Willock calls for ban on online ‘blogs’ in BVI
Media owner Julian Willock has stated that he is in favour of a ban on ‘blogs’ (online comments) on all news sites in the BVI.
Willock made the comment on Real Talk with Karia Christopher after being asked if he takes any responsibility for harsh comments bloggers make that affect the mental health of those they are directed at.
“I would like to see in the BVI where all news sites ban all blogging, that’s my personal opinion. But no one else will go down that road with us (VINO) to ban all blogs. Blogging is a part of the culture, they are very ridiculous at times, very inaccurate and distasteful,” Willock said.
He added that he remains unaffected by people who often use his own news site to leave negative comments about him.
“Imagine my company owns VINO and I see negative blogs about myself. I have never asked the editor to remove comments about me. If they can blog about Peter and Paul, they can blog about me. I’m not thin-skinned. But the blogs have been a problem, you have people who don’t even read the story, once names are up, they just go blogging,” Willock stated.
The controversial former Speaker of the House of Assembly also posited that he believes a few of the same people are responsible for blogging on news sites on a daily basis.
“I will submit to you that you have about 10 to 15 of the same people blogging everyday on all the sites. I urge all those who are owners of news sites to ensure they check these blogs before they post them. Companies could be liable for blogs that are malicious, libelous and defame persons’ good name and character,” Willock stated.
People in the BVI — especially public figures — have often bemoaned the harsh and critical comments that readers leave below stories on news sites. Many have called for a ban or censorship that would limit what people are about to say about others, especially since the BVI is considered a small society.
Elected leaders have also criticised blogs on news sites. Still, they often use these same blogs as supportive evidence when making statements in the House of Assembly and on public platforms.
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
I guess freedom of speech isn’t a thing in the BVI. Maybe people need thicker skin…
When is his trial?
Freedom of speech does not cover libel. However, we don’t need to ban online blogging but to ensure that the law punishes malicious, libelous and defaming statements. On the other hand, where are decent minded people in BVI? Evil persons were allowed to pour their venom on the society, the good people shouldn’t keep quiet. They should blog the truth constructively and that would neutralize malicious comments. Even when the linen are dirty, we cant afford to wash them online. We can rebuke and correct ourselves as a family without having to damage our reputation globally. Those who read the negatives only, may never be in the position to know the truth. And that is a permanent damage to the country’s reputation
Freedom of speech is not the issue. Too many people hide behind the anonymous nature of the blogs. If you wish to speak your mind then do so while revealing your identity. I think users should be made to log in using verified accounts in order to leave comments.
Then make it so people have to sign up to comment. Have people give full name and residence. SMH. You want to know whose posting the comment for what? So you can hate on the person posting the comments in person. This is as close as you can get to a dictators mindset as you can get. Personally I have no reason to hide my name but I’m not stupid enough to put my family name out there for others to critique.
Freedom of speech sounded reasonable at a time most people who spoke were decent and reasonable thinkers. Not the case anymore and we do look bad on these blogs.
These people are worst than Britain and they want to be our leaders. Oppressive and controlling mentality.
IS SINKING IN BRO , AND U ARE DOING THE MOST OF THE BLOGGINGS USING DIFFERENT NAMES TO CREATE DRAMA , NOW KARMA IS GETTING CLOSER TO YOU , YOU TRYING ANOTHER TRICK AGAIN / THE PEOPLE NEEDS TRANSPARENCY AND THEIR VOICES NEEDS TO BE HEARD / YOU DON’T OWN THE BVI .YOU ARE ACTING LIKE A TYRANT, JUST LIKE WHEN YOU WERE IN THE HOA . WE ALL CAME INTO THIS WORLD WITH TWO EMPTY HANDS AND WE WILL LEAVE WITH TWO EMPTY HANDS , GET A LIFE BRO
He was asked and he said he wouldnt have a problem if blogs were banned but it would have to be across all news sites. He also said that the right to democracy is important. Go listen and stop reading these sites as the gospel!
Willock complaining about inaccuracy and distastefulness lol
I guess the comments on his yellow site he disagrees with so he wants to be the only voice out there. Constantly bashing top cop as he was questioned over people smuggling. Just hates being accountable for his own words. The divide in the bvi is generated through this site.
True. His site is where the BVI began to show major fractures that have become dangerous and he did it deliberately as a strategy to divide and rule.
And the idea he’s now complaining about the blogs is HILARIOUS!
