Why we’re setting a comments policy on Facebook

When we launched RiverheadLOCAL in 2010 and began building our social media presence, it felt like we were opening a door into a community conversation. People disagreed, sure. But most of the time it was neighborly. Residents used our Facebook page the way people use a good local diner: to talk about what’s happening, to debate, to trade information, to help each other out, and sometimes to blow off a little steam. It could even be fun.

Something changed in late 2015. You don’t need me to recap the national moment that arrived with the start of the 2016 presidential campaign, but that was the turning point. The tone of public life shifted. Outrage became currency. Cruelty became entertainment. On Facebook, where the loudest and angriest voices are often rewarded with the most attention, the comment threads that used to feel like a town square started to look more like a brawl.

At the same time, Facebook changed. Over the last decade, its business model has increasingly rewarded whatever keeps people on the platform — and outrage is sticky. The result is a system that often amplifies the most inflammatory takes at the expense of context, truth and basic decency.

Over the last 10 years, RiverheadLOCAL’s Facebook page has been pulled in that direction, too. The nastiness and hostility have become so familiar that I sometimes avoid looking at our own posts. Not because I can’t handle criticism (I’ve been doing local journalism, and taking my shots, for more than 25 years), but because I don’t want to spend my days absorbing contempt and cruelty. I don’t want our reporters, our sources, or our readers to have to wade through it either.

Recently, a young person said something to me that stuck: the RiverheadLOCAL Facebook page is a place where angry old people go to fight.

That was painful to hear. But it was also clarifying.

Because whatever you think of RiverheadLOCAL, I don’t believe anyone benefits from a comment space that makes people cringe before they scroll. And I don’t think “this is just how Facebook is” is a good enough reason to accept it.

The crux of the matter

Here is the key distinction for me: Facebook’s business model is designed to maximize engagement. RiverheadLOCAL’s business model is built on credibility.

We live and die on our ability to accurately report facts, correct errors, and publish reporting that fairly reflects the local community we serve. We’re protective of the standards that guide our work, proud of the result, and grateful for the loyal readers and advertisers who support it. It shows in the results: in 2025 our website had more than 4.2 million page views.

We cannot do that work — and we cannot build trust — in a space that prizes engagement above reality.

So in 2026, we’re making a change, starting with a clear social media comments policy.

I posted our comments policy on Facebook and it was met with a torrent of familiar accusations: that we’re trying to “censor” people, that we’re “silencing” those who disagree, that this is about our “agenda,” that “words don’t hurt,” that we’re not being “democratic,” that we’re violating “free speech.”

Let me say this plainly: a comments policy is not censorship. It’s not a political statement. And it’s not a declaration that only certain opinions are welcome.

It is a set of standards for how people treat each other in a space we operate.

What’s changing

RiverheadLOCAL is not obligated to provide free hosting for personal attacks, harassment, hate speech, discriminatory remarks, doxxing, threats, or comment wars that chase decent people away. And our policy is not complicated.

We welcome discussion and debate. Our goal is thoughtful, respectful dialogue about issues that matter to this community.

But to keep social media spaces constructive and safe, participants must follow basic rules: be respectful; stick to the topic; be truthful; protect privacy; no commercial promotion or spam; and keep it clean.

That’s it. Debate is welcome. Degradation is not.

A few misunderstandings, answered

This is not a ‘free speech’ issue

Freedom of speech protects people from government censorship. RiverheadLOCAL is not the government. Our social media pages are an extension of our publication, and we expect users to uphold the same standards of civility there as they would in person.

You are free to express your views. You are free to criticize us. You are free to argue your case on your own page, in your own groups, and in any number of forums online.

But participation on a RiverheadLOCAL post is not an entitlement. It is a privilege, and it comes with boundaries.

This is not about silencing disagreement

Some people hear “moderation” and assume it means: if you don’t like what we say, we’ll delete you. That’s not what this is.

We welcome disagreement and we welcome criticism. What we won’t tolerate are personal attacks, harassment, hate speech, or discriminatory remarks.

In practice, that means you can say: I think you’re wrong. I think you missed something. I think your framing is unfair. I think the town board got it right. I think they got it wrong.

