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The Salt Lake Tribune commenting and moderation policy

Purpose

The purpose of comments on sltrib.com is to support discussion and conversation among our readers and provide a way for them to engage with the stories that matter.

Subscriber only

Starting in June 2021, users are required to have a digital subscription to sltrib.com in order to participate in the comments. A subscription is not needed to read the comments, only to write comments or interact with others. If you do not have a subscription, you can get one here: https://www.sltrib.com/subscribe/. If you already are a subscriber, use the email associated with your account to log in. The name used for the subscription will appear as the username in the comments.

Moderation

The Tribune moderates comments to ensure conversations are respectful and relevant. While disagreements among users are to be expected, the following are not allowed:

  • Personal attacks on other users

  • Hate speech, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and/or religious bigotry

  • Blatant “trolling”

  • Obscenities, vulgarities and profanity

  • Misinformation or conspiracy theories.

  • Spam

Personal attacks against Tribune staff will be deleted and the user will be banned.

Because users are subscribers, breaking the rules will not automatically result in a permanent ban. Rather, users will have their comments deleted and will be placed in timeout for a set number of days. They will receive an email to their subscriber account explaining the reason for the action. After being placed in timeout three times, the user will be permanently banned. The user can then appeal their ban by emailing comments@sltrib.com.

If a user’s comments do not explicitly break the rules, but are considered to be toxic or combative, they may receive a warning. This warning is an opportunity for the user to correct their behavior before a more serious consequence is taken. The user must acknowledge the warning in the system before being allowed to continue commenting.

Auto shut off

Comments will automatically turn off 72 hours after the story’s publication. The Salt Lake Tribune reserves the right to turn off comments at any time after publication.

Terms of Service

For more information about comments, user contributions and submissions, as well as how The Salt Lake Tribune can use your contributions, read our full Terms of Service.

Contact us

If you have questions about the Tribune’s commenting policy, email comments@sltrib.com.