[rpd] RPD Digest, Vol 225, Issue 36

[Owen DeLong]

> On Oct 13, 2026, at 23:30, Zamaphathwa Phathwa <zamaphathwaphathwa at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear PDWG colleagues,
> 
> Replying to, Forum for Policy Discussions?, Protecting Meaningful Participation in the RPD
> 
> I believe this discussion raises a much broader issue than the use of email digests. We need to distinguish between the misuse of a communication feature and the underlying problem affecting meaningful participation in the Policy Development Working Group.
> 
My desire to eliminate digests relates primarily to the way humans make life difficult for other humans using the digest feature much more than anything related to AI.

> The concern regarding AI-generated responses and automated agents participating in mailing-list discussions should not be dismissed. However, neither should we rush towards restricting existing features without first establishing the nature and extent of the problem.
> 

Sure, but this is utterly orthogonal to whether digests are useful or not.
> Consequently, removing the digest feature should not be treated as the default solution. We should first establish whether the problem can be addressed through clearer posting guidelines, transparent moderation procedures and proportionate measures against demonstrable abuse.
> 

Given that digests cause the following problems:
	1.	Overquoting
	2.	Thread breakage
	3.	Attribution difficulties
	4.	Crufty entropy in the archives

And all of these problems relate to the human use of digests in communicating with humans and have nothing to do with AI, I think that
the solution to that problem is, in fact, eliminating digests.

If you want to address some other set of problems related to AI, fine, but in terms of addressing the problems caused specifically by
the way humans use digests, eliminating the digest feature seems to me to be an exact targeted solution to those issues which makes
tremendous sense.

Owen

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