fucking hell

[rusty_halo]

I'm rusty_halo at InsaneJournal, JournalFen, and GreatestJournal.

I'm going to begin posting my entries here at LJ and also at InsaneJournal. I'll eventually switch to either InsaneJournal or (hopefully) a new non-profit, fan-oriented journaling service.

InsaneJournal looks the best for now because they seem less likely to censor than GreatestJournal, and because it's so difficult for new people to set up accounts at JournalFen.

If you missed it: people are again getting deleted without warning for fannish activities relating to fiction and art. (More info here). I don't feel comfortable staying on LJ knowing that my presence lends tacit support to a company that is mistreating fans--not to mention that it could be me or any of my friends next.

This happened before and was called Strikethrough '07. Apparently LiveJournal decided that instead of clarifying their policies or warning their users before deletion, the answer was to remove the strikethroughs from the names of the suspended users. Because apparently fans are so dumb that we wouldn't realize it was happening again without the strikethrough?? *headdesk*

Honestly, what is so hard about asking people to remove objectionable content, and setting up a review process? How is okay for Six Apart to randomly delete a paying customer's journal (and multiple journals, most of which had nothing objectionable)? A company that thinks it's better to delete first (and ignore questions later) is not one I want to be associated with. And a community cannot thrive when its members are at constant risk of arbitrary deletion.

And the latest thing they're spending our account fees on is this. Which, y'know, couldn't possibly be abused. Given Six Apart's track record, it's safe to say that this is just the beginning of fannish deletions.

Anyway. Go to fandom_flies for more discussion about moving.

Comments

[thenyxie.livejournal.com]

I've friended you at IJ. Yeah, I feel the same way. You can get a permanent account at IJ today only for $30. Even if you don't post to it all the time, it's forever. I just bought one.

[redeem147.livejournal.com]

At the moment I'm not planning on going anywhere. If they do something I really object to (like banning for depiction of homosexual behaviour) then that would be another thing altogether.

And yes, they should notify the people they're deleting. Though can they take out one post (the offending artwork) without deleting the LJ? I'm not sure how this works. Because visual depictions of sex with minors is not cool.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it's possible to warn people in advance, or to only delete the offending post, or to set up a review process so that people understand what they supposedly did wrong (and can clear their names if they're being deleted because of a misunderstanding), or to post clear rules in advance...

What they did was delete entire journals. And not just the journal that posted the offensive thing, but every journal that user created (cooking journals, personal journals, etc).

From what I understand, the users who were deleted hadn't posted images of sex with minors. One was the Weasley twins as adults (I haven't seen it) and one was Snape/Harry in which Harry is an adult (it could be ambiguous as to whether or not he's over 18, but he's not childlike). Besides, it's art based on fiction; no one real is being hurt or exploited.

This isn't my area of fandom. I'm not into fanart or HP. But there's plenty of multifannish people, and I don't want my community to be a place where any of my friends could randomly disappear. And it's a thin line; none of my close friends draw HP fanart, but some have written Angel/Connor or teenage Remus/Sirius. And since LJ has consistently refused to make clear statements about what is and isn't allowed (and they change their minds--and terms--on a regular basis), the fact is that it could be any of us, at any time, randomly and arbitrarily.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

Honestly, what is so hard about asking people to remove objectionable content, and setting up a review process?

I think it's the difference between being a server hosting content that they don't vet, and being responsible FOR the content. YOu might want to check out technosage's excellent post here which touches exactly on that.

[trepkos.livejournal.com]

the answer was to remove the strikethroughs from the names of the suspended users

It's like when they renamed an nuclear power plant called "Windscale" and decided to call it "Sellafield" instead.

Mmm! Radioactivity from Sellafield is much safer!