Racist remarks left in comments section of hubs

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   sheilamyersposted 9 years ago

   In the past few days, I've been getting racist comments left by "visitors" - people who leave comments but aren't members of HP. For the most part, these remarks are combined with anti-police remarks and being left on my law enforcement and crime hubs; however, one or two have been left at hubs having nothing to do with law enforcement. I realize I can opt to read all comments before they get approved, but that's not the way I roll. I simply delete these as I find them. No, I'm not really whining and complaining - just stating a fact.
   
   I've also read some of these same types of comments that were left on other member's hubs. Again, those hubs may or may not have anything to do with either racism or law enforcement. Those hubbers chose to leave the comments and ignored them by not responding to the person who left the comment. Perhaps some of those members haven't gotten around to reading any posted comments. I tell you this in case you haven't checked the comments sections and weren't aware of these nasty people.
   
   These comments aren't simply a disagreement with the topic and I'm not calling them racist because I'm some sort of prude. They are racist remarks. So I'll finally stop rambling and get to the point. Have you received any of these types of comments? Do you leave the comment posted or delete it? Why do you make that particular choice? I know most of the people leaving them only want to stir up a raging argument, but does anyone else besides me see this type of behavior as being part of the cause of racism in America?

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      rebekahELLEposted 9 years agoin reply to this

        I would delete those that are on hubs that have nothing to do with the topic.
      Can you give us a title of one of the law enforcement hubs that they show up on? 
      It's really up to you if you want to leave them.  Obviously there are those who get a rise out of trolling online to leave their mark.
      
      I don't write on topics that would receive these kind of comments, although I did receive what I perceived as one racist comment on one of my France related hubs. I would have to look to see what I did with it.
      (I checked.  I deleted it because it was in reference to a video that has now been replaced.)

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         sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I've already deleted the ones I've found so they don't appear on the hubs. I generally delete anything like this and any comments that have nothing to do with the topic of the hub.

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      Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      We recommend setting all your comments to be approved before they are visible, especially for Hubs on which you have seen problematic comments.
      
      Authors are ultimately responsible for all of the content on their Hub and a Hub can be moderated for hate speech or personal attacks which could include racist remarks posted by other readers.  Authors then have an opportunity to remove such content and submit it to be reviewed for publication.
      
      If a Hub is set such that each comment must be approved, then one can avoid this situation entirely.
      
      As @lisavollrath pointed out, there is a passage in the Learning Center about this in more detail.
      http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/publ … d_22732197

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         sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you Matthew. I must have missed part of that when I originally read through the TOS because I wasn't aware we were responsible for the comments posted by other people. I do like the policy though because it keeps people who may think about it from signing out and then anonymously writing those types of things on their hubs as a way to keep from getting into trouble with HP. I did go into my account just now and set it so all comments have to be approved before they appear. I thought about setting it so only people who are signed into HP could post comments, but I enjoy getting comments from most non-members. I looked through some of the other information and couldn't find an answer to a specific question. When setting the comments so they have to be approved first, does it have to apply to all of our hubs or is there a way to set it for each individual hub?

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            Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            You can set it per Hub.
            While you are editing your Hub in the Hubtool, edit the comments capsule and you should see the settings available.
            
            

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               sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you once again. You're always so helpful.

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      Sapphireidposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, Sheilamyers,
      
      There is no way! That this ought to be allowed here on HubPages.com, (nor anywhere else for that matter), do your posts with the approval on, so that you can deny/remove such horrendous acts of wording.
      
      Take care,
                        Sapphireid

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         relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Actually, I really value living in a country that has Freedom of Speech.

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            sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I also enjoy having that right and letting other people have their say, but some people step over the line with the kind of comments I mentioned.

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      Sapphireidposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      In addition, Sheilamyers? I, yes, even I have came across a response that was more than bitter to the throat. I make sure it is not approved and/or delete it. I also teach others how to set privacy settings on their online profiles to help steer away from individuals they may not desire to be in their circle with.

