Recently I was faced with one of the tougher decisions I’ve had to make as moderator for LJWorld.com. A former commenter on the website, who has been banned multiple times under multiple usernames, filed to run for Lawrence City Commission.

This presented our news organization with an ethical dilemma: Do we deny someone who wants to be an elected official the opportunity to participate in discussions about the very community they wish to represent, despite their history on the website? If we do not allow this user to post, then do we deny all other city commission candidates the opportunity to post on LJWorld.com as well?

Jonathan Kealing and I discussed this situation at length, and came to the conclusion that we would allow Sven Alstrom to return to LJWorld.com under a few conditions (which just_another_bozo_on_this_bus summed up perfectly at 11:53 a.m.)

• That he would have a verified account (which means his first and last name would appear next to his username).
• That we would monitor his every post through our system.
• That if he violated the Terms of Service he would be banned.

We initiated contact with Mr. Alstrom and offered him the opportunity, which he accepted.

This situation is new territory for us. But one thing I know is that if we discover that other city commission candidates are previously banned users on LJWorld.com, they too will be offered the same opportunity that we have offered Mr. Alstrom.

That’s the explanation. Comments and questions, as always, are welcome and highly encouraged.

Have a great weekend, everyone!