Posting comments: the rules of engagement

We greatly appreciate your contributions and therefore welcome comments on our website. Please observe the following rules; otherwise, you run the risk of having your post removed.

The rules

1. Your very first comment on our site must be approved manually by the editors. Especially outside office hours, this can take some time. Once your comment has been approved, your subsequent comments will be published automatically and only reviewed against the house rules afterwards.
2. If you include a hyperlink in your comment, or use a word that is common in spam emails, the comment will always be submitted to the editors for review first. As a result, it may take longer before the comment is published. Spam is detected by Akismet, read the privacy policy of this tool.
3. Once posted, comments stay posted. We do not remove any contributions to discussions afterwards even if asked to do so. For this reason, do not write anything you may later regret.
4. Do not pass yourself off as someone else. We would appreciate it if you would use your own name/first name when leaving comments. Anonymous comments are allowed, provided it is clear that you are using a pseudonym.
5. Keep your comments civil. Do not use abusive or profane language.
6. No racism or threats.
7. Comments that are knowingly false will be removed.
8. Do not make needless ad hominem attacks.
9. Only post responses that are relevant to the content of the article; in other words, stay on topic.
10. Comments are intended to foster debate. Repeating the same point only makes any sense if it is done with fresh arguments.
11. Discussions about the removal of the article or a comment are not allowed. Please e-mail us at [email protected] instead in such cases.
12. Advertising or off-topic hyperlinks will be removed.
13. After 30 days, the comment section of an article will close. This is mainly to prevent spamming of old articles.
14. If you find a factual inaccuracy or a typo, rather than leaving a comment below the post, please e-mail us at [email protected].

Comments that are in breach of the above rules may be removed. EM reserves the right to permanently block users who repeatedly breach the rules or commit serious violations. Also, if a discussion gets out of hand, EM may close the comments section below an article. The discussion will be permanently closed for comments one month after publication of the article.

EM reserves the right to remove comments without entering into further correspondence, and to amend the above rules at a later date and apply them retrospectively.

If you would like to tell your story with complete anonymity, you can also e-mail EM at our protected e-mail address [email protected].