Latest information regarding LJ policy
I’ve been waiting to post this for the past week because I had been assured by rachel on August 17 that she would be getting back to me with a reply regarding my questions on which I had asked for further clarification. It is now August 25, and despite my resending my email on August 21 and reminding her that I needed answers, none have been forthcoming. I feel like I’ve waited long enough for Six Apart.
In addition, I’ve been in contact this week with bubble_blunder who also has not had any further contact with Livejournal and Six Apart in regards to the items she’s asked to have clarified.
So. I’ve no other choice but to believe that LJ/6A is no longer communicating.
Here, almost directly copied from my last letter to rachel, is my understanding of LJ policy based upon my discussions with her. In italics are questions I wanted clarified which she informed me she would get back to me on and has yet to do so. This was originally emailed on August 15.
1. In regards to art, no photographic or non-photographic depictions of anyone fictional or otherwise under the age of 18 are allowed.
2. Artists who state specifically on posts containing artwork that the characters depicted are 18 or older (or who give specific ages above the age of 18) will be have some protection if their artwork is reported to abuse. Note: given what happened to vikingcarrot last week, this does not necessarily follow at all times. It still remains Abuse’s discretion to make the determination of age regardless of what the artist states.
3. Livejournal is not actively seeking violations of the policy; they must be reported to Abuse from outside sources. Ergo, if someone receives notification to take something down off a locked post, it must have been submitted by someone who was able to see said post such as a member of the community or their flist.
4. Non-photographic images (i.e. drawings, artwork) will be subject to the two-strikes rule: the owner will be notified to remove the image or face suspension if it's not removed by a specified time frame. However, there will be an appeals process in place if a suspension occurs. Photographic images will cause a journal to be immediately suspended. (Question I asked which remains unanswered: what would be the position on something that is released as a publicity shot, like, for example the very suggestive, nearly nude publicity stills from the play Equus which featured an then-underaged Daniel Radcliffe? They were widely reported on and published in mainstream news media outlets and he was still 17.)
5. In regards to text, underage stories are allowed if they don't encourage hate crimes, crime, or pedophilia, by which LJ means that glorification of such content cannot be the sole purpose of the story. So if you have an element of those three items that is a salient plot point (i.e. your protagonist is raped or abused as part of the plot, or a crime/hate crime occurs to or is done by a character for narrative reasons) then that would not necessarily be frowned upon. (Question I asked which remains unanswered: based on one of Rachel’s examples she gave me concerning a minor having their first sexual experience--which she said Livejournal would not consider child porn--if said sexual experience was with an adult figure, like for instance the relationship between Brian and Justin in the U.S. version of Queer as Folk in which Brian was in his 30s and Justin only 17, but it was entirely consensual would that fall under the same category? In both mainstream gay fiction and in slash fiction the losing-of-virginity-to-older-man story is really quite common.)
6. Fiction will also be subject to the two-strikes policy; you will not be immediately suspended if your fic is determined to violate LJ policy, but you will be asked to remove it by a specified date. There will be an appeals process for this as well. (Said appeals process has yet to be clarified.)
7. This policy is retroactive, so if you have something you know violates the policy, you should remove it.
8. Links to prohibited content offsite will still be subject to this policy. (Question I asked which remains unanswered: What about linking to an author or artist personal website that may contain underage art/fics? LJ provides the ability to link your personal website on your userinfo page, for example. Should artists and authors stop using that?)
This is all based upon what I was told in my conversations with rachel. Taking into consideration vikingcarrot’s situation (which I found out about after I sent the above email to rachel), I would say that what I was told? Does not necessarily stand as gospel truth. It seems Abuse continues to have the ability to determine on their own what is deemed child pornography and what is not, and both my and bubble_blunder’s requests for further details about the qualifications of the people judging fic and art on artistic/literary merit have remained unanswered.
At the moment, I am in discussions with several different people regarding the options on hand for pornish_pixies. I’m hoping to be able to come back here next week and let you guys know definitively what our game plan is. However, before I do so, I need to collect a bit more information. The last thing I want to do is to go from one frying pan into another.
In the meantime, membership for pornish_pixies remains on hold. I’ve just gotten in the last of the age checks--many thanks again to my volunteer team--so I’ll be going through them over the course of next week and finalizing this first wave of membership. Those of you who have contacted me about joining who I haven’t gotten a chance to reply back to yet, hold tight, okay? Once I get this round over, I’ll open up moderated membership. Just please, please have an age statement in your userinfo.
I’m sorry locking down the comm is taking so long, you guys. It’s been a rather complicated process due to having so many members.
