Censorship on DEV Community

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Disclaimer : No, despite the possibly misleading title of my post, I am NOT suggesting in ANY way that the team behind this platform is full of tyrants. Now, proceed.

Hey there I'd like to start the week at a different pace this time. Hence this post.

As of late, I took notice of some posts around here where the author has chosen to hide certain comments. I can imagine that this has been around since the very inception of this platform. However, hear me out.

I'm not entirely okay with the practice of hiding comments. I am, however, fully onboard with the idea of fostering a safe, inclusive and respectful community on this platform. I follow the Code of Conduct (CoC) almost to the letter and I understand and acknowledge the need for the CoC in the first place.

Here's the deal. Imagine that I post a blog here and someone leaves a comment I disagree with. As the author I have the "power" to hide this comment for whatever reason I see fit, even if the opinion expressed in the comment/by the commenter didn't violate the CoC in any way.

I will be honest with you all. On more than one occasion I felt tempted to hide a comment or two on my posts (especially the unsolicited and shameless self promo). But I chose not to do so. However, I am seeing more and more folks hiding comments on their posts. Yes, their posts are sometimes controversial and hence elicit really candid responses from other members of the community. In my experience, it would have been great to see the hidden comments. I want to see the bigger picture, not just what the author wants me to see. That's it. That's the "issue" I have with this.

Now let me be very clear, before anybody jumps to conclusions:

• I have no intention of telling people how to "moderate" the comments on their posts.
• I understand that the CoC is there for a reason and that it will be enforced no matter what. That's great. No objections there.
• No, despite the possibly misleading title of my post, I am NOT suggesting in ANY way that the team behind this platform is full of tyrants. They have noble intentions and are doing their absolute best to make and keep this place wonderful and welcoming.

The bottom-line is this:

• Do we want authors to possibly misuse the "Hide comment" feature? Do we want authors to hide comments that disagree with their narrative but are otherwise respectful, constructive and abiding to the CoC?
• Can we, as users late to the party, have a way of seeing the hidden comments? Never mind deleted comments, these are gone for good. (P.S. if there's a way of reading hidden comments, by all means please enlighten me.)

If I am missing something and this is already being enforced whatsoever, please share the relevant docs to such information. I am genuinely curious and just trying to contribute to making this corner of the net a little more wholesome. Would be a shame to see people getting censored just because an author fails to take criticism like a grown up. I've seen it countless of times across various platforms and would hate to see this take DEV.to by storm.

By all means, drop your comments and thoughts below. I won't hide them (no matter how great the temptation).

Have a nice week folks!