WTF??
Ok, before I go into my rant, here's an interesting link for anyone who wants to see some good commentary. Not to mention, she actually corresponds with the WFI and gets a response. It's... interesting. CLICK HERE and check it out.
First and foremost, I want to state the obvious. Pedophilia is inexcusable. According to modern medicine, it's a sickness which is described in the DSM-IV. I think it goes without saying that ripping away someone's innocence like that is just... unspeakably horrible. There are no words to express how much so. Predators should be in jail. I personally believe sentences should be more strict and much longer, but that's neither here nor there and not really a part of what I'm trying to express here.
Secondly, I applaud anyone who helps law enforcement (LE) catch predators who are using the internet. HOWEVER, it doesn't appear that the WFI are actually associated with any LE agency. Or at least they don't divulge it on their website.
liz_marcs makes a good point about their blog - they have no mission statement, no list of rules and or standards for how they identify suspect/offender sites... In fact, it just seems blatantly lacking in anything that might have you to believe the sight is official!
Thirdly, I'd like to point out the First Amendment. And also most developed countries protect their citizens' right to express themselves. Freedom of speech is one of the foundation principles of ensuring that the people remain free. However, I understand the knee-jerk reaction to just want to shut up someone you don't agree with. But it's just that - a knee-jerk reaction. And any open-minded individual will tell you - opinions are opinions. I have mine. You have yours. Debate and discussion are good. Randomly dropkicking people with different views is just immature and hypocritical.
Also, as
sharpiesgal stated, freedom of speech comes with responsibility. Think about your actions and whatever comes out of your mouth. Take responsibility for it. I'm not saying that I would ever go near anything that has to do with child predation or abuse, but I am stating that even the most disgusting opinion (in my opinion) has the right to be voiced, at least in America. I just choose not to listen. And that is my choice.
I don't think censorship is actually something that I can really boil down at all, so I'm going to stop here before I start contradicting myself several times. Responsibility. Ensuring personal freedoms like the freedom of speech. Basic and simple statement that has sparked oh so many debates and court cases. If people smarter than me are still debating, I guess it's okay that my head's a little twisty-turny here.
Finally, it's comments like this (from the WFI website) that just freak me out.
We're not vigilantes. I repeat, we are not vigilantes. We're simply people who know the law and opt, on occasion, to take it into our own hands
And also comments like this:
We understand that not all of you are pedophiles, and we're very sorry for the perfectly innocent people we've hurt here. We do, however, realize that the vast majority of you are pedophiles, and by preventing you from posting on LJ and other sites, we hope to make you stop being pedophiles.
I am not particularly worried about being deleted. I have done nothing wrong. If they really feel that I'm a "threat" they obviously haven't gotten out much.
I am worried about people who obviously don't know what the definition of vigilante and apparently don't understand that just because they prevent a post on LJ doesn't mean the pedophile is suddenly cured. This astounds me. And further confirms that they don't work with any LE agency in the US...or if they ever did, they'd be thrown out on their ears for their utter and complete stupidity.
Looking at their blog, they've been posting about targeting LJ since April. Which means, that probably warned most of the pedophiles that were on LJ in the first place of their impending "cleaning". My GOD. *headdesk repeatedly*
*takes deep breath*
*headdesk repeatedly again*
Ok. I'm fine. Really. I swear. *headdesk again*
Feel free to argue with me if you want. I'm not f-locking this post. I refuse to be scared into f-locking my journal. I know that I have people perusing some of my fic that don't even have livejournals, so I'm not f-locking unless I'm forced into it.
First and foremost, I want to state the obvious. Pedophilia is inexcusable. According to modern medicine, it's a sickness which is described in the DSM-IV. I think it goes without saying that ripping away someone's innocence like that is just... unspeakably horrible. There are no words to express how much so. Predators should be in jail. I personally believe sentences should be more strict and much longer, but that's neither here nor there and not really a part of what I'm trying to express here.
Secondly, I applaud anyone who helps law enforcement (LE) catch predators who are using the internet. HOWEVER, it doesn't appear that the WFI are actually associated with any LE agency. Or at least they don't divulge it on their website.
liz_marcs makes a good point about their blog - they have no mission statement, no list of rules and or standards for how they identify suspect/offender sites... In fact, it just seems blatantly lacking in anything that might have you to believe the sight is official!
Thirdly, I'd like to point out the First Amendment. And also most developed countries protect their citizens' right to express themselves. Freedom of speech is one of the foundation principles of ensuring that the people remain free. However, I understand the knee-jerk reaction to just want to shut up someone you don't agree with. But it's just that - a knee-jerk reaction. And any open-minded individual will tell you - opinions are opinions. I have mine. You have yours. Debate and discussion are good. Randomly dropkicking people with different views is just immature and hypocritical.
Also, as
sharpiesgal stated, freedom of speech comes with responsibility. Think about your actions and whatever comes out of your mouth. Take responsibility for it. I'm not saying that I would ever go near anything that has to do with child predation or abuse, but I am stating that even the most disgusting opinion (in my opinion) has the right to be voiced, at least in America. I just choose not to listen. And that is my choice.
I don't think censorship is actually something that I can really boil down at all, so I'm going to stop here before I start contradicting myself several times. Responsibility. Ensuring personal freedoms like the freedom of speech. Basic and simple statement that has sparked oh so many debates and court cases. If people smarter than me are still debating, I guess it's okay that my head's a little twisty-turny here.
Finally, it's comments like this (from the WFI website) that just freak me out.
We're not vigilantes. I repeat, we are not vigilantes. We're simply people who know the law and opt, on occasion, to take it into our own hands
And also comments like this:
We understand that not all of you are pedophiles, and we're very sorry for the perfectly innocent people we've hurt here. We do, however, realize that the vast majority of you are pedophiles, and by preventing you from posting on LJ and other sites, we hope to make you stop being pedophiles.
I am not particularly worried about being deleted. I have done nothing wrong. If they really feel that I'm a "threat" they obviously haven't gotten out much.
I am worried about people who obviously don't know what the definition of vigilante and apparently don't understand that just because they prevent a post on LJ doesn't mean the pedophile is suddenly cured. This astounds me. And further confirms that they don't work with any LE agency in the US...or if they ever did, they'd be thrown out on their ears for their utter and complete stupidity.
Looking at their blog, they've been posting about targeting LJ since April. Which means, that probably warned most of the pedophiles that were on LJ in the first place of their impending "cleaning". My GOD. *headdesk repeatedly*
*takes deep breath*
*headdesk repeatedly again*
Ok. I'm fine. Really. I swear. *headdesk again*
Feel free to argue with me if you want. I'm not f-locking this post. I refuse to be scared into f-locking my journal. I know that I have people perusing some of my fic that don't even have livejournals, so I'm not f-locking unless I'm forced into it.