The man write most of them himself, going way back!
Thanks, Esteem, for bringing racism, xenophobia, tolerance of murders etc in favour of blaming everything on non-BVIslanders. Because of you our society feels stupid, dirty and soiled.
Boo hoo the public think we doing a bad job and that hurting our feelings so the obvious thing to fix here is to ban comments so that it’s easier to delude ourselves that we doing a good job without all the negative comments pointing out how we ain’t sh**.
W is the one who blogs the nonsense on VINO and other news site and he calling for a ban? Don’t make me laugh. This man is a n** case.
Is he the one doing the most of the distasteful and inaccurate blogging? Not to mention the nasty stories designed to hurt other people that he has a beef with. Anytime district 3 elects Willock to represent them that will be the end of us. This man belongs in an asy**m.
Wiggy crazy. That’s all I could say. He is the one who does all the things he is complaining about.
Willock asks to moderate media.
Natalio has already asked members of media to submit their questions prior to meetings.
They really do not believe in democracy do they?
(By the way VINO moderates messages about W all the time. And he was seen by many to write comments to his website as well. What a hypocrite).
FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
you need to stay on your yello site where you master wig / unless you mow own this site , the same site you constantly calls down , something is wtmrong with you , am sure the city slicker csc can help you 6
“But no one else will go down that road with us (VINO) to ban all blogs”
————————————————–
Before I answer that question, it’s clear the subject of this article does not believe in free speech, and that’s unfortunate.
It is apparently ok for him to freely write whatever he wishes, but not ok for readers to freely express their thoughts. Talk about double standard.
While I support the right to freedom of the press, I also support free speech. These 2 freedoms go hand in hand in my view.
Now, the reasons no other news site will go down that road with VINO is because these news sites all depend on advertising revenues to stay in business. That is the only way they make money.
If any reader notices, there are ads plastered all over these sites. Over the years, more and more ads have been plastered over these sites to increase revenues. It’s obvious.
What these sites sell to advertisers is their viewership, specifically how many people are visiting their sites. No one will purchase an ad on a site that has little to no viewership. They will be wasting their money.
The greater the amount of visitors to these site, the more one can sell ad spaces (at greater prices), and the more money is made.
For anyone of these websites to do away with blogs which drives revenues and advertising dollars is the beginning of the end of their revenue stream. No advertiser will buy space on any website if people hardly visit them. I wouldn’t.
A review of the traffic analytic of four bvi news sites, 2 with blogs and 2 without, clearly shows that the sites with blogs had more visitors than the sites without.
Sites with blogs were visited 4-6 times more frequently than sites without.
All sites visitation has trended downward across the recently as much as 52% in one case.
Given how web ads are sold, no doubt those with blogs and more frequent victors are making more money. Those without, I can only imagine they are probably running in the red and hardly making any money.
Any advertisers on these non-blog news sites will not be getting value for their money as the stats shows they are down 4-6 times in visitors than the blog equipped competitors.
I cannot imagine those news sites with nonblogging will remain in business for much longer, and if they go belly up one day, it would not surprise me.
All sites visitation has trended downward as much as 52% in one case, and that is even with blogging capability in place.
So, if any of these sites want to make any money, they have to maintain these blogs as the blogs is a major force driving traffic to their sites.
So I take this notion of doing away with blogging on these websites with a grain of salt. The minute any of the two most popular visited news sites in the BVI close their blogs is the minute they begin to go out of business.
These sites make money from ad revenues. If the owner of VINO wishes to discontinue blogging on his site, I dare him to not talk about it; just do it. Put your money where your mouth is.
This is a joke, right? Wiggo is the one doing the nasty blogging the most.
Willock see that most of the blogs in support of UK
so I guess he hot lmafo
Our own people want to take away free speech from us not even the UK. yall wild mehson. yall keep supporting these type of people and government
Why give this id**t any kind of platform?
his news site didn’t publish a blog pointing out that it wasnt a local competitor that burnt the bats on Anegada but people looking for thier drugs back
A comment is either true or libelous.
Enabling – indeed encouraging – commenters to publish under a pseudonym facilitates the libelous. Whilst those speaking the truth, fear from doing so under their own name.
Although it can be argued: it’s message, not the massager. That reasoning falls down if the message is false and posted out of mischief.
This is the man who invented the distorted and untruthful blog – must be worrying about something to make this statement!
