Government-run online discussion fora: Moderation, censorship and the shadow of control

Scott Wright

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

99 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Moderators are widely thought to be crucial to the facilitation of high-quality democratic debate, particularly in government-sponsored participatory exercises. There are, however, persistent fears that moderators censor rather than promote free speech, leading to a ‘shadow of control’. This article analyses the relationship between moderation and censorship on two British central government online discussion fora: Downing Street's Speaker's Corner and Policy Forum, and Citizen Space's E-Democracy Forum. Two models of moderation are developed to help structure the analysis. The main conclusions are that moderation strategies must be clearly linked to the policy goals behind the forum, and that the moderator's roles should be separated to limit the so-called ‘shadow’. The censorial role being conducted by an independent body, with facilitation activities conducted by civil servants linked to the policy being discussed.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)550-568
Number of pages19
JournalBritish Journal of Politics and International Relations
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2006

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