A Toxic Echo Chamber

Stephen Pritchard, the reader’s editor at The Guardian, recently announced that the paper will start restricting reader comments posted in the Comment is Free section in articles on three “sensitive” topics: race, immigration, and religion.

Why those sacred cows?

Certain subjects – race, immigration and Islam in particular – attract an unacceptable level of toxic commentary, believes Mary Hamilton, our executive editor, audience. “The overwhelming majority of these comments tend towards racism, abuse of vulnerable subjects, author abuse and trolling, and the resulting conversations below the line bring very little value but cause consternation and concern among both our readers and our journalists,” she said last week . . .

This was not a retreat from commenting as a whole, she said; it was an acknowledgement, however, that some conversations had become toxic at an international level – “a change in mainstream public opinion and language that we do not wish to see reflected or supported on the site”.

Israel activists can relate. For years, Comment is Free has been a toxic cesspool of hatred against the Jewish state. I’ll credit The Guardian for improving its monitoring of the most abusive comments, but the overwhelming balance of articles, talkbacks, and cartoons are sharply critical of Israel.

Let’s face it: mainstream Zionists are so maligned at Comment is Free, most don’t spend time there any more. So as we approach Comment is Free’s 10th anniversary in March, it’s a stretch to call the section a forum for real dialogue about the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

There’s no inclusiveness for Israel. Comment is Free is just an echo chamber where leftists reinforce their views.

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