A Jihad Against "Innocence"

In a followup to a story I've written re LJ tolerating communities promoting "Bible-based baby beating" whilst nuking fandom communities and fanart posters (original post here and mirrored on this community, update here and mirrored on Innocence Jihadhere), it seems that LJ Abuse got back to me in regards to one of the missives I sent them (regarding trainupachild).

The answer that I got back was...shall we say...enlightening.

( LJ admits in abuse report reply that they cannot in fact make legal judgements, differentiate between RL threats of child abuse and adult fanart involving persons over the age of majority )

Of course, when I tried to provide LJ Abuse this info I found the abuse ticket had been closed and I no longer had "sufficient privileges" to open it. :P

FWIW, here are two requests:

a) It has been suggested by multiple people that the California District-Attorney's office be contacted. The information I have provided to Livejournal in my abuse reports (specifically, all evidentiary links noted) are in the Dark Christianity posts noted above, along with LJ responses. The Office of Victim's Services is linkable here (unfortunately, there is no specific department for reporting allegations of child abuse).

I would in fact encourage multiple complaints of this sort.

b) Please publicise this widely. At this point, this needs to go to media (possibly even television and dead-tree media) as well as widely on the Internet.

Roughly a month or so ago, I wrote an extensive article in regards to two communities on LJ which promote religiously motivated child abuse--specifically trainupachild which promotes the works of the Pearls, Tedd Tripp and Bill Gothard, and babywise which promoted the work of the Ezzos.

These two communities were selected, in part, because they have promoted religiously motivated child abuse that has specifically resