The Terms of Service have been updated and these changes come into effect immediately, so please familiarize yourself with these changes. The changes will not be enforced retrospectively to existing posts, but they do apply to all future conversation.
By way of background, in 2018 we launched a new discussion forum entitled Dhamma Wheel Engaged (or DWE for short) which is an "Engaged Buddhism forum, a nonsectarian community discussing the application of the Dharma to social and environmental issues." The reasons for doing so were outlined in this previous announcement.
For the most part, over the past two years, the differentiation between what subject matter is relevant to each forum has been rather clear cut. However, recently we have observed confusion about precisely where that line is drawn. We feel it is important that as a community of staff and members, that we are all as clear as possible on where the line is drawn. This is important so that participants in discussion can be clear on the boundary of what is permissible, and that we as moderators, can moderate that boundary. Accordingly, Dhamma Wheel staff have reviewed the Terms of Service, and building upon lessons learned over past two years, we are incorporating additional details in the Terms of Service.
I will now walk you through the changes, which I will bold in red...
This update is a reminder of why we are here, at this "Buddhist discussion forum on the Dhamma of Theravāda Buddhism". We have made other forums available for your use if you wish to discuss matters which fall outside the scope of this forum, so please avail yourself of these forums if you wish to discuss such matters with fellow Buddhists.1. Intention
Dhamma Wheel is an environment for the discussion of Theravada Buddhism. Special forums have been created for special areas of interest so please respect these boundaries. Conversation not within the scope of this forum, may potentially be allowable at other DW sites, such as Dharma Wheel Engaged or Dharma Wheel Mahayana.
...
As such, posts which are disconnected to Theravada doctrine that discuss the merits or demerits of any specific political or economic system or political party are not allowed on this forum, but can be posted over at our sister forum: Dharma Wheel Engaged.2. Speech
Any subject matter that may be off-topic or is intended to cause disruption or harm may be removed without notice. This includes, but is not restricted to: ...
k. Content of a political or economic nature that is not in traced back to Theravada doctrine. (Such discussion is allowed at DWE)
Facile, superficial efforts to meet this criteria such as "The Buddha was compassionate, therefore... [political discussion]" will be deemed inadequate, and more substantiation of any such postings will be required. As is the case with the existing provision against "unsubstantiated allegations against individuals or traditions" (TOS 2d), you might be granted the opportunity to substantiate your position, if staff deem it appropriate to the situation.
"Content" includes any written text, as well as embedded content such as pictures, videos, and tweets.
If in doubt, please ask staff via PM, or take it to Dharma Wheel Engaged, so as to avoid unnecessary disruption.
Provision 3i of the Terms of Service previously read "Proselytizing or evangelizing other spiritual paths". This has been expanded in the recognition than not all "paths", or -isms, are necessary religious, by nature (e.g. vegetarianism, socialism, totalitarianism).3. Action
The following actions are not permitted at Dhamma Wheel:...
i. Proselytizing and evangelizing other paths or doctrines, whether spiritual or secular
...
I hope this explanation was helpful in terms of appraising you of these changes, which been developed collaboratively by all Dhamma Wheel staff. If you have any questions, or require any further clarification, feel free to ask your questions below. We will keep this announcement "open" for a period of time to allow for such discussion.
As with any change, we will be monitoring how it works in practice, and whether any further refinement of the Terms of Service would be beneficial, so feel free to provide any feedback on how it's playing out in practice over coming months to a member of staff, who will relay it back to the whole team.
Metta,
Paul.