What you can’t do is turn the discussion into a pile-on, smear people with slurs, assign motives as fact, attack other commenters, or use our page to make the experience miserable for everyone else.

If your position is strong, it can survive without cruelty.

This is not ‘we can’t handle a few bad words‘

I’ve heard a version of: “Are we not all adults? Can’t people handle a few bad words?”

The real problem isn’t a stray swear word. The real problem is what those threads have become: a place where contempt is normalized, where people are baited and mocked, where dehumanizing language and harassment drive others out. When someone says “words don’t hurt,” what they often mean is “it doesn’t hurt me.”

But the consequence is real: it shrinks participation down to the people who enjoy conflict. It turns a community space into a performance for the loudest voices. It teaches everyone else to stay silent.

This policy exists because I want more people to participate, not fewer.

What about “false or misleading information” and “who decides”?

This is one of the more serious critiques, and it’s fair to ask how any moderation standard is applied.

Our policy says: be truthful; do not post false or misleading information. We will enforce that in a practical way, not an ideological one.

Most of our moderation will focus first on clear, observable conduct: personal attacks, harassment, threats, doxxing, discriminatory remarks, and off-topic derailment. Those behaviors poison a space quickly and reliably.

For factual claims, our focus will be on clear cases: demonstrably false statements presented as fact, fabricated quotes, impersonation, and the repeated posting of known falsehoods as if they are true. And if a discussion becomes uncivil or legally sensitive, we may close comments on a particular story.

We’re not building a courtroom in the comment section. We’re trying to keep a public conversation readable and safe enough that reasonable people will show up.

How enforcement will work

RiverheadLOCAL reserves the right to delete comments or block users who repeatedly violate these guidelines. Persistent violators may be blocked. Comments threatening violence, spreading falsehoods, or attacking individuals will be removed.

This isn’t about winning arguments. It’s about maintaining standards.

And just as important: we are not going to spend our lives arguing with people in threads.

We may join comment threads to clarify facts or provide context, but we will not argue with readers or defend opinions. Our role is to facilitate understanding, not to win debates.

Why we don’t have comments on our website

Some readers have asked why we don’t simply host comments on our own site and keep Facebook out of it.

The answer is straightforward: we did away with commenting directly on our website because we do not have the personnel to moderate comments to the degree required to prevent the publication of false, misleading, and potentially defamatory statements.

Beyond that, I don’t want RiverheadLOCAL-hosted spaces to become a warehouse for misinformation and disinformation. My goal is to publish accurate news and information about our community, and I don’t want our efforts tarnished by careless or intentionally false claims posted by a commenter.

Everyone is welcome to send me a letter to the editor expressing an opinion about an issue, an article, or an opinion column we publish. Letters are vetted for accuracy and to ensure the identity of the letter-writer is real. And they are published regardless of whether I agree or disagree with the points of view expressed.

An invitation back to the conversation

I’m not naïve. I don’t believe this will magically transform Facebook. I don’t expect everyone to like these boundaries. Some people will leave. Some people will test the rules. Some people will keep insisting that any boundary at all is “censorship.” Others will continue calling me and/or RiverheadLOCAL names. So be it.

But I do believe this: if we set a clear standard and enforce it consistently, we can make our page a space where more people feel comfortable speaking up, including the people who are currently staying silent because they don’t want to be attacked.

I’ve heard from plenty of readers over the years who tell me they don’t comment because they don’t want the hassle. They don’t want strangers ripping into them. They don’t want to be dragged into a pile-on. Those are the people we’ve been losing in our public comment spaces.

If we want a healthier discussion, we have to protect the conditions that allow it.

So here’s my request, and my promise.

Bring your disagreement. Bring your evidence. Bring your perspective. Correct us when we’re wrong. Challenge us when you think we’ve missed something.

But leave the nastiness at the door.

If you’d like to read the full comments policy, you can find it in our statement of Standards, Values and Policies.

And if you’ve avoided commenting because you didn’t want to step into a fight, I hope you’ll consider this an invitation to come back. We’re trying to make room for you again.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.