On moderation in climate discussions

Climate change articles trigger some of the most heated discussions on Ars Technica. Unlike discussions about which virtual keyboard is better or which approach to cloud storage makes the most sense, climate change is a scientific matter with political ramifications. It's also the focus of astroturfers (fake grassroots movements), trolls, and the willfully scientifically illiterate.

At Ars, we take trolling very seriously, and that means that we find our moderation team issuing a disproportionate number of actions in threads about climate change. That in turn has led to cries of oppression from moderated users alongside charges that Ars is stifling alternative viewpoints. It's not hard to see why some science sites have caved and banned such discussions altogether.

In the spirit of the New Year, we wanted to hear from you on these moderation practices. This article gives everyone a place where they can comment openly about the moderation policies here as they relate to climate discussions. If you need to refresh yourself on our general Posting Guidelines, please do so, but understand this one key point: we do not allow debate over moderation in discussion threads (today's discussion is an exception). Normally, meta-discussions about moderation and posting policies are appropriate only in the feedback forum.