This page details our standard response to people who question our methods of allowing and/or disallowing the messages and/or comments that appear on our website.

We get asked this question so often we've composed a standard response. Here's how it goes:

The short answer:

We own SkiptonWeb. You don't. We can (within the boundaries of the law) do what we like on our website. Because we own it. You can't, because you don't. If you feel we are somehow constraining your freedom of speech (on our website), then we recommend that you go and use other websites, or better still build your own website. Just like we did. On your own website you will have complete freedom of speech. Meanwhile, back on our website, the one we built, the one we own, the one called SkiptonWeb, we have absolutely no obligation to publish your posting. Unless we want to. It's up to us. We decide.

The long answer:

We built the SkiptonWeb site. We own it. Since it has become so popular and grown to be so large and so comprehensive, we often come across people who misguidedly assume that SkiptonWeb is in some way official, council-run, state sponsored, EEC funded, whatever - let's stop there because it isn't. SkiptonWeb is a privately owned website that we built for ourselves, from the ground up. We own it, we run it, no one else funds it and thus we have absolute control over what appears on it. If you feel you have some legal challenge to this... bring it on. Frankly, we can't wait to hear it.

Whenever you submit a posting to us, we have the freedom to decide if we want your posting to appear on our website or not. It's up to us. We can use whatever decision-making method we like. We can allow or disallow your posting on a whim. As it happens, we're busy people, and we (have to) use a really fast and simple method. It's this: One of us reads the posting really quickly and then makes a snap decision. That's it. That's all there is to it. Note that it is not the same person every time. More than one person checks postings. We each have our own opinions on what is funny, what is offensive. We don't have time to hold a committee meeting every time a message is posted. We don't have time to hold each posting up to examination and discuss its merits, then put it to a vote. Sorry. That's not the way it works. You want us to be consistent? Unlikely. You want us to be fair? Sorry. You want us to give balanced opinions? Unlucky. You want us to let you air your dirty laundry in public? Don't think so. We decide what we want to appear on our web pages. We do it quickly, and there is no process of appeal. Our decision is final.

As it happens, we're nice people. We're basically philanthropic hippies, with a community approach. We want the SkiptonWeb site to be good for the town of Skipton, good for locals, good for tourists, good for local businesses, good for everyone. That's why we take the time to moderate what postings appear. Everything in life is a compromise. We try to keep everything family-friendly, not get ourselves sued, and at the same time keep the site as interesting and as open as possible. Whether we succeed in that is another question. But at least we try.

But the really good news is this: the internet is completely democratic. If you don't like the way we're doing things here on SkiptonWeb, if you don't like the way we try to keep our messageboard family-friendly, if you don't like the way we stop you posting negative material about local companies, if you dont like the way we stop you posting race hatred and sexual material on our webpages, then you can just go do what we did, and build your own site. It's not that hard. Or that expensive. Once you're done, you can publish whatever you like. We encourage you to exercise your democratic right to free speech. Build your own website and post your stuff on there.

Regards,
Team SkiptonWeb

Have something you want to add here? Got feedback? e-mail us.