LJ "Acceptable Content" Test Case - LJ draws a line
Last Saturday night, when I came online to try and catch up on lj after reading Deathly Hallows, I read some of the posts about lj's latest round of pissing off fandom by making their policies on acceptable content and underage porn about as clear as mud. After burr86 responces to this post by violet_quill and ari_o's test case most of my flist seemed to be feeling better about the whole thing. However, I wasn't quite so convinced because while, yes, ari_o's test case was a good example of a pretty average Snarry PWP, it didn't tell us where lj was going to draw the line. I'm a kinky fuck, and I wanted to know what would happen to a borderline case, something like some of the more extreme stuff posted to coms like pornish_pixies, so I did my own test case. I submitted my fic Playing 'What If', in which an adult Harry, Sirius and Remus use a de-aging potion to return Harry's body to age thirteen and play out a very kinky role-play of what might have happened if Sirius and Remus had actually been evil in PoA. As I expected, this fic was not in violation of lj's policies. I then edited the fic to remove the role-playing element, so that Harry was actually 13 and the actions were non-consensual, and resubmitted it. This evening I got a response from the Abuse Team saying that the edited fic was almost certainly in violation of their policies.
My original message to the abuse team:
In the wake of his latest posts to lj_biz regarding the TOS, burr86 has encouraged fanfiction authors to submit test cases of our own work to the Abuse Team in order to get a clearer picture as to what is or is not considered a violation of livejournal's policies around appropriate content. He has assured us that we will not be penalized if the self-reported material is deemed to be in violation of the TOS.
Please let me know whether the story in this post:
http://wilde-stallyn.livejournal.com/36599.html
is considered acceptable content by LJ,
a)as it stands.
and, if possible,
b) if it were not written as a role-play. (i.e. If in the story Harry was really 13 and the actions were non-consensual.)
Thank you,
Wilde_Stallyn
The Abuse Team's original response:
Dear user,
The story, as written, is not in violation of our policies. Unfortunately we cannot determine whether the story would or would not be permitted if it was written differently; we can only make determinations on content that we can review, in context, on LiveJournal.
Regards,
Scott
LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team
So I edited the story and resubmitted it:
Alright. I have edited the post so that it now conforms to the second scenario:
[Original URL was here. I have removed the edited story from lj. If you would like to read it, it is up on my GreatestJournal account (also wilde_stallyn).]
Does it violate your policies now?
The Abuse Team's reply:
Dear LiveJournal user wilde_stallyn,
Thank you for contacting us about this matter. When evaluating content such as this to determine if it violates our policies, I would initially determine if the content was A) Clearly in violation, B) Possibly in violation, or C) Clearly not in violation. I would say this falls into category B.
So, at this point, I would escalate the matter if it were reported as violating so that a group of people would evaluate it and make a decision. To try and give you a more definitive answer, though, I would look at it from this perspective.
The story does contain sexually explicit conduct involving a minor and an adult. This alone does not necessarily mean it's in violation of our policies. However, to be considered acceptable, the story would have to have "significant literary merit". While this is a fairly subjective determination, I would say that the story does not meet this criteria; that is, it would violate the policy.
To be more specific, the story basically consists of a setup for the sexual encounter, and the sexual encounter itself. Essentially, I would say that in order for a story involving a minor in a detailed sexual encounter, that event would need to be a relevant part of a larger plot. If that event exists as the focus of the story, or serves no purpose in advancing a larger story, it would almost certainly be in violation of this policy.
Regards,
Eric
LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team
So basically, your characters' adolecent rape fantasies are allowed on lj, but your own are not.
Which I realize is because obscenity law is ridiculous, and not wholly lj's fault. Please don't rag on the Abuse Team for this decision, as there is nothing they can do about the policy. I am grateful they were willing to give me a clear answer. I don't think I will be renewing my paid account next year, though.
*goes back to putting together Andy picspam because there's no better cure for stupidity-induced rage than a half-naked drummer*
My original message to the abuse team:
In the wake of his latest posts to lj_biz regarding the TOS, burr86 has encouraged fanfiction authors to submit test cases of our own work to the Abuse Team in order to get a clearer picture as to what is or is not considered a violation of livejournal's policies around appropriate content. He has assured us that we will not be penalized if the self-reported material is deemed to be in violation of the TOS.
Please let me know whether the story in this post:
http://wilde-stallyn.livejournal.com/36599.html
is considered acceptable content by LJ,
a)as it stands.
and, if possible,
b) if it were not written as a role-play. (i.e. If in the story Harry was really 13 and the actions were non-consensual.)
Thank you,
Wilde_Stallyn
The Abuse Team's original response:
Dear user,
The story, as written, is not in violation of our policies. Unfortunately we cannot determine whether the story would or would not be permitted if it was written differently; we can only make determinations on content that we can review, in context, on LiveJournal.
Regards,
Scott
LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team
So I edited the story and resubmitted it:
Alright. I have edited the post so that it now conforms to the second scenario:
[Original URL was here. I have removed the edited story from lj. If you would like to read it, it is up on my GreatestJournal account (also wilde_stallyn).]
Does it violate your policies now?
The Abuse Team's reply:
Dear LiveJournal user wilde_stallyn,
Thank you for contacting us about this matter. When evaluating content such as this to determine if it violates our policies, I would initially determine if the content was A) Clearly in violation, B) Possibly in violation, or C) Clearly not in violation. I would say this falls into category B.
So, at this point, I would escalate the matter if it were reported as violating so that a group of people would evaluate it and make a decision. To try and give you a more definitive answer, though, I would look at it from this perspective.
The story does contain sexually explicit conduct involving a minor and an adult. This alone does not necessarily mean it's in violation of our policies. However, to be considered acceptable, the story would have to have "significant literary merit". While this is a fairly subjective determination, I would say that the story does not meet this criteria; that is, it would violate the policy.
To be more specific, the story basically consists of a setup for the sexual encounter, and the sexual encounter itself. Essentially, I would say that in order for a story involving a minor in a detailed sexual encounter, that event would need to be a relevant part of a larger plot. If that event exists as the focus of the story, or serves no purpose in advancing a larger story, it would almost certainly be in violation of this policy.
Regards,
Eric
LiveJournal Abuse Prevention Team
So basically, your characters' adolecent rape fantasies are allowed on lj, but your own are not.
Which I realize is because obscenity law is ridiculous, and not wholly lj's fault. Please don't rag on the Abuse Team for this decision, as there is nothing they can do about the policy. I am grateful they were willing to give me a clear answer. I don't think I will be renewing my paid account next year, though.
*goes back to putting together Andy picspam because there's no better cure for stupidity-induced rage than a half-naked drummer*