Commenting guidelines

Commenting guidelines

We love to hear what you think about articles we post on A Little Bit of Stone or share through our social media profiles. Discussion and debate is a good thing and we like to encourage it.

However, we do ask that you keep it civilised by keeping these guidelines in mind.

The basics

  • Keep things relevant and on topic. Off-topic comments may be removed.

  • Keep it respectful. It’s OK to criticise ideas without making it personal. Avoid offensive language (this includes profanity) as we have automatic filters in place to suppress comments that contain them.

Keep things civil

  • Please do not insult others or make personal attacks. Disagreements and criticism are fine, we all have our own points of view, but this needs to be done constructively and civilly.

  • Please be polite. Comments that are needlessly aggressive or rude will be removed.

  • We are open to strong opinions, but may remove comments deemed to be offensive or threatening in nature. Please respect other people’s views and beliefs when contributing.

  • Do not write comments that are abusive or incite hatred. Comments that are discriminatory in nature, or that make sweeping generalisations about people on the grounds of race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disability or age are harmful to our community, are not permitted and will be removed.

Political comments and election periods

We welcome political discussion, especially when it relates to Stone and the wider area. However, during election periods or on politically sensitive topics, we apply additional moderation to keep conversations fair, factual and on track.

Comments may be removed if they:

  • Contain unverified claims, misleading graphics or slogans that are not connected to the local issue

  • Promote a political party, candidate or ideology in a way that feels more like campaigning than discussion

  • Copy and paste the same message across multiple threads, especially if it seems part of a coordinated effort

  • Make accusations against individuals or groups without evidence

  • Attempt to derail local conversations by focusing only on national talking points

If you’re involved with a political party or campaign, that’s fine, just be transparent. We welcome contributions from genuine local voices.

Criticism of A Little Bit of Stone and our team

We welcome fair criticism of our coverage, but will not allow comments that are plainly unfounded or misrepresent A Little Bit of Stone or our team.

Trolling and misleading behaviour

  • Do not troll. Commenters we deem to be deliberately provocative may be banned, sometimes without warning. This includes inciting conflict or picking fights with others who disagree with you.

  • Commenters who spread misinformation or who we believe are posting with intent to mislead may be banned.

  • Please do not cut and paste your 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 campaign.

Spam

  • Comments that we regard as spam will be removed.

Bans

  • Bans can be handed out for a fixed period of time or be permanent. Repeat offenders face permanent bans if they continue to break our guidelines.

  • Appealing a ban: If you find yourself banned, you may appeal for us to review the ban. Please email banappeal@alittlebitofstone.com

Complaints and removals

The administrators of A Little Bit of Stone and our social media profiles reserve the right to remove comments or content that fall outside of these guidelines or are deemed to be libellous, malicious, or likely to cause distress.

If you want to make a complaint about a comment on our website or any of our social media platforms, please send an email to comments@alittlebitofstone.com and we’ll investigate.

Updated 6th June 2025

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