Dear Sir,

I have written about closing the comments section before in the broader sense; however, I strongly believe that with the upcoming election The Royal Gazette should consider shutting them down at least until after we have completed the election cycle.

On normal occasions, we see how these comments stir up emotions and frustrations, and they all end up the same way.

All it does is breed hatred and bitterness towards fellow Bermudians, spread lies and create divisiveness.

With the election approaching, these are going to become only more intensified. That is the last thing we need on our small island. The Royal Gazette will close comments when they are linked to court cases and in other instances will shut the comments when they start becoming too heated. So the awareness is there already; let’s just take it away altogether before it even begins.

This election is going to be extremely important to Bermuda, and we know how heated it will probably get as emotions run high. If The Royal Gazette can set an example to help mitigate that somewhat, I believe there is a moral obligation to do so.

I, like many other Bermudians, hope you will give it great consideration.

RONAN KANE