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      LuisEGonzalezposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Delete the s..t, merde, caca, scheiße, дерьмо, 狗屎....get the picture?   out of them and like M Meyer says, set your comments to be approved first before they show.

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      kenneth averyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Hey, sheilamyers,
      Contact team@hubpages.com immediately. Give them the names of the low-life jerks who stooped so low as to do this.
      I too, hate racism and those who spread it. I cannot tolerate any more of this crime against humanity. If the "racist mongers," would get their hearts right, we might have a decent world in which to live.
      No matter which way you go, I am with you.

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         calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         They are guest commenters, not users with HubPages accounts, so they don't have any verifiable names to report.
         
         Marking unwanted comments as spam is the most effective measure because comments that originate from that same IP address will be automatically blocked from then on.

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            sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            I didn't mark them as spam because I didn't really consider them as such, but you have a point. I don't think it would help that much for non-members because I've been told HP doesn't block computers by the IP. If they did that, many people who use free internet access at places such as libraries wouldn't be able to access HP because of the actions of a few bad apples.

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               Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               If it is SPAM or other problematic content, report it as such. We use that information to help prevent SPAM on other parts of the site so you will be helping other authors as well.

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                  sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  I'll do that. Thanks for letting me know I should do it.

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      bethperryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Sheila, let me first say I am surprised and disgusted people would leave these types of remarks anywhere, but especially in Hubs written by someone as unbiased and level-headed as yourself. This does indeed sound like attempts to just stir up antagonism against law enforcement in general. As simple as it might be to tell you to just use moderation tools, this shoots over the valid point you raise. Anarchist elements that salivate over the dissolution of law enforcement altogether have no compunction about using devious tactics They seek to silence all opposing views; and stooping to false allegations and insinuations of racism or casting racist sentiments themselves are just tactic for them. Just like any other kind of fanatic, anarchists will bully and vilify anyone that dares to make an opposing view.
      
      As to the answer for this: I think HP's needs to seriously consider doing away with the visitor comments altogether. And some stipulation for anonymous comments comparable to the "Your question is waiting approval to be posted" is long overdue. Too many member hubs are taken over by sock puppet commentaries and obvious derailing maneuvers from what appears to be those few but compulsively hostile members with agendas. I for one don't believe the kissing of a bully's butt serves any community well.

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         calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I think HP's needs to seriously consider doing away with the visitor comments altogether.
         
         I completely disagree that guest commenters should be blocked across the board.  Every user has the power to block guests from commenting both at the hub level and at the account level, so if a hubber doesn't want any guest comments at all on her hubs, she can elect to block them on her account. 
         
         But I appreciate my random guest commenters and I choose to permit them on all my hubs, and that is nobody's business but mine.

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         sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         You both have valid points. Here I'll make a suggestion for the HP moderators or whatever your title is as an employee. Would it be possible to have a default setting of some type in which comments made by anyone signed into an HP account automatically show in the comments section yet have any comments made by anyone not signed in (member or not) be marked as needing to be approved before they appear. I think most members rarely have a problem with comments that are left by members who are signed into their account.

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            Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            If you would like to suggest this comment capsule feature you can do so in the feature suggestion forum here.
            http://hubpages.com/forum/category/6634

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      Maina Ndunguposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Just today I spammed a comment on one of my articles from an anonymous 'visitor'. The comment was mad, bad, ridiculous, irrelevant and rhetorical. Hubpages should do something about people who comment without first logging in.

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      sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Even though I didn't directly respond to everyone's replies, I read them all. Thanks for your opinions and I'm looking forward to continuing this discussion and hearing what every has to say.

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       Venkatachari Mposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I did come across some comments and remarks on forums recently,like "how to convince an atheist' or "what do you believe in". They are not regarding law enforcement though. Some commenters use very abusive words which can hurt the feelings of believers in religion or God. I request such people to be polite and respect other people's beliefs and practices.
       
