As an artist who happens to do some NSFW work, I have slowly watched the internet grow more and more inhospitable to anyone who doesn't produce "pure" (e.g. marketable), censored, corporate-friendly art. It's fucking disheartening, even more so to see most of the art community congratulate it as if censorship has EVER been a good thing for art. NSFW getting banned from site after site should alarm fucking everyone. But sexual content (hell, even artistic nudes) is an "acceptable" target
I hate the corporate internet. I hate the bootlickers who celebrate whenever a platform gets censored. The internet does not need to be "child friendly", that's just republican purity rhetoric repackaged. "Think of the children" always seems to arise especially whenever it comes to queer content,. My content ISN'T for kids. I don't want them to look at it, I shouldn't have to just stop posting or stoo making art on the chance a kid may see it bc they're lying about their age to see adult content
the way I've always seen it is that "think of the children!!" tends to be a dogwhistle. who it's a dogwhistle for depends on the situation, but it's always a dogwhistle for a bunch of people who are actually personally uncomfortable over some other aspect of the issue, but who recognise that stating this outright will not win them popular support. so for example, fundamentalist Christian groups crying "think of the children!" so they can target any kind of LGBT content or expression, from gay characters in TV shows to the right for guy couples to marry. or TERFs crying "think of the children!" so they can target trans people, most likely trans women in particular. or even apparently progressive Terminally Online leftists crying "think of the children!" so they can demand increasing censorship, all based on the fact that they don't like the content so they feel it should be banned forever. I am immediately suspicious of any argument that appeals to some idealised vulnerable victim group, because I have not yet seen an example of this where the real motives haven't been insidious and completely incompatible with my own morals. if your campaign has the same slogan as TERFs and alt-right conspiracy theorists, it's maybe time to have a good long think.
I totally agree with the fact that the internet shouldn't be family friendly, too. I think it should be like any open public space -- there should be dedicated areas where children can go and be safe, under supervision from a responsible adult. but there should also be places where adults can go and be safe from the risk of being held responsible for someone else's unaccompanied child seeing something they shouldn't. it's not our responsibility to look after other people's children. we have a responsibility to stay out of dedicated spaces for them, such as children's game websites and forums, but with technology how it is today there's no excuse for a child to be allowed free, unattended reign on the internet. it's the parent or guardian's responsibility to ensure that their child is using the internet safely. the real reason that websites bleat on about being "family friendly" is because that's code for "advertiser friendly", and as always, this is all about money.
finally, I'm gonna fucking say it. kids reach a certain point, probably their mid-teens, where a lot of them are going to be curious about fucked up shit. this might be looking up dark shit on a Wikipedia binge, or wanting to have a laugh at weird porn, or even wanting to test themselves with endurance games like shock sites and gore. this is normal fucking behaviour, and I think it should be allowed. you very quickly find out if its not for you, and with no major harm done. not to mention all of the people I know who were into dark shit as teens have grown up to be perfectly normal adults with a good grasp of their limits and an idea of how to sensibly consume and interact with dark media. the biggest freaks out there are the fluffy cottagecore positivity happy ending people, who are often pro-censorship and not above sending harassment and threats to people who love fictional villains. I truly believe that the complete avoidance of any dark themes and the refusal to interact with anything that isn't safe or happy leads to a noticeable decrease in empathy. these people interact with the world based only upon what makes them feel good, and inherently this prevents them from interacting with situations without putting themselves at the centre of it.
