Strikethrough returns
News via maureenlycaon: Strikethrough has begun again, with reports of several fan artists being suspended by LiveJournal for posting underage fan drawings. All of the reports are from the Harry Potter fandom so far, which was the main target of the last Strikethrough.
LiveJournal's earlier official posts on this subject are here and here. The key message: it will suspend users who post "material -- including drawings and text -- that explicitly depicts minors under the age of 18 (real or not) in a graphic sexual context." LiveJournal goes on to clarify that it will only do so if it considers such drawings and texts to be obscene.
imaginarycircus has collected many relevant links for innocence_jihad, which has the latest news. One of the suspended artists has commented here, while another has commented here. More responses from LiveJournal users are taking place at this post in the news community.
Incidentally, LiveJournal has also gotten rid of the "strikethrough" line to indicate which journals have been deleted or suspended. (See additional information about this in a comment below.)
Update, August 3, 9:40 PM: stormcloude is reporting that she received a letter from the LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team that stated, "The standard for artistic merit is not whether a work simply has technical merit; it is whether there is serious artistic value that offsets the sexual nature of the content."
Offsets? Well, that certainly clarifies LiveJournal's perspective on erotic fiction and art.
Update, August 3, 9:50 PM: jupiter_star has posted a list of the contradictory statements made by LiveJournal.
LiveJournal's earlier official posts on this subject are here and here. The key message: it will suspend users who post "material -- including drawings and text -- that explicitly depicts minors under the age of 18 (real or not) in a graphic sexual context." LiveJournal goes on to clarify that it will only do so if it considers such drawings and texts to be obscene.
imaginarycircus has collected many relevant links for innocence_jihad, which has the latest news. One of the suspended artists has commented here, while another has commented here. More responses from LiveJournal users are taking place at this post in the news community.
Incidentally, LiveJournal has also gotten rid of the "strikethrough" line to indicate which journals have been deleted or suspended. (See additional information about this in a comment below.)
Update, August 3, 9:40 PM: stormcloude is reporting that she received a letter from the LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team that stated, "The standard for artistic merit is not whether a work simply has technical merit; it is whether there is serious artistic value that offsets the sexual nature of the content."
Offsets? Well, that certainly clarifies LiveJournal's perspective on erotic fiction and art.
Update, August 3, 9:50 PM: jupiter_star has posted a list of the contradictory statements made by LiveJournal.