Removing nasty comments from a website

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DF345
DF345 Posts: 11 Forumite
in Consumer rights
I posted about my tenancy situation on a website that has a small forum with about 5/7 regular posters. A couple of them continuously post so-called racist and homophobic "jokes."
I find them offensive and told them so and they said to me, "you can say that to me."
The site owner, manager does not want to know as they are getting hits I guess the more posts they get.
What can I do to have this content removed. They do not name anyone just general comments making fun of situations as mentioned above and quiet nasty to each other using those derogatory terms, words.
Yes, I could do nothing but I don't feel comfortable about that. Thanks,
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Comments

  • DoaM
    DoaM Posts: 11,863 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
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    This isn't a Consumer Rights issue.

    Are you personally identifiable from the posts in that forum?
  • DF345
    DF345 Posts: 11 Forumite
    edited 17 January 2020 at 5:58PM
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    No, we all have made up usernames and one of them claims to use a real first name and says he posted where he lived on the website but I think he is lying.
    I have no idea where they live etc other than what they post.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    I would suggest you just ignore it and don't revisit the forum.
  • CakeCrusader
    CakeCrusader Posts: 1,118 Forumite
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    There's really nothing you can do about these. There is legislation for social media, but it only covers threats of violence and there's nothing else. Complaining to the web site owner is pretty much all you can do, and you've already done this. As posted above, it's best to close your account and move on, there's plenty of other sites offering help.
  • LadyDee
    LadyDee Posts: 4,293 Forumite
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    edited 17 January 2020 at 6:42PM
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    Find something better to do with your time than hang around on social media or dodgy forums, and post on a decent one like MSE instead.
  • Shaun_of_the_Dead
    Shaun_of_the_Dead Posts: 483 Forumite
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    CakeCrusader wrote: »
    There's really nothing you can do about these. There is legislation for social media, but it only covers threats of violence and there's nothing else. Complaining to the web site owner is pretty much all you can do, and you've already done this. As posted above, it's best to close your account and move on, there's plenty of other sites offering help.

    So there's no legislation to cover racial, homophobic or religious hatred?
  • born_again
    born_again Posts: 14,449 Forumite
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    https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/law-and-courts/discrimination/hate-crime/racist-and-religious-hate-crime
    Life in the slow lane
  • CakeCrusader
    CakeCrusader Posts: 1,118 Forumite
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    Shaun_of_the_Dead wrote: »
    So there's no legislation to cover racial, homophobic or religious hatred?


    It's all mostly subjective, I could say 'Christians are all bonkers', and it would be offensive to some, not offensive to others, and it's also not directed at anyone specifically. Homophobic, racial and religious hatred is rife, and very few report problems to the police, there's a handful of prosecutions and they are always prolific offenders with some really vile comments. A good site would have trained moderators who will remove offensive comments, but any Tom, !!!! or Harry can set one up, no knowledge of the law or moderation guidelines necessary, and they don't want to pay people to look after their site for them. At the moment regulation is practically non existent, there's the Malicious Communications Act, but there's very little case law (mostly MPs who have been sent death threats); http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/27/contents I see comments worse than this day in, day out. The police wouldn't do anything unless someone's life is being threatened, the web's like the wild west.
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    CakeCrusader wrote: »
    any Tom, !!!! or Harry
    Luckily the MSE forum goes to great lengths to protect us from offensive language.
  • Shaun_of_the_Dead
    Shaun_of_the_Dead Posts: 483 Forumite
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    CakeCrusader wrote: »
    It's all mostly subjective, I could say 'Christians are all bonkers', and it would be offensive to some, not offensive to others, and it's also not directed at anyone specifically. Homophobic, racial and religious hatred is rife, and very few report problems to the police, there's a handful of prosecutions and they are always prolific offenders with some really vile comments. A good site would have trained moderators who will remove offensive comments, but any Tom, !!!! or Harry can set one up, no knowledge of the law or moderation guidelines necessary, and they don't want to pay people to look after their site for them. At the moment regulation is practically non existent, there's the Malicious Communications Act, but there's very little case law (mostly MPs who have been sent death threats); http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/27/contents I see comments worse than this day in, day out. The police wouldn't do anything unless someone's life is being threatened, the web's like the wild west.

    In future you should refrain from commenting and giving advice on legal topic until you've got a basic understanding of what is and isn't an offence.
This discussion has been closed.
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