SixApart, Censorship, and the mandates of Advertisers

[jackofallgeeks]

So apparently there's a wave of journal purges going through LiveJournal currently, something about "inappropriate interests," with journals that list rape, incest, pedophilia, etc. in their interests are getting the axe. On the surface this doesn't *seem* like a problem. To be honest it bugs me a little on the basis of free speech arguments -- "I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it," and all that -- but there's a certain sort of reasonableness to it. Until you find that communities centered on the appreciation a Nabokov have been shut down for listing 'lolita' as an interest, and incest-survivor communities are victims of similar. That bugs me even more, because these are positive groups that at best deal with controversial subject matter, or at worst are wholly unaffiliated with whatever's meant to be purged (as I would argue the Nabokov sites are).

What's more irritating to me, though, is that a friend of mine has noted that there's reason to believe that advertisers might be pressuring SixApart (and thus LiveJournal) to 'take action.' *THAT* has me bordering on rage. I have a permanent account here, but I will leave LiveJournal without a second glance if this is the direction it's going. Being overly-scrupulous is about as low on my list as being willfully ignorant, and I will not stand for whatever backwards, well-meaning, financially-motivated philosophy would silence journals based on such flimsy criteria. Shut down the bastions of filth and corruption, sure, but first prove to me that it's a bastion of filth and corruption. And I've pretty stringent criteria.

What has me irritated is the possibility, brought to my attention by a friend's casual remarks, that Six Apart (and thus LiveJournal) could suffer adverse effects due to their new-found advertiser sponsorship. Said friend merely noted that there are rumors that this could be the stick or carrot that drives the recent purges, and that at least one group (Warriors for Innocence or something) have sent SixApart letters calling for a purge. Granted, WFI only wants journals with specifically pornographic content pulled down, and this I can generally agree with; it was LJ's own negligence which has inadvertently cut down Nabokov and others. Let me stress: I'm fully aware that LJ isn't intentionally trying to silence fans of Russian literature and/or support groups for victims of abuse. It was negligent, and that negligence is what has me angry.

Further investigation seems to indicate that, so far, a lot of this stuff is unconfirmed hearsay. Plausible, but unconfirmed. There ARE confirmed reports about Harry Potter slash and RP communities getting shut down for violating TOS; something about fictional or not they were 'condoning criminal behavior,' which is against the TOS. That has me a little bit irritated for being censorship, but TOS is TOS, so at least there's some backing. Kind of unreasonable, perhaps, but there it is.

This sums up my concern and irritation in a way I couldn't formulate myself: "What bothers me is the evidence that sponsors may have been used successfully to pressure LJ -- even after all the reassurance we got that a I have a permanent account here, but I will leave LiveJournal without a second glance if this is the direction it's going.dvertising would never affect LJ's treatment of its users one bit." (circuit_four) I have a permanent account here, but I will leave LiveJournal without a second glance if this is the direction it's going.

Comments

rumor control

[circuit-four.livejournal.com]

Hey, hon. If you're talking about my entry, I should specify that there was NO evidence of any advertisers pressuring LJ. My exact words were "the apparent role of advertising in pressuring them to take action." Specifically, an anti-pedophilia activist group was pressuring LJ to take action against these journals and communities, under threats to tell LJ's advertisers that LJ was tolerating these questionably legal journals.

(I don't have the exact wording handy -- a peek thru the posts on the subject making the rounds will find you this group's letter to LJ pretty quickly. If it doesn't turn up, ask me later and I'll hunt around for details.)

This misunderstanding was entirely my fault, I think -- the wording is ambiguous and I'll go clarify it right away! Once again, AFAIK, no actual advertisers were contacted -- and also, just AFAIK, the group ("Warriors for Innocence" or some such) only wanted journals with actual child porn deleted. As far as I can tell from early reports, yeah, it was LJ's decision to start deleting folks on the basis of a single-word entry in interests lists. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they reverse a large number of those overzealous bans -- fiction journals, Nabovok fans, incest survivors -- or they turn out to be unfounded rumors altogether. I'll keep folks posted.

[readiness.livejournal.com]

this isn't new - it's an old old fight between LJ and law enforcement/child protection groups. Perverted Justice has had LJ blacklisted for months (maybe years). too many "young" 13-18 year olds use lj for them NOT to be doing something. you can talk about your Lolita fantasy or whatever other things these sickos talk about as long as it's friend's locked. It's only responsible to be AS responsible as freakin myspace.

Not listing that you want to fuck your family or little girls in your interests should not be that great of an imposition. LJ has had it's fair share of "short eyes" who have been not only charged with sexual abuse of a child but SENTENCED sexual offenders