The Huffington Post has taken very different stances on its blogging platform in the UK and the US, opting to close its section for contributors in the States and do more to “drive up standards” of the platform on the other side of the pond.

In the UK, the blogging platform – which has always vetted blog for legal issues and inappropriate language – is being subject to new guidelines. Blogs published will have to be compelling, relevant, and written from a point of experience. HuffPost UK will also not host bloggers who are invested commercially in what they are writing about, or only writing in attempt to blag few things.

“HuffPost UK’s blogging platform is at the heart of our mission to amplify people’s voices and stir debate about the issues we most care about,” said Polly Curtis, editor-in-chief of HuffPost UK, on the blog in question.

“We’re proud of what we have achieved as a place for experts to hold people in power to account, and for ordinary people and their experiences to be elevated alongside them. We value this diversity, and the informed and authentic opinions it has brought to a wide audience.”

In addition to maintaining the blog, HuffPost UK will also introduce a small group of paid columnists.

In the US, the HuffPost contributor platform – which launched in 2005 – has been ditched because “the platforms where so many people now share their views, like LinkedIn, Medium and others, were far in the future,” according to Lydia Polgreen, HuffPost’s international editor-in-chief.

To replace the blogging platform, HuffPost is launching an ‘opinion’ section and a ‘personal’ section. The opinion section will feature a mixture of regular columnists and one-off guest writers – all commissioned by opinion editors. Meanwhile, the personal section will feature commissioned first-person essays by guest writers and person-first content. This content will include features, Q&As, and interviews written by HuffPost reports about the lives of celebrities, newsmakers, and regular individuals.