Rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated
Moderation
Moderation
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Per the group's charter, no topic is "[off topic](/wiki/On-topic "On-topic")". Most discussions at first naturally focused on *Babylon 5*, and since the show ended, on Straczynski's recent works in [comics](/wiki/Comics "Comics"), [film](/wiki/Film "Film"), [radio](/wiki/Radio "Radio") and [television](/wiki/Television "Television"). The group can be looked at as more of a general discussion group. 

The only things that are not allowed in the group are spam, [trolling](/wiki/Internet_troll "Internet troll"), story ideas about *Babylon 5* or other projects Straczynski may be working on, and flame wars.

Posts from new contributors or new threads go through the moderators for approval first ("hand moderation"). Posts to existing threads from experienced contributors are automatically allowed through by computer. Discussion threads on particularly heated subjects (usually politics) are continuously hand moderated to prevent flame wars from occurring, and if they do, the thread can be shut down. The system is not perfect: posts can be lost and the group can be down to new posts if the moderation computers are being moved or during power outages, etc. Appearance of new threads are dependent on the availability of the moderators, and may sometimes take more than a day to appear. Occasionally, complaints of [censorship](/wiki/Censorship "Censorship") arise, though these complaints are often from people who were making posts that violated the clearly set rules. Nevertheless, the forum is still a popular discussion ground for Straczynski's fans, with the main selling point being the opportunity to interact with Straczynski.

Jay Denebeim, a volunteer moderator for Rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5\.moderated, was profiled in a *Wall Street Journal* article that covered the travails that beset the Usenet in the late 1990s.


How often do complaints of censorship arise?