What Is The Fastlane?

The FastLane on Katy.com is an experimental, private, very lightly moderated chat, separate from the main "General Chat" forum, designed to be a space for more sensitive or inflammatory discussions. The point of the Fastlane is for moderators to intervene very rarely. It allows a broader range of speech, covering topics such as politics, national laws, hot button social issues, heated arguments, and non-PG content. Access to FastLane is limited, and not everyone can join. Participants must be prepared for intense and challenging discussions, diverse political opinions, and heated arguments, as engaging in this space demands a thick skin.

Rules For Posting

The Fastlane is lightly moderated, but rules still apply.

• Anything remotely related to politics, laws, politicians, or hot button social issues; must go into either the "Fastlane" category or the "Civil Politics" category. These discussions and comments must stay out of General Chat.
• Moderators have final call on what must and must not go in the Fastlane.
• Even in the Fastlane, certain things are still not allowed: No racism, bigotry, sexism, spam, calls for violence or doxxing.
• PG-13 content only. No overt nudity or gore.
• It is expected that arguments will sometimes get heated in the Fastlane. If you are routinely name calling or being vicious toward another member, you may be put on "Forced Block" with that person, or be banned from Fastlane. Two or three times in the Fastlane is understandable, but constant attacks are not. If you are put on Forced Block often enough, your entire account may get banned.

Requirements For Access

Status: You currently do not have access to the FastLane.

The Fastlane is not open to all members. To gain access, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must be in good standing with the site moderators. Your account must not be banned (permanently or temporarily).
• Your account must be at least 100 days old.
• You must have posted at least 100 times in the General Chat forums.
• You must have posted to the General Chat forums in the last 48 hours (inactive accounts lose access after 48 hours).

Navigating to the Fastlane

If you have access to the FastLane, you can find it by clicking on the category navigation drop down menu located on the Chat home page, just above the list of discussions, then selecting "Fastlane".

What About Free Speech?

Although the rules on the Fastlane are more relaxed, there are still rules, and moderators have the final say in what will and won't be allowed.

The Fastlane is a private social forum, operated on privately owned servers, and is privately owned and operated. Thus, there is no "free speech" protection that applies to the chat forums. The site owners have the right to moderate and control the content on their servers as they see fit. By participating in the chat forums, you agree to abide by the rules set forth by the site owners. If you ignore moderators, fight with moderators, break forum rules, or otherwise cause problems in the group, you may be banned from the Fastlane, or from the site entirely.