions should be sent to [email protected] and must include:

• The specific statement in question.
• Supporting documentation or explanation.
• Your name and contact information.

We will review the request in accordance with our editorial policy and may publish a correction, clarification, or rebuttal if warranted.

6. Legal Notice

Comments submitted to this site may be subject to public records requests and may be stored or archived in compliance with applicable law. We assume no responsibility for the views expressed by commenters, which are solely those of the individuals posting them.

7. Updates to These Standards

These standards may be updated without prior notice. Continued use of the comment system constitutes acceptance of the current standards.