Comment policy
Last updated September 23, 2026Comments are open on most stories. You can post anonymously or with your name — either way, the same rules apply.
How comments are handled
Every comment is read by a moderator before it appears. That usually takes under an hour in the day and longer overnight. We do not use automated filtering to decide what publishes.
What we remove
Abuse, threats, or anything aimed at a person’s ethnicity, religion, gender or disability. Claims about named individuals that you cannot support, and anything a court has restricted. Personal information about anyone, including phone numbers and addresses. Copy-pasted campaign text, referral links and anything selling something. Comments that only insult the reporter — criticism of the reporting is welcome and stays up.
Anonymous and named comments
Anonymous comments appear as “Anonymous reader” and need no email. If you comment under your name, we show the name you enter and keep your email private — it is used only if a reporter wants to follow up with you.
If your comment does not appear
Most rejections are for one of the reasons above. If you think we got it wrong, write to [email protected] with the story link and we will look again. Repeated breaches lead to a block on the device, which we lift on request after 30 days.