Questions Regarding LJ/6A Policies by L.J. user unfilthy
Long-time Live Journal User unfilthy has written an excellent compilation of questions and concerns about Live Journal policies in light of the recent nefarious l.j.strikeout 2007. Below is the post as it appears at http://unfilthy.livejournal.com/224385.html and reproduced here word-for-word with permission:
Questions Regarding LJ/6A Policies
I've compiled this list because I felt the need to sort through the various concerns and issues raised by LJ/6A's recent words and actions, and writing things down is the only way I know to sort through the piles of information swimming around in my head. I originally posted it as a comment (actually two, as it was too long) to one of LJ's recent news announcements, but with 4998 other comments, and no ability to edit my thoughts, I figured I might as well post it to my journal as well, and possibly get feedback from my friends in case I've missed something (or add links and quotes as needed).
The following is directed at TPTB at LJ/6A
While it's good that you've apologized for screwing things up, and it's good that you're restoring the unjustly suspended journals, and it's good that you've started informing us of your actions in real time now, there are still quite a few issues that still need to be addressed, IMO.
1. The frankly bizarre claim that a journal's interests should be read as likes. Not only is this not the way the members of this site use this feature (not to mention the linguistic improbability of it), but followed to its logical conclusion, it means that the numerous journals and communities for and by people who are suffering from a variety of diseases, who've been hurt or affected in some way by any form of illegal activity, or who are involved in political debate surrounding any controversial issue, are, in your mind, expressing their support for that disease, illegal activity, or controversial political issue, simply by listing it as an interest. Will you be changing the LJ profile page to reflect this unusual reading? Will the interests section be now titled likes? Will there be guidelines telling the user base how to make clear that an interest in cancer, for instance, is an actual interest, as opposed to a like or wish to promote cancer?
2. The types of illegal activities we are allowed to discuss without fear of suspension. What is the future status of journals and communities that include essays, debates, personal accounts, fiction, commentary, fantasy, visual art, or any other form of speech dealing with illegal acts? If a member discusses something illegal, such as terrorism, for instance, or lists it as an interest, does this constitute soliciting or encouraging illegal activities? What about Murder, Rape, Incest, gay marriage, Underage sex, Polygamy, Marijuana, Drug trafficking, Prostitution, Human trafficking, Slavery, Genocide? I, for one, would really like to know where you draw the line in terms of speech relating to those and other illegal things.
3. Determining whether journals are soliciting or encouraging illegal activities. Are 6A/LJ going to actively search for journals they suspect of soliciting or encouraging illegal activities? What are the new criteria for deciding whether a journal/community should be suspended, forced to change its userinfo (or remove content), or left alone? What part will LJ Abuse and its volunteers play in this? Who will make the final decisions? Will there be a right of appeal? Will there be prior notification? Basically, what will the decision making process and procedure be from now on?
4. The "hidden meaning" behind fictional or academic interest. You mentioned the supposed existence of a "thin veneer of fictional or academic interest in events and storylines that include child rape, pedophilia, and similar themes in order to actually promote these activities" as well as your difficulty in telling those apart from fictional or academic interest in these themes that isn't intended to promote these activities. I'd like to know who's going to be the final arbiter of authorial intent. Will you be hiring any consultants who are familiar with the plethora of academic, legal, and political writing debating this extremely complex issue? Will you be working with any sort of professionals in any field relating to this issue? Will you simply rely on the LJ abuse team to judge correctly what the intent was of the people writing the material in question?
5. The inconsistency of LJ Abuse responses. We've heard countless accounts from members who have, over the years, attempted to alert LJ Abuse to the existence of journals and communities that actively and openly encourage illegal activities, including murder, sexual offenses, and other forms of violent crime, and have been turned away, as apparently the LJ Abuse team had been instructed that talking about committing a crime isn't illegal, and so would not be dealt with by LJ. We've also heard that several of those journals and communities are still active. On the other hand, your recent actions indicate that your policies have changed. But then again, you've just overturned your own decisions (and with good reason). So, which is it? Will LJ Abuse be receiving consistent guidelines, and will we, the users, have access to this information?
