Comments Policy

Welcome to The Orlando Advocate.  The Advocate News is for anyone who wishes to start or participate in a discussion about a particular news or opinion item.   We value the free exchange of ideas, and we want each and every visitor who stops by here to enjoy his/her stay as much as possible.  To make this happen, please abide by these guidelines:

Sorry, no posting as “guest.”  This privilege has been abused and has had to be discontinued.  Login using your Google account, Facebook or Twitter ID.  No exceptions.

Don’t be a jerk.
We will not tolerate any name-calling, personal attacks or harassment of any kind.  No generalizing about entire groups of people.  No racist, bigoted, homophobic or misogynistic comments. Comments containing racism, bigotry, misogyny or any other inappropriate responses will be removed.

NO drama!
Moderating is a thankless job.  If a moderator removes your post because it violates our rules, check your response.  Personal attacks against a mod will not be tolerated.  Open another thread and calmly explain why your post should be restored.  If we agree, we will restore it.  If we don’t, we will explain and ask you to move on.  It’s pointless to pursue an argument with a mod about a subsequent decision he did not make.

Stay on topic.
If your post does not address the article or relate to it in some context, you will be asked to take your conversation to a more appropriate discussion.  If you do not, your post will be deleted.

No trolling
If you post a deliberately offensive or provocative comment with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them, your post will be deleted. Continue the behavior and you’ll be asked to leave.

No stalking
If you follow someone to this channel to continue an argument you’ve had with them on another or to harass them, your post will be deleted. Continue the behavior and you will be asked to leave.

No sock puppets
If you try to circumvent a ban by returning with a sock puppet or new account, you will earn an instant ban; no warning needed.

Threats of harm
Threats of harm towards anyone will be dealt with severely, including our reporting you to the authorities.  No exceptions.

No serial flagging
Flagging is to be done only if the commenter has violated the Disqus Terms of Service, Advocate Commenting Policy, or contains spam or offensive language. Flagging someone simply because you don’t agree with them is unacceptable.  Do it more than once and you will be asked to leave.  After a third offense you will be permanently banned.

âž¡Edit your work**
Community members may post threads, but they must be framed correctly.

Articles first with links to credible sources.

Use discussion threads for personal opinions.

Don’t rant.

And, oh, Breitbart is not an acceptable “source.”

*All rules are subject to change.

IMPORTANT:  We are obligated by Disqus to abide by their basic rules. The following are not allowed on Disqus:

1) Targeted harassment and encouraging others to do so
2) Spam
3) Impersonation
4) Direct threat of harm
5) Posting personally identifiable information
6) Inappropriate profile content

Thank you for taking the time to read these guidelines. We hope you enjoy your stay here!