Comments Policy

Why do my comments have to be approved?

We have to approve all comments on the website to ensure that no abusive, offensive, or spam-like comments are published. We never censor comments based on political or ideological point of view or of a critical nature. We reserve the right to delete those comments that are off-topic, “spammy” in nature, abusive, use excessive foul language, or include ad hominem attacks. Please bear in mind the following conditions when commenting on the site:

1. Do not imitate another person.
2. We collect users’ email addresses to help prevent spam, and to notify users about any replies to their comments. Users can opt-out of these email notifications at any time.
3. Once a comment is made public on the Soton Tab website, we will not remove it by request without good reason with regard to the rest of our comment policy. As a user, you are responsible for your own communications and are responsible for the consequences of your posting.
4. We welcome debate and differing opinion, but personal attacks (on authors, other users or any individual), persistent trolling and mindless abuse will not be tolerated. If you receive any comments which you feel personally attack either yourself or another site user please contact .
5. Comments will also be considered for removal (i) in response to legal process, for example, in response to a court order, (ii) in response to a law enforcement agency’s request, or where we believe it is necessary to investigate, prevent, or take actions regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety of another person, violations of our terms of use, or as otherwise required by law. As all members of the Soton Tab editorial team are students of the University of Southampton and its Students’ Union, the laws, standing orders and ordinances of these organisations also apply; especially in relation to SUSU’s Staff-Student Protocol which can be found here.
6. We reserve the right to remove any content that may put us in legal jeopardy, for instance comments of a potentially libellous nature, defamatory postings, or material posted in potential breach of copyright.
7. Any views expressed by the Soton Tab writers in the comments do not necessarily reflect the views of The Soton Tab.
8. Your comment is likely to be flagged as spam if you include more than two links. We will also remove obvious commercial postings within the comments. If you’d like to advertise on the site, please view our advertising opportunities.