Commenting guidelines

Updated 6 June 2026

We welcome comments, discussion and debate on A Little Bit of Stone.

Local conversation is part of what makes ALBOS useful. We want people to be able to share views, ask questions, add context and discuss local issues in a way that is fair, safe and respectful.

These guidelines apply to comments on the A Little Bit of Stone website and, where we are able to moderate them, comments on our social media channels.

The basics

Please keep comments relevant to the article, post or local issue being discussed.

Please keep comments respectful. It is fine to criticise ideas, decisions and public issues, but comments should not become personal, abusive or threatening.

Please do not use offensive language. We may use automatic filters to suppress comments containing profanity or other terms likely to cause problems.

We may remove comments that are off topic, repetitive, abusive, misleading, unlawful, spammy or harmful to the quality of local discussion.

Keep things civil

Please do not insult others or make personal attacks.

Disagreements and criticism are welcome, but they should be made constructively and civilly.

Comments that are needlessly aggressive, hostile or rude may be removed.

We are open to strong opinions, but we may remove comments that we consider offensive, threatening, intimidating or likely to cause unnecessary distress.

Comments that are abusive, discriminatory or that incite hatred are not permitted. This includes comments targeting people because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation or nationality.

Privacy, safety and legal risks

Please do not post private information about other people.

This includes home addresses, phone numbers, personal email addresses, private medical information, financial information, private family information or anything that could put someone at risk.

Please take particular care when discussing children, vulnerable people, victims, witnesses, accidents, crime, emergency incidents or ongoing legal matters.

Comments may be removed if they:

1. Identify or risk identifying a child or vulnerable person without good reason.
2. Make serious accusations about a named person or organisation without evidence.
3. Could be defamatory, harassing, malicious or unlawful.
4. Could prejudice an investigation, court case or legal process.
5. Encourage people to target, intimidate or contact someone inappropriately.
6. Share images, video or material that the commenter does not have permission to use.
7. Include graphic, distressing or unnecessary detail.

In a local community, comments can have real world consequences. Please think carefully before naming people, making allegations or sharing private details.

Political comments and election periods

We welcome political discussion, especially when it relates to Stone and the wider area.

During election periods, or on politically sensitive topics, we may apply additional moderation to keep conversations fair, factual and focused on the local issue being discussed.

Comments may be removed if they:

1. Contain unverified claims, misleading graphics or slogans that are not clearly connected to the local issue.
2. Promote a political party, candidate or campaign in a way that feels more like canvassing than discussion.
3. Copy and paste the same message across multiple threads.
4. Make accusations against individuals or groups without evidence.
5. Attempt to derail local conversations by focusing only on unrelated national talking points.
6. Appear to be part of a coordinated campaign to flood or distort discussion.

If you are involved with a political party, candidate or campaign, you are welcome to contribute, but please be transparent about your connection.

Criticism and complaints

We welcome fair criticism of A Little Bit of Stone, our coverage and our decisions.

Comments may be removed if they are plainly false, abusive, malicious, personally targeted or repeatedly misrepresent ALBOS or members of the team.

If your concern is about the accuracy, fairness or presentation of an article, please use our complaints procedure rather than relying only on a comment thread.

Trolling and misleading behaviour

Please do not troll.

Commenters who appear to be deliberately provocative, abusive or intent on starting arguments may be banned, sometimes without warning.

We may remove comments or ban users where we believe they are spreading claims presented as fact that are clearly false, misleading or unsupported.

Please do not copy and paste the same comment into multiple threads. Comments may be removed if they repeat points already made by the same commenter or appear to be part of an organised attempt to dominate discussion.

Spam and promotion

Comments that we consider to be spam will be removed.

This includes irrelevant links, scams, repeated promotional comments, fake accounts, automated comments and comments posted mainly to advertise a product, service, website or page.

Local businesses are welcome to join relevant discussions, but comments should add something useful and should not be used to hijack unrelated threads.

Moderation decisions

A Little Bit of Stone’s editor and moderators may remove, hide, restrict or refuse comments that fall outside these guidelines.

We may also close comments on particular articles or posts where moderation becomes impractical, legally risky or harmful to the quality of discussion.

Commenting on ALBOS channels is a privilege, not an automatic right.

We are not able to provide a detailed explanation for every moderation decision.

Bans

Bans may be temporary or permanent.

Repeat breaches of these guidelines may lead to a permanent ban.

In serious cases, including threats, harassment, hate speech, repeated abuse or legal risk, a user may be banned without warning.

If you want to appeal a ban, please email banappeal@alittlebitofstone.com. We will review the appeal, but the ban may remain in place.

Complaints about comments

If you want to complain about a comment on our website or social media channels, please email comments@alittlebitofstone.com.

Please include:

1. A link or screenshot of the comment.
2. Where it appeared.
3. Why you believe it breaks these guidelines.
4. Your contact details in case we need more information.

Concerns about the accuracy, fairness or presentation of an ALBOS article should be raised through our complaints procedure.