6. LJ's "zero tolerance policy toward content that supports child abuse, pedophilia, or sexual violence." Since this has not been the case so far, I'd really like to know, what does zero tolerance actually mean? Rape, for instance, is a common theme among women's sexual fantasies. As any person who's studied this subject, or who possesses a reasonable level of common sense for that matter, could tell you, this does not mean that women actually want to be raped. Yet rape is sexual violence. Does this zero tolerance policy mean that any woman who writes about a rape fantasy in her journal is going to be suspended from now on? If she's 17, and so not legally an adult, does this constitute supporting child sexual abuse or pedophilia, as well as sexual violence? Does it make a different if it's posted in a locked post, in a public journal, in a community? What about if the source material of fanfic involves any of these issues, and so is mentioned or used as a basis for fanfic posted on LJ? Is zero tolerance really zero tolerance?
7. Compensation for the owners of wrongfully deleted journals. Fandom is fandom. We've been around for a decades, and frankly, we'd rather gotten used to getting screwed and dismissed. What I'm really interested in, in regards to compensation, are non-fandom journals. I want to know what you intend to do to make it up the survivors of child abuse, sexual abuse, and rape, that you've painted with the same brush as the pedophiles who've hurt them, and whose journals are now listed in various places on the net as part of a list of journals suspended for supporting or advocating pedophilia. The damage you've done there is much worse than anything you could've done to fandom. As a whole, fandom is an incredibly resilient community. As individual women who've suffered abuse, we're not nearly as resilient. What are you going to do to attempt to correct the damage you've caused these women?
I'm a woman, and a feminist, and a member of LJ since 2001, and a paying member for the past 5 years or so, and I would very much like to know what exactly I need to do to make sure my journal isn't suspended, and I don't even write (or read) fanfiction. It's not just a matter of reinstating wrongfully suspended journals, it's a matter of communication and clear guidelines and respect, and above all, TRUST. I want to know these things because otherwise I can't trust that when I wake up tomorrow my journal, or any of my friends' journals, will still be there.
Questions Regarding LJ/6A Policies
I've compiled this list because I felt the need to sort through the various concerns and issues raised by LJ/6A's recent words and actions, and writing things down is the only way I know to sort through the piles of information swimming around in my head. I originally posted it as a comment (actually two, as it was too long) to one of LJ's recent news announcements, but with 4998 other comments, and no ability to edit my thoughts, I figured I might as well post it to my journal as well, and possibly get feedback from my friends in case I've missed something (or add links and quotes as needed).
The following is directed at TPTB at LJ/6A
While it's good that you've apologized for screwing things up, and it's good that you're restoring the unjustly suspended journals, and it's good that you've started informing us of your actions in real time now, there are still quite a few issues that still need to be addressed, IMO.
1. The frankly bizarre claim that a journal's interests should be read as likes. Not only is this not the way the members of this site use this feature (not to mention the linguistic improbability of it), but followed to its logical conclusion, it means that the numerous journals and communities for and by people who are suffering from a variety of diseases, who've been hurt or affected in some way by any form of illegal activity, or who are involved in political debate surrounding any controversial issue, are, in your mind, expressing their support for that disease, illegal activity, or controversial political issue, simply by listing it as an interest. Will you be changing the LJ profile page to reflect this unusual reading? Will the interests section be now titled likes? Will there be guidelines telling the user base how to make clear that an interest in cancer, for instance, is an actual interest, as opposed to a like or wish to promote cancer?
2. The types of illegal activities we are allowed to discuss without fear of suspension. What is the future status of journals and communities that include essays, debates, personal accounts, fiction, commentary, fantasy, visual art, or any other form of speech dealing with illegal acts? If a member discusses something illegal, such as terrorism, for instance, or lists it as an interest, does this constitute soliciting or encouraging illegal activities? What about Murder, Rape, Incest, gay marriage, Underage sex, Polygamy, Marijuana, Drug trafficking, Prostitution, Human trafficking, Slavery, Genocide? I, for one, would really like to know where you draw the line in terms of speech relating to those and other illegal things.
