Commenting rules

1. In the interests of open and accountable debate, comment authors are required to provide their real name, as with letters to the editor. The County Press will remove comments if we believe they have been posted under a pseudonym. We will then ask for proof of identity before allowing comments to be posted using the name in question.
2. Personal attacks and abuse will not be tolerated, nor will comments that may be deemed offensive or threatening to others. This includes insulting any individual or group on the grounds of faith and religion, sexuality, gender, race, disability or age.
3. We encourage the use of comments for full and fair debate of issues raised in stories, however comments that are not considered relevant to the debate will be removed.
4. The comments section should not be used to advertise businesses. Comments that include links for commercial purposes are prohibited, as are comments posted under a company name. We are happy to have relevant comments from groups or business, but they must be posted under the name of a representative.
5. Comments will not be open on stories in which the Isle of Wight County Press believes there would be a significant risk of the breach of court orders, contempt or defamation. Comments will not be open on stories regarding emergency incidents, including road traffic collisions.
6. Comments that criticise the Isle of Wight County Press will be accepted, except when they misrepresent the publication or its staff.
7. Comments which contain elements that break the house rules will be removed entirely. Some comments may also be removed if they are related to a previous comment removed for breaking the rules.
8. Please respect the views of others. If you disagree then you have the right to challenge them, but do not resort to personal attacks or insults.
9. Those who repeatedly break the rules will be barred from commenting in the future.