I’ll also be going through at some point next week and deleting entries that are not locked. So this is artists’ and authors’ last chance to make sure their fic/art is locked down before it’s deleted. If you know someone who hasn’t done so, please tell them to do it now.
Thanks, you guys. And once again, my utmost apologies for all of this.
In addition, I’ve been in contact this week with bubble_blunder who also has not had any further contact with Livejournal and Six Apart in regards to the items she’s asked to have clarified.
So. I’ve no other choice but to believe that LJ/6A is no longer communicating.
Here, almost directly copied from my last letter to rachel, is my understanding of LJ policy based upon my discussions with her. In italics are questions I wanted clarified which she informed me she would get back to me on and has yet to do so. This was originally emailed on August 15.
1. In regards to art, no photographic or non-photographic depictions of anyone fictional or otherwise under the age of 18 are allowed.
2. Artists who state specifically on posts containing artwork that the characters depicted are 18 or older (or who give specific ages above the age of 18) will be have some protection if their artwork is reported to abuse. Note: given what happened to vikingcarrot last week, this does not necessarily follow at all times. It still remains Abuse’s discretion to make the determination of age regardless of what the artist states.
3. Livejournal is not actively seeking violations of the policy; they must be reported to Abuse from outside sources. Ergo, if someone receives notification to take something down off a locked post, it must have been submitted by someone who was able to see said post such as a member of the community or their flist.
4. Non-photographic images (i.e. drawings, artwork) will be subject to the two-strikes rule: the owner will be notified to remove the image or face suspension if it's not removed by a specified time frame. However, there will be an appeals process in place if a suspension occurs. Photographic images will cause a journal to be immediately suspended. (Question I asked which remains unanswered: what would be the position on something that is released as a publicity shot, like, for example the very suggestive, nearly nude publicity stills from the play Equus which featured an then-underaged Daniel Radcliffe? They were widely reported on and published in mainstream news media outlets and he was still 17.)
5. In regards to text, underage stories are allowed if they don't encourage hate crimes, crime, or pedophilia, by which LJ means that glorification of such content cannot be the sole purpose of the story. So if you have an element of those three items that is a salient plot point (i.e. your protagonist is raped or abused as part of the plot, or a crime/hate crime occurs to or is done by a character for narrative reasons) then that would not necessarily be frowned upon. (Question I asked which remains unanswered: based on one of Rachel’s examples she gave me concerning a minor having their first sexual experience--which she said Livejournal would not consider child porn--if said sexual experience was with an adult figure, like for instance the relationship between Brian and Justin in the U.S. version of Queer as Folk in which Brian was in his 30s and Justin only 17, but it was entirely consensual would that fall under the same category? In both mainstream gay fiction and in slash fiction the losing-of-virginity-to-older-man story is really quite common.)
6. Fiction will also be subject to the two-strikes policy; you will not be immediately suspended if your fic is determined to violate LJ policy, but you will be asked to remove it by a specified date. There will be an appeals process for this as well. (Said appeals process has yet to be clarified.)
7. This policy is retroactive, so if you have something you know violates the policy, you should remove it.
8. Links to prohibited content offsite will still be subject to this policy. (Question I asked which remains unanswered: What about linking to an author or artist personal website that may contain underage art/fics? LJ provides the ability to link your personal website on your userinfo page, for example. Should artists and authors stop using that?)
This is all based upon what I was told in my conversations with rachel. Taking into consideration vikingcarrot’s situation (which I found out about after I sent the above email to rachel), I would say that what I was told? Does not necessarily stand as gospel truth. It seems Abuse continues to have the ability to determine on their own what is deemed child pornography and what is not, and both my and bubble_blunder’s requests for further details about the qualifications of the people judging fic and art on artistic/literary merit have remained unanswered.
At the moment, I am in discussions with several different people regarding the options on hand for pornish_pixies. I’m hoping to be able to come back here next week and let you guys know definitively what our game plan is. However, before I do so, I need to collect a bit more information. The last thing I want to do is to go from one frying pan into another.
In the meantime, membership for pornish_pixies remains on hold. I’ve just gotten in the last of the age checks--many thanks again to my volunteer team--so I’ll be going through them over the course of next week and finalizing this first wave of membership. Those of you who have contacted me about joining who I haven’t gotten a chance to reply back to yet, hold tight, okay? Once I get this round over, I’ll open up moderated membership. Just please, please have an age statement in your userinfo.
I’m sorry locking down the comm is taking so long, you guys. It’s been a rather complicated process due to having so many members.
I’ll also be going through at some point next week and deleting entries that are not locked. So this is artists’ and authors’ last chance to make sure their fic/art is locked down before it’s deleted. If you know someone who hasn’t done so, please tell them to do it now.
Thanks, you guys. And once again, my utmost apologies for all of this.