3. Determining whether journals are soliciting or encouraging illegal activities. Are 6A/LJ going to actively search for journals they suspect of soliciting or encouraging illegal activities? What are the new criteria for deciding whether a journal/community should be suspended, forced to change its userinfo (or remove content), or left alone? What part will LJ Abuse and its volunteers play in this? Who will make the final decisions? Will there be a right of appeal? Will there be prior notification? Basically, what will the decision making process and procedure be from now on?
4. The "hidden meaning" behind fictional or academic interest. You mentioned the supposed existence of a "thin veneer of fictional or academic interest in events and storylines that include child rape, pedophilia, and similar themes in order to actually promote these activities" as well as your difficulty in telling those apart from fictional or academic interest in these themes that isn't intended to promote these activities. I'd like to know who's going to be the final arbiter of authorial intent. Will you be hiring any consultants who are familiar with the plethora of academic, legal, and political writing debating this extremely complex issue? Will you be working with any sort of professionals in any field relating to this issue? Will you simply rely on the LJ abuse team to judge correctly what the intent was of the people writing the material in question?
5. The inconsistency of LJ Abuse responses. We've heard countless accounts from members who have, over the years, attempted to alert LJ Abuse to the existence of journals and communities that actively and openly encourage illegal activities, including murder, sexual offenses, and other forms of violent crime, and have been turned away, as apparently the LJ Abuse team had been instructed that talking about committing a crime isn't illegal, and so would not be dealt with by LJ. We've also heard that several of those journals and communities are still active. On the other hand, your recent actions indicate that your policies have changed. But then again, you've just overturned your own decisions (and with good reason). So, which is it? Will LJ Abuse be receiving consistent guidelines, and will we, the users, have access to this information?
6. LJ's "zero tolerance policy toward content that supports child abuse, pedophilia, or sexual violence." Since this has not been the case so far, I'd really like to know, what does zero tolerance actually mean? Rape, for instance, is a common theme among women's sexual fantasies. As any person who's studied this subject, or who possesses a reasonable level of common sense for that matter, could tell you, this does not mean that women actually want to be raped. Yet rape is sexual violence. Does this zero tolerance policy mean that any woman who writes about a rape fantasy in her journal is going to be suspended from now on? If she's 17, and so not legally an adult, does this constitute supporting child sexual abuse or pedophilia, as well as sexual violence? Does it make a different if it's posted in a locked post, in a public journal, in a community? What about if the source material of fanfic involves any of these issues, and so is mentioned or used as a basis for fanfic posted on LJ? Is zero tolerance really zero tolerance?
7. Compensation for the owners of wrongfully deleted journals. Fandom is fandom. We've been around for a decades, and frankly, we'd rather gotten used to getting screwed and dismissed. What I'm really interested in, in regards to compensation, are non-fandom journals. I want to know what you intend to do to make it up the survivors of child abuse, sexual abuse, and rape, that you've painted with the same brush as the pedophiles who've hurt them, and whose journals are now listed in various places on the net as part of a list of journals suspended for supporting or advocating pedophilia. The damage you've done there is much worse than anything you could've done to fandom. As a whole, fandom is an incredibly resilient community. As individual women who've suffered abuse, we're not nearly as resilient. What are you going to do to attempt to correct the damage you've caused these women?
I'm a woman, and a feminist, and a member of LJ since 2001, and a paying member for the past 5 years or so, and I would very much like to know what exactly I need to do to make sure my journal isn't suspended, and I don't even write (or read) fanfiction. It's not just a matter of reinstating wrongfully suspended journals, it's a matter of communication and clear guidelines and respect, and above all, TRUST. I want to know these things because otherwise I can't trust that when I wake up tomorrow my journal, or any of my friends' journals, will still be there.
Labels: anti-censorship, Live Journal strikeout, lj user unfilthy
posted by sapphoq at 8:43 PM
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