Neverwinpoker started in 2004. It was the first "free speech" poker forum, where obscenity, porn, and bigoted epithets were allowed. The general concept was that adults in the poker community wanted a place to speak without worrying about what would be deleted for being offensive.
It quickly became a big hit. While I didn't have a hand in starting it (that was Micon and Neverwin), I was the one who developed the free speech concept there. Micon had laughably started it to simply be a Neverwin fanboy site (lol), and I turned it into something else.
Now here we are 16 years later. The world is a lot different than it was in 2004, as are some societal standards. As much as I've always supported free speech and freedom of expression online, I also have to acknowledge that we are in a different time period with different social expectations.
I've taken a shitload of heat for the free speech environment here. Every WSOP, I have to explain to people why I don't delete threads wih blatant racism, homophobia, etc. When I'm done explaining, I still get looks of disgust, and I know I'm being judged as an awful human being.
My name is known. I play live poker. I spend several weeks at the WSOP. I have to answer for what goes on here, and my real identity is very much associated with this site. I've never let people pressure me into doing something I don't want to do, but I also can't ignore that there are ramifications for allowing anonymous trolls to post shock material here.
There's also the fact that the shock/hate speech is only a small fraction of the posts here. Most of the material in the forum does NOT contain that type of language. However, given the site's 8.5-year lifetime, these have added up over time. Removing the worst offending threads and setting some new guidelines going forward would have relatively little impact on the site.
At the same time, part of me doesn't want to go down the rabbit hole of speech censorship. The rules right now are very straightforward and simple: Don't post personal info, don't post porn without spoiler tags, don't spam the forum with shit, don't threaten violence, and don't post anything illegal. That stuff is very concrete and easy to both communicate and enforce. Defining offensive speech is a big gray area I'd prefer not to get into.
I'm really wavering on this. Part of me wants to clean up PFA somewhat, both for my personal reputation and to improve the site. Part of me also wants to tell the critics we can agree to disagree, and just leave things the way they've always been.
Also, please note that I am NOT considering suppression of ideology. Left, right, and center viewpoints will all still be welcome here, as will controversial or extreme political beliefs (on either side).
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Originally Posted by BetCheckBet
