Well we really screwed this one up…

[news]

For reasons we are still trying to figure out what was supposed to be a well planned attempt to clean up a few journals that were violating LiveJournal's policies that protect minors turned into a total mess. I can only say I’m sorry, explain what we did wrong and what we are doing to correct these problems and explain what we were trying to do but

Comments

[spare_change]

Another issue we needed to deal with was journals that used 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. While there are stories, essays, and discussions that include discussion of these issues in an effort to understand and prevent them, others use a pretext to promote these activities. It’s often very hard to tell the difference. As such, we have suspended reported journals that do not clearly and substantially object to these activities while at the same time portraying them.

Do you realize that this is still in violation of your ToS and of all of LJ's policies up until now?

Do you realize that Nabokov's Lolita wouldn't fit under these guidelines?

Do you fully understand that "interest" does not equal condoning an issue?

Do you realize that you have more than 22,000 members who aren't going to find this response adequate? I think this best sums up my feelings on the situation

[spare_change]

But ... I love cancer. And AIDS. Don't you? :(

[anglicwitch]

thank you, thank you, thank you.

[gonewithoutjam]

I'm going off to change the fact that I'm apparently in favour of endangered species (is that in favour of them being endangered I wonder?), child labour and censorship.

[justholdstill]

Dear Mr. Berkowitz,

I fully expect no reply to this, as I got no reply when I either left comments at , when I emailed feedback, privacy, or support, or when I called the US SixApart office and left messages. I was ignored, as were almost all of my fellow users simply wanting to know how we could possibly have ended up defending ourselves from this mess.

I have spent the day doing whatever I can - putting the word out on my own journal and elsewhere, passing around pertinent links, becoming a member of fandom_counts (currently with over 23,100 members and going strong), emailing whoever the heck I could, even those idiot "warriors for innocence", even putting up links, pertinent information, and my very frank opinion on my publishing blog and on Facebook

[indie_young]

You're right they are hard issues - so answers to how you plan to deal with this and not destroy the freedom of speech that livejournal up until now has allowed its users to exercise would be great. You know like real answers.

[subversivecynic]

The statement that we cannot ignore them does nothing to address the issue. It does nothing to further the discussion. It's a vague and frankly tissue thin attempt to evade the question.

And it's a legitimate question: where do we fall on this? Are my opinions and fandom and fandomporn habits now something you can dictate? I joined this community years ago, and have stuck with it. I understand that there are legal issues and financial issues you have to deal with both within the community you purchased and outside of in in the advertisers. I know how tenuous it is and how you have to please both, or LJ just disappears. But the least you could do is say "I can not discuss that now" or "I have to talk to my lawyers" instead of evading the issue entirely.

We're not (as has been tirelessly demonstrated here) children, and condescension isn't necessary.

[lolaraincoat]

Having spent much of the past two days trying to track which journals did get suspended, and which journals were deleted for fear of suspension, and what kinds of journals they were, I agree that these are hard issues. There are vast grey areas here.

Very, very few Livejournals clearly announce that their participants intend to prey on children; lots of adults engage in activities together which, if they allowed or encouraged children to join them, would be dangerous, illegal, and morally wrong. Some of those activities, if conducted in virtual spaces that are accessible to a broader public might unintentionally provide support or encouragement to people who prey on children. These include -- just as not-so-random examples -- literary analysis of Nabokov's novel Lolita, communal gameplaying set in the Harry Potter universe which places teenage characters in sexual situations, sharing of reproduced pornographic artwork from Japanese comic books depicting imaginary young people, personal musings on surviving sexual violence and

[apostropher]

That answer is a cop-out if I've ever read/heard one.

[earth_dragon]

Do you fully understand that "interest" does not equal condoning an issue?

BINGO!!!!!

well said, hun. and like you, my faith is NOT restored untill i see every ligit comm put back in place!

[ragdoll]

Do you fully understand that "interest" does not equal condoning an issue?

Exactly. I have friends on my LJ (and elsewhere) who are fascinated with serial killers. They read true crime books, read academic books on the subject and the mind/working of said serial killers, are walking fonts of wisdom on the subject (and cast iron stomachs to boot). However, they are NOT serial killers nor do they think they're rilly rilly neat. Does this mean if one lists 'serial killer' in one's profile now, you'll be considered violating the TOS?

And as for 'incest', people are fascinated by it. There are plenty of historical and mythological cases from Egyptian Pharaohs, to the Julio-Claudians, to the Borgias and also literary ones as well (including grrm's Lannisters in his epis best selling, award winning A song of fire & ice series. Are we going to have to put down "historical incest" or "fictional incest" in order to pass some sort of ridiculous 6A litmus test in future?