To the people who pile hate on AO3 for hosting what they deem as “inappropriate” conduct:
Do you also spend your time boycotting libraries?
Public libraries across the country continue to carry thousands of books like Nabokov’s Lolita (pedophilia), VC Andrews’ Flowers in the Attic series (incest), and Emma Donoghue’s Room (rape). Those books are available for free to any number of underage people who happen to have a library card. They are often “untagged.”
Do you also spend your time boycotting pirate/torrent sites? Many movies with inappropriate content are available online to download for free.
How about TV? What about popular songs with inappropriate subject matter? Do you have a problem with radio? With Spotify? Do you know how many ways there are to expose someone to content that mentions pedophilia, rape, incest, murder, or basically any other evil thing in the world?
Why do you get to decide what content is okay to publish on an online platform designed for and by adults? Why do you take issue with a site that posts its budget online, refuses to run ads and provides an absolutely free publishing platform for writers to share their work with a wide audience? Why do you take issue with a site that requires an age check and provides ways to helpfully tag works for particular content, in a way that most other content distributors do not?
Let’s talk about the bottom line, here: writing about something is not the same as endorsing it.
Let’s say it louder for the people in the back: writing about something is not the same as endorsing it.
You all think Stephen King is a murderer? How about the people who write every disturbing episode of Law & Order: SVU? How about the creators of any of the zillions of teen dramas that show teenagers having sex? Why is that content any different than the content available on AO3?
There’s a standard in the United States for what does and does not constitute child pornography. It’s called the Miller Test. Read it and familiarize yourself with it before you hurl around damaging accusations.
But that’s kind of irrelevant, because: AO3′s policies specifically prohibit the hosting of actual child pornography. Their Terms of Service page outlines, in detail, the kind of work they will and will not host.
AO3 makes it possible for countless writers and artists to create transformative work. They have an endless supply of creative content and they choose to make no money from this venture. They also pledge to help legally defend anyone’s right to create fan works.They don’t require you to buy a book or a theater ticket or a monthly subscription fee to read all of this work to your heart’s content, without popup ads, without selling people’s information. AO3 has been hugely responsible for making fanfiction possible, period.
And if you censor some of it? You censor ALL of it. There is no fair or reasonable way to determine what content is okay and what is not okay, because fiction is not math, and there is no scientific formula for “appropriate.”
EVEN SO, refer again to the Terms of Service above, in which AO3 does set specific limits on the content it will host.
Do you know what isn’t appropriate? Censoring artists. Telling writers they can’t write about certain topics. Bullying fans who don’t write the pairings you personally deem “okay.” Policing people for writing fictional stories.
In short: Donate to AO3. They make fandom possible on a daily basis.
But that’s kind of irrelevant, because: AO3′s policies specifically prohibit the hosting of actual child pornography. Their Terms of Service page outlines, in detail, the kind of work they will and will not host.
So for anyone who actually believed the “this is literally about child porn!!!” version: this is about the AO3 using the legal definition of what child porn is, as opposed to the one antis prefer. (Which can include things like minors chastely kissing, or relationships between adults if the age difference is “too large”.)
Not to mention, the US Code (aka, federal law) specifically states that only visual imagery can be considered child pornography. This is an excellent explanation from the DOJ, which somehow has not been removed by You Know Who. Written depictions are legal in the US and OTW is governed by US law.
If you wish to advocate against something you find disgusting, there are ways to do it without trying to fuck people over, bully them or enforce censorship.
All of this. It’s even specified in the TOS, look, you don’t even have to click the link, let me show you:
The person before me also linked to the Citizen’s Guide to U. S. Federal Law, where they explain what is defined as CP. Quote:
Section 2256 of Title 18, United States Code, defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor (someone under 18 years of age). Visual depictions include photographs, videos, digital or computer generated images indistinguishable from an actual minor, and images created, adapted, or modified, but appear to depict an identifiable, actual minor.
AO3 forbids actual, real child pornography (as defined under US law because that’s where the servers are located at), as any website should, because that stuff shouldn’t exist. And given how the OTW have lawyers etc. to make sure it’s all waterproof and safe for them as well as us authors, you can bet they know what they’re doing.
