On Wednesday 18 September, on our RSA Daily platform, we discussed how university-backed news website, The Conversation, decided it would no longer tolerate climate change denial comments on their site.

We asked if the RSA should do the same. This question generated some heated debate on the RSA Facebook page, and we have discussed amongst ourselves the best course of action.

We'd like to know what you think!

Should RSA not tolerate denialist comments, on the basis that the scientific evidence now overwhelmingly confirms not only that climate change is real but that it is largely caused by human activity, and tolerating denialists falls into the trap of providing a further platform to promulgate anti-science propaganda?

Or, should RSA allow denialist comments, on the basis that we should be committed to freedom of thought and expression, and so that they may be refuted in open forum?

Or, would a change to our Moderation Guidelines (see below), properly enforced, be sufficient?

Additional Moderation Guideline

3. Be constructive

If you disagree, explain why and back up your views with credible references - peer-reviewed sources, not just someone’s opinion. We reserve the right to delete posts we judge to be deliberate misinformation or recognisable campaigns of science denialism.

What we will do

We reserve the right to remove comments that breach these standards and / or ban people who repeatedly breach them. Replies to comments that have been deleted may themselves be deleted if they don’t make sense out of context.

Please let us know what you think by choosing one of the options provided, and briefly explain your reasoning in the box provided.

Many thanks,

Meredith

President, RSA