My comment disappeared!

Daily Kos does not delete comments except in extraordinary circumstances (personal information in a comment, videos autoplaying, etc.). However, there is a community moderation system known as "flagging" or "hide-rating" that can render comments--and replies to them--inaccessible to most viewers.

Users who have participated at Daily Kos and have been members for a while in good standing may become "Trusted Users." Once Trusted, that user can rate comments as "Recommend" or "Flag." To be hidden, a comment must have at least two "Flags." Recommend votes counter hide votes using an algorithm; there must always be substantially more people voting to hide a comment than to recommend it or a comment to be hidden.

Once a comment is hidden, you must be a Trusted User to view it and its replies, even if you wrote it. To view a hidden comment (and its replies) without the pink background and strike-throughs that these comments acquire, click on the little eye icon at the top of the hidden comment.

One important note: All replies to comments that are hidden will also be hidden from non-Trusted Users regardless of the number of recommends such replies may have.

If you are Trusted and you cannot see a hidden comment, go to a Comment Settings link or your Edit Profile page and check your preferences. The default is for hidden comments to be off. You may choose to show all hidden comments, or to show all comments until you yourself have flagged them.

But Why Was My Comment Hidden?

Any violation of site rules, as described in the site's Rules of the Road, can cause your comment to be hidden. Typical ones include:

  • calls for violence
  • ad hominem attacks or namecalling
  • hate speech
  • autoplaying video
  • parroting right-wing talking points
  • advocacy of conspiracy theories
  • generally rude behavior

If your comment was hidden, the community basically agrees that your comment was damaging to the site and should not be viewed by the general browsing public.

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