Profanity filter

Question

Who sets the profanity filter? Is it customizable? How and who makes the decision that a word is profane?

The word w-h-o-r-e was flagged as "profane" in one of my posts. OK, I don't get it, but whatever.

However, I can write profane words in Spanish all day long and they don't get flagged. What gives? If we're going to be try and be everybody's nanny then shouldn't we do it in both languages?

Yes, it´s tighter than a nun´s... (nevermind, I won´t bother to exercise the filter) - rogspax, Sep 21, 2013

I guess the English swear words carry more weight - - ian-hill, Sep 21, 2013

Is the profanity filter something different from just flagging a post manually as inappropriate? As in something automatic vs. something that can be done by anyone for any reason? - Manity, Sep 21, 2013

Answer 1

Hi Rodney. I changed your category to website questions and feedback. Can you tell me what question was flagged? I just checked and it doesn't show anything as being flagged.

This is a family friendly site, as you know, so anyone who may have been offended could flag something they see as questionable. However, I don't see any flags at this time.

Why you would be flagged in one language and not another is not something I understand either and I agree with you there. I can assure you that each flag is checked to see if it violates the rules, and if it doesn't, the flag is removed.

I'm sorry you are having this problem and I will look into it and try to get it resolved.

Agreed it´s an appropriate question and response, though I´d hate to see the end result being even less information being able to be conveyed. - rogspax, Sep 21, 2013

Answer 2

I hope this doesn´t impact my pending treatise on clitic pronouns.

cunning linguists do it with their tongues - lagartijaverde, Sep 21, 2013

Wow! - Raja-jani, Sep 21, 2013

Answer 3

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Perra

This post also conatined the word b i t c h. :) It was blanked out. - ian-hill, Sep 21, 2013

Where is that post? - rac1, Sep 21, 2013

Here Ruth - just click on edit. - ian-hill, Sep 21, 2013

I must be doing something wrong. ?? - rac1, Sep 21, 2013

Things completely blanked don´t show up in view mode, but the substituted stars do show up in Edit mode. - rogspax, Sep 21, 2013

Thanks Roger. - rac1, Sep 21, 2013

Answer 4

A possible explanation could be that the 'censorship' has got nothing to do with SpanishDict, but that certain 'offensive' words don't get past the filter of a prudish American server. I know of perfectly innocent homonyms in my own language that were banned on other sites for being offensive by a semi- illiterate American server that nevertheless doesn't want to limit its area to the USA.

If this site is family friendly it should be in all languages. Is it that hard to complete a sentence without cussing. Oh I guess I am being a prude. - 0571cc19f5, Sep 21, 2013

The problem is that a perfectly innocent word or name in one language with a completely different meaning may be and is interpreted by American servers as 'offensive', because they are completely ignorant of the existence of other languages than A.E. - Castor77, Sep 21, 2013

An example: about 10 years ago the first name of the Dutch artist D. Bruna ( see Miffy) was replaced by asterisks for being an indecent word, whereas American newsreels could happily refer to Tricky Dicky, alias Richard Nixon. That kind of thing . - Castor77, Sep 21, 2013

Answer 5

The post “Profanity filter” is being closed. It is an inappropriate post for the forum. It has led to debates, dis-respect, and the use of profanity. As Nikki indicated, we will return when we have more information.

Answer 6

Yes, it seems the site does censor some vulgarities automatically, but this has nothing to do with the moderators or members. It is not the same thing as a flag, and you will not lose any reputation points.

Right now this is all we know. Once we have more information, we will be sure to post it here.