Ironically, if I really did want to "shut down any criticism", I could do it with a single stroke of my trackpad - I have the power to edit or delete any post in this particular subforum, and I can do it with no visible sign that anything's happened.tenia wrote:While I feel myself it was a bit unwarranted for Michael to get at Costa this way for what it nothing else than an innocuous question ("we know these 2 have leaked, but do you think more titles will be announced ?"), it's hard to share his views on Michael's trying to "shut down any criticism" (especially because if there is a place where labels strategies and line-ups have been freely discussed, it's here).
But I've never exercised this power, and I never will, unless it's for something indefensibly libellous that might get the forums into legal hot water - and such things are very rare indeed.
I'm close to an absolutist when it comes to freedom of speech (an area where, disappointingly, I often seem to have quite a few differences with many people on my political side of the fence), as I was always brought up to favour upfront and vigorous argument over censorship, and I especially despise the really sneaky kind of censorship that involves revisiting a thread a few days after a particular kerfuffle has died down and tweaking or deleting posts purely in order to paint a different picture and make someone who was originally badly losing an argument come off better. Not least because it's a complete abuse of privilege.