Mr. Willock, I agree with you in the bloging issue, but may I ask/say that each news site should set it up good/right in the terms of having each and every person Register. Correct name address telephone number and even an IP and or in whichever way the person that blog can be identify straight away. Then and only then people would think twice before they blog
Hivemind is a real thing, this is a global topic and have gained more traction since COVID-19. The mainstream media wasn’t forthcoming with issues surrounding the medical experiment and persons took to alternative media for other information.
In documents posted by the world economic forum, UN and other NGOs (who are not elected by the way, wants google and other search engines to be more responsible with the Use of AI and other tools to identify bloggers or stories outside of their narrative, hunt them down and punish. Is this a society that we truly want to live in just for going against the grain? Should we always trust what ‘MAN” says? Case in are all politicians, doctors, law enforcement, scientist, judge, lawyer, enforcement Officers, Preachers truthful? It doesn’t work like that this is not China and free speech is a given right. The people voices should be heard whether you like it or not. They love the blogs that benefit a political agenda, and the media can also be weaponized to form difference in opinions and should be more responsible and allow all sides to make their points. Big up to all the neutral news if there are any left locally.
so the boy who lost both his boats was the boy who set fore to the plane and didn’t give the boys back all their product?
That would explain why a group were on island looking for him and he was no where to be found, hiding in the bush!
This man does just get me sick everytimes he open is mouth ,just shut up and keep it moving you and Andrew so is who have this place here how it is…Ms know one will ever vote for you and come and tell the people’s of the BVI where is our tax money Andrew give you for your son collage fees eh ??? Talk about that and just shut up dude ,your turn is coming like your partner in crime Andrew so u wants them to Ban glogging lol Ms you
Freedom of speech is a fundamental human right. No one is getting hurt or being slander.
I call for a ban on blond wigs!
Wiggle can go f**k himself…they trying to silence the public
No one is trying to silence the public.
But, the public needs to create its own news media outlets.
Such a vital industry and building block of democracy should not be left to the vims of a colonial overseer and one local.
With all due respect, these people are aware that BVI Islanders are passive as it relates to speaking out in person. The blogs are the primary way in which persons comfortably speak freely with anonymity without the fear of victimisation. Shame on Wiggie, Floyd in the morning (Lava) and others that may scurry around in corners as the lights are now on
Introduce Flogging..
Flogging in the Market Square.
Flogging of the thorns in our society.
First on the Flogging block..
Willock
Reservations required for your turn to flog the nuisances of our society.
Vino can remove them if he wishes. They are distasteful many times and he’s right that people see a headline and comment without reading the article. The BVI is not ready for these types of forums b/c we vent frustration and gossip on them with no regards for factual information or consequences of our words. They do help us to vent but are used by outsiders to gauge the climate of society and that’s where they are hurtful b/c they don’t often reflect the realities of our environment. These are the obstacles in our desire to be a progressive society with a modern partnership. However, there is an unpopular solution: Cause the comments to be posted with a registered email and you’ll see how quickly the volume of comments slows and the content becomes more tasteful as the anonymity disappears.
We got Willock in d 3 bam
We live in a Democracy NO DICTATORS ALLOWED.
“I have never asked the editor to remove comments about me” absolute horses**t! Comments about him or disagreeing with the article in general are never published. He may not ask the editor but the editor knows it’s not worth losing his job to allow opinions about him to be published.
Get outta here with your nonsense weeping willow.
These are the early signs of a dictator mentality. They talking about Britain & colonialism and they are no different or they are worse..This is another Form of slavery by our own using their power and authority to control us and shut us up..
VIP party needs auditing as they reportedly received US$87000 from FAHIE by way of the drug deal. Sent they a not for profit and if so aren’t they regulated by the FSC? What is this? What good for the public isn’t good for the VIP party?
He pay his fine yet? What is he going to do with his time if he cant blog on his own site! He still supporting Fahie and others like Fahie involved in evil doings? Could be the next Premier at this rate.
And money buy land. Commenting is here to stay. It drives traffic and traffic drives revenue.
No comment? the stories re awful; it’s th comments that I read.
Then start by voluntarily blocking comments on your own site!
They’re called comments or reactions to the story. Personal opinion.
just ban W and solve the problem!!!
It’s called Free Speech you clown!
Willock here is something for you to ponder over. You need to be transparent and post articles even when your friends are involved. Especially the ones that you always begging for money.