Ethics Should members have the right to delete their post? (2 Viewers)

[Shawn Gossman]

No. Once content is published, it's owned by the forum.

So, if they post an image that is copyright protected and the owner comes after you and demand payment, should you be the one who pays?

Effectively, you're responsible because as you said, the content is owned by the forum after it's posted.

How does your terms or rules define this?

I think you're right about it and wrong at the same time.

I don't think members should have the right to create a topic that abuses another member and then delete it to try to hide their abuse. Giving the ability to permanently delete content is asking for abuse and spam.

However, I think a soft delete or if the content is deleted but instead moved to a private staff-only section - could be the answer to this. That way the previous content can be vetted to see if abuse or spam had occurred and if the OP needs action taken against them for the deleted content.

I just think we need to be careful about saying the content belongs to the forum.

 

[hacxx]

The option to delete posts should be limited to admins and mods. While it's understandable that users may regret posts, allowing unrestricted deletions can break the flow of discussions and damage context. A better approach is letting users edit within a time window, while staff handle removal requests to maintain thread integrity.