Our Clean and Kind Comment Policy

Please read this policy prior to commenting

ATTENTION:

THIS IS NOT AN OPEN PLATFORM OR FORUM. All comments are moderated by Appointed Time Press, LLC administration. All submissions become the property of Appointed Time Press, LLC once published and are therefore subject to the discretion thereof with regard to their publication, editing, and/or deletion.

We have adopted a “clean and kind” comment policy. We consider “clean and kind” speech to be (1) respectful in word and discussion conduct, despite alternative views or beliefs (which are welcome), and (2) free of profanity/obscenity and other *lawful violations. Our “clean and kind” comment policy is outlined below. Our comments and discussion are processed, stored, and retrieved by the following collaborating companies: WordPress, Jetpack, and Akismet. All comments are managed and moderated by Appointed Time Press, LLC administration.

We allow the public to post comments on our website via our blog in accordance with this policy. We welcome all users and visitors to comment with the intention that our portal be a safe place to express thoughts, leave feedback, propose questions, and even begin community discussions or engage in friendly debate. All comments are manually moderated by administration according to this “clean and kind” comment policy. We moderate (filter) comments with the goal of keeping our website family friendly and “G” rated for an increasing and diverse global populous.

1.) The U.S. First Amendment vs. Company Comment Policy: We fully recognize and support the United States First Amendment rights of every individual, regardless of whether or not a visitor/user is a United States citizen (see U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights). Any individual has the sovereign right to say whatever they may choose. That does not imply, however, that we are obligated to approve or publish it upon our website or public portal. Nor does it imply that any such person or speech is free of consequence if the author or comment(s) made by such person(s) violate the law (see specific violations below). As a Christian organization, we have implemented this comments policy requiring “clean and kind” speech and discussion conduct among all peoples. We hold the legal and ethical right to manually moderate (screen and edit) and/or delete (remove) comments that would violate our comment policy, and/or report them to governing authorities when necessary either at our will and discretion, or via a verified legal warrant.

2.) General Speech & Conduct Rules: Unlike social media, which offers editing options to the user, comments approved and posted to our website are permanent unless altered, edited, or removed by administration. With that said, we strongly advise everyone who leaves a comment to abide by the following:

(1.) Never disclose personal, private, sensitive, or secured information.
(2.) Speak freely, but in a respectable manner.
(3.) Be kind and courteous toward others.
(4.) Choose your words carefully.
(5.) Be modest in your comments; refrain from saying too much.
(6.) Remember, comments made online may be found in search engines and could follow you indefinitely.
(7.) Take your time. Read your comment carefully prior to posting and make edits as needed.

3.) Opinion & Debate: Debate is the discussion (verbal exchange) of alternative or contrary opinions, views, and beliefs. Debate is healthy when it is a means by which we explore, grow, and learn from others. It should be engaged in with an open mind with the intent of understanding the position of another individual, regardless of whether or not we may agree with them, or whether or not they win us over. In doing so, we become richer individuals with a broader understanding of the world around us and those who live in it. Engaging in friendly debate, by which differing opinions or views are expressed and discussed, is indeed welcome. Heated arguments, however, which are harmful and destructive, are not welcome, and will be intercepted, blocked, or deleted by administration.

4.) Comment Violations: Comment violations come in various forms and can include lawful breaches. All violations, regardless of their kind, will be blocked and/or deleted, and when necessary they will be reported to the appropriate governing authorities. We hold the right to file and report comments that constitute a (*)lawful breach. Comment violations include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1.) *Libel and *slander
(2.) *Threats, *terrorism, and vitriol
(3.) Obscenity, profanity, and speech otherwise known and understood as “swearing” or “cursing”
(4.) Inciting or soliciting arguments
(5.) Bullying and hate speech targeting an individual, entity, race, religion, ethnicity, culture, country, sex, or class of people. This includes military, veterans, those with disabilities, the unborn, and individuals with special needs.
(6.) *Defamation of character
(7.) *Unwarranted or Unlawful Disclosure of personal information that could compromise or jeopardize an individual’s security, safety, privacy, character, reputation, integrity, and dignity.
(8.) Racial slurs and other statements that are considered “urban”
(9.) *Coded speech, or * “colored” language
(10.) Mocking, jesting, and/or *impersonation of another individual
(11.) *Harassment of any kind (sexual, verbal, etc.)
(12.) *Pornographic speech or conduct
(13.) Third-Party links
(14.) Solicitations and Advertisements
(15.) Adult subject matter (ie. violence, pornography, sex, etc.)
(16.) *Pharma and illegal substances
(17.) *When ill will or the intent to harm is obvious or suspected beyond a reasonable doubt via malicious, rude, and insulting statements. Ill will and the intent to harm includes, but is not limited to, emotional and/or mental distress or damage.
(18.) *HIPAA violations and other *indiscriminate privacy violations.
(19.) Lobbying, protesting, conspiracy, and special interests
(20.) *Spam

(5). Reporting: Reporting may be performed at will or via a legal warrant.

a.) At Will: Speech and conduct constituting a lawful breach may be filed and reported to governing authorities at the sole will and discretion of administration apart from any legal warrant.

b.) Via Warrant: By law, Appointed Time Press, LLC is obligated to report and/or submit information to governing authorities at their request when legal matters, such as investigation(s), are necessitated. Comments made by a user/visitor and all their accompanying information on file is therefore subject to the governing authorities.

c.) Governing Authorities: The said governing authorities include city, county, state, provincial, and federal bodies and/or branches of government and their accompanying legal teams/entities. This may also include international bodies of government that preside over the specified individual in question. We will comply and cooperate when served appropriate and official legal notice(s) via a warrant or otherwise. All such warrants will be managed by our legal teams.

