So, in case anyone is still reading the thread here, my sister post over a /r/politics just got censored with the following message:
Hi goddamnstupidmofo. Thank you for participating in /r/Politics. However, your submission has been removed for the following reason(s): Unacceptable Title - Your headline must be comprised only of the copied and pasted headline of the article AND/OR a continuous quote taken from the article. If using a quote, it should reflect the article as a whole We recommend not using the Reddit 'suggest a title' as it tends to not give the exact title of the article. If you have any questions about this removal, please feel free to message the moderators.
While I'm not big on subreddit drama, I thought that you all would be interested to know about the censorship. This was my response:
I got your message - that's a shame that you decided to remove this submission and related discussion.
The linked article was previously supplied to /r/politics eight days and got no traction - probably because people didn't really understand that this was the first step in getting their national parks sold out from under them. I made a conscious decision to editorialize the title, because a title like "There Is Just No Program Like the LWCF" is poorly written and doesn't accurately describe what's happening.
It's not surprising that it didn't get traction with the title of the original Slate article, and, in my opinion and the 2,190 other people who upvoted it, as well as the 1,169 who upvoted a similar post on /r/EarthPorn (which is now stickied ) - this is an issue that cuts across party lines and deserves as much traction and visibility as possible.
While I understand that you wish to cut down on the ability of post submitters to editorialize in the interests of cutting down on hyperbole, it's clear from the response and comments that this is an exceptionally important political issue that affects every American.
For democratic politics to function, free speech is necessary. While I understand that there are "rules of engagement" to civilized speech, censoring the opinions of 2190 people as well as 137 commentors because a post title didn't follow your arbitrary forum rules indicates a significant lack of respect for your readers and suggests that /r/politics is not really about politics, but rather an attempt to cage political discussion.
I'm sure the folks over at /r/EarthPorn will agree, as I'm posting this message there in the hopes that public outcry (aka democracy) may convince you to change your mind. I'm also using the "message the moderators link" in hopes that it will engender discussion with your fellow mods.
I hope you understand that this is not a personal attack, and not really even an attempt to subvert your forum rules. I'm simply asking that they, in the interests of free speech and an enormously important part of the American landscape and civil life, to be bent a little. This issue is one of such import that I feel that it's my duty as an American citizen to do everything I can to continue to give visibility to the issue - including fighting for it when discussion regarding it is censored.
Sincerely, /u/goddamnstupidmofo