Managing comments on stories related to Connor and Jayden McConnell

Hi everyone,
 
As you may know, we are making an effort to be transparent in our decision-making about the management of our community on cbcnews.ca. We are doing this by providing you with periodic updates on the decisions we make regarding commentary on our site.
 
As we listen to the conversations happening across our site, we realize the Connor and Jayden McConnell story has raised questions about decisions we have made at certain moments to leave story comments open and closed to submissions.

Why did we arrive at our decisions on these  stories?
 
On Feb. 2, commentary on stories dealing with this case began to move from speculation to categorical condemnations and pronouncements of guilt. This is not the kind of constructive dialogue we want to foster in this space and so, on that day, commentary was closed.
 
On Feb. 3, we tried again - to test the waters and see if a constructive dialogue would develop. It did, so we allowed commentary to continue. The community began discussing all sorts of issues related to, or inspired by, the story, including the divorce system in Canada, immigration, co-parenting, international custody disputes, reasonable and generous access to one's children, post-partum depression and the social support system in Canada.
 
Today we published another story related to this case. We have once again left the comments section open as we feel that, based on the discussions we saw on February 3rd, the community is interested in sharing their thoughts in a thoughtful and respectful manner.
 
As always, we will not tolerate rude, threatening or offensive comments that may upset fellow community members and those personally affected by the story, nor will we permit comments that impugn guilt on those who have not had the benefit of a fair trial.

We want to foster a discussion amongst Canadians, one that takes place in an environment of mutual respect. As your dialogue with each other evolves, so do our decisions.
 
This conversation is ongoing and we are learning every day. We welcome your feedback.

The CBC Your Voice team.