(6.) Language: For the safety, security, and peace of the public all comments must be in English. All other languages will be deleted, as we do not provide interpretation.

(7.) Moderation, Rights, and Ownership: The comments of any individual, and their accompanying personal information, are submitted at will with the proper company policies made freely and readily available to them, to which they are lawfully obliged. All comments submitted are processed via our server by WordPress, Jetpack, Akismet, and Avatar ID which are third-party companies with whom we have established business contracts. Comments are automatically filtered and processed by these companies prior to moderation by Appointed Time Press, LLC. However, manual moderation by administration is still necessitated for proper screening prior to comment approval and final publication. Once approved and published, all comments become the property of Appointed Time Press, LLC, as they are processed, stored, managed, and retrieved on our server by our company. We hold the right to manually and judicially moderate comments according to company policy(s). Manual comment moderation includes any one or more of the following:

a.) Removing harmful words, phrases, content, information, or third-party links at our discretion prior to publishing.
b.) Deleting the comment entirely.
c.) Reporting the comment as spam.
d.) Blocking a user/visitor.
e.) Approval of the comment, justifying its publication.
f.) Contacting the user/visitor at their request or at our discretion via the email provided.
g.) Deleting a published comment at the user’s written request.
h.) Deleting a published comment at the sole will and discretion of administration.
h.) Investigation of the user/visitor at our discretion according to company policy.
i.) Reporting the user/visitor and their comment to the appropriate governing authorities when lawfully warranted.

(8.) Avatars & Personal Identity: Your legal identity is captured via your email. Your public identity is disclosed via your name and the associated avatar. If you do not have a published avatar of your choice, then a unique digital avatar will be assigned to you. The only information shown publicly is your name and your corresponding comment. Please comment wisely, and be responsible with the information you choose to publicly share.

a.) Email: We use email to officially identify any user, which is PII (Personal Identifiable Information). All comments require a valid email for legal purposes. The emails of corresponding users are kept on file as long as the comment remains posted to our website. By law, emails are subject to governing authorities when necessary, and are kept private and secure. Your email for all comment entries must be valid. Any entry attempted with an invalid email will be rejected. Let it be understood that any name you choose to use in association with your email, be it legal or otherwise, can and will correspond with your legal name and identity if and when it is legally investigated. Code names, initials, and anonymous entries may conceal your public identity, but they do not protect you from the law. Please be aware that your name and the corresponding comment can be found and profiled by search engines indefinitely.

b.) Avatars: We use avatars to publicly recognize users who comment. All avatars are recognized and managed by Jetpack. If you have an active avatar (such as with Gravatar), your name and corresponding avatar will be profiled as such with your comment unless you manually change it. If you do not have an avatar, you are welcome to use your name in any format you choose (i.e. your real name, initials, a code name, or “anonymous”) and an anonymous avatar image will be randomly and automatically assigned to you.

(9.) Privacy: All comments and accompanying user information are handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

(10.) Request for Deletion: If you have left a comment you regret you may request a deletion. Please contact us with your request and provide the following information:

a.) Name or Alias
b.) Email
c.) Blog post the comment was attributed toward
d.) Date
e.) A screenshot of the comment
f.) A time-sensitive email verification with the commenter’s signature will be necessary.

We all make mistakes and say things we wish we had not said, and we want to accommodate and honor those regrets. This is a service we provide willingly as a kindness to our users. We are under no obligation to provide comment erasures or deletions upon request. For legal purposes all deletion requests are kept on file indefinitely irrespective of any future unsubscribing, Right to be Forgotten, or verification of the requestor. If we cannot rightly verify the requestor, we will decline the deletion and no further contact will be made. We hold the right to report in the event that we suspect the intent to defame, do harm, or impersonate another user which is classed as a type of identity theft punishable by law. All such suspects will be reported to the appropriate governing bodies for further investigation. We take the privacy and security of our visitors and users seriously.

(11.) COPPA Requests: We adhere to and abide by COPPA. Although our site does not solicit or target anyone under the age of 13, and we post notices for any adult content that is inappropriate for minor children, those under the age of 13 are still able to post comments, and subscribe to comments via email. COPPA requests cannot be done in good faith. They require legal verification to be processed. Please contact us for more information.

Updated & Approved: 10-14-2023 | Appointed Time Press, LLC

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