Grab your copy of the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Take a minute to look over the First Amendment really close.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Nowhere does it say The Tribune guarantees the right to make online comments on its Web site.

But apparently that point isn’t entirely clear to some users since the newspaper is routinely accused of violating individuals’ Freedom of Speech because we choose to remove or even completely disable online comments.

Those individuals are missing the point.

Making comments on The Tribune Web site isn’t a constitutionally protected right. It is a privilege granted to its users that agree to a pre-determined set of rules and who follow those rules.

The Tribune chose to allow online comments because, if used responsibly, it gives the community a voice and allow for intelligent and rational discussion of varying points of view.

Unfortunately, it seems that it too often devolves into name-calling, allegations and personal attacks.

Some recent hot-topic items in the news have put this system under the magnifying glass.

The newspaper has been accused of being biased, hiding the truth or favoring some individuals because we won’t allow a free for all.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

The situation is very cut and dry: If we determine something violates our terms, it will be removed. If multiple users continually violate those terms, the individual user is addressed and the comments are completely disabled on that story.

The issue isn’t concerning whom the comments are about. We aren’t trying to protect anyone.

The entire emphasis focuses on the content of what is posted.

There are some things that we simply won’t allow because we strive to be family-friendly and a good community citizen.

Unfounded allegations will not be permitted. Personal attacks on other users will not be allowed.

Even though the comments posted are ultimately the responsibility of the individual making the statements, we still feel we have an obligation to make anything associated with our site follow some general rules.

Here is a link to the Terms of Use: www.irontontribune.com/terms-of-use/.

I urge everyone who is interested in making or reading the comments to review these.

We want the community to take ownership of the online forum and help us police the bad apples that hope to spoil it for everyone.

The U.S. Constitution says the government can’t pass laws restricting freedom of speech. It doesn’t have anything to do with The Tribune’s Web site.

Citizens can say what they want, but if you are going to say it on our Web site you have to follow our rules.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Tribune. To reach him, call (740) 532-1445 ext. 24 or by e-mail at mike.caldwell@irontontribune.com.