       But, till now I do not have any such posts on my hubs at hubpages as do not dealt such subjects in my hubs here.

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   relacheposted 9 years ago

   You get to run your comment capsules any way you wish.

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   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Delete them.

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   ChristinSposted 9 years ago

   I am sorry this is happening to you.  I think with all the Media surrounding Ferguson right now there are a lot of angry people targeting these topics.  I always moderate my comments due to the sheer amounts of spam that I used to have to filter through.  A lot of the comments just showing up may be on the accounts of those who don't moderate comments.  If it were me, I would definitely delete racist or hateful comments - they contribute nothing of value.

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      sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      You hit on the main reason I also believe this is happening. I actually thought I'd get more of the nasty comments on my hub titled "Rioting as a call for justice - a contradiction in terms" than any of the others. Perhaps, the people leaving the comments are simply choosing the first law enforcement titles that pop up in the search engines.

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         Maximum Aposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Well, I didn't get "racist" comments, per se, but I did get comments like "rtrftd" or in a different language and another spam-like comment. It was the first time I got comments like that. It was just a few days ago, though, which was pretty weird in my experience.

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   FlourishAnywayposted 9 years ago

   It's your hub.  If it's irrelevant, offensive, off-topic, rude, or otherwise unwanted, I would delete.  There's no reason to expose others to such vile comments (i.e., your regular readers) and isn't this stuff searchable?

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   lisavollrathposted 9 years ago

   This might be one reason to delete them:
   http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/publ … d_22732197

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      rebekahELLEposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for including the learning center link.  Updated Aug. 15, 2014
      
      Personal attacks and hate speech run contrary to our Terms of Use and are therefore unpublished.
      
      If you receive an email stating that your Hub is in violation of having personal attacks or hate speech, it means that your Hub contains personal attacks, hate speech, or racist content targeting individuals and/or groups.
      
      The attacks may come in the form of:
      
          Something you said within the body of the Hub
          Something you said in the comments section of the Hub
          Something said by another user in the comments section of the Hub
      
      To amend the Hub, simply remove any and all attacks from the body of the Hub and its comments section.
      
      The above link is very thorough about what can and cannot be included in a hub.

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   Sandra Eastmanposted 9 years ago

   Wow I'm a long time but just got started with HP. I'm disgusted that someone would post those types of comments but not surprised. I say delete and forget. Plenty of good folks to leave worthy comments.

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   chakravarthydsposted 9 years ago

   Delete them.
   Yes, just like other hubbers suggested, just delete them.
   And I believe, the hubpages team and the hubbers need to take some necessary measures to prevent this.
   Prevention may be better, than just deleting these comments.

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      calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      It already is preventable -- by marking the first instance of such a comment as spam.  From then on any comment that comes from that same IP address will be sent to the spam folder. 
      
      That probably eliminates 99% of the problem because a typical troll is not so dedicated as to use IP masking services, at least not more than a couple times before giving up.

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   Everyday Miraclesposted 9 years ago

   I don't get racist comments, but I get graphic comments on occasion, because I write about pregnancy. When this happens, I deny the comment and reply to it, explaining why I denied it, and answering the question in spite of the fact that the original comment is now invisible. This has been working for me in terms of controlling my content.

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      sheilamyersposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I like the way you handle the situation. The only thing I did after deleting one of the comment was to add my own to state that all of those types of comments would be deleted. Of course, that may make things worse because people will know they bothered me. I'll have to give it some thought. I'm also going to remember what you said about deleting any type of nasty comment yet still answering a serious question or concern that may have otherwise been left without any problems.

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    Gods Provisionposted 9 years ago

    I do understand that allowing visitors to browes and comment will surely expand the attention that HubPages' article get, but it does make it difficult to be able to stop some people from acting disrespectful. There's always some bad apples thrown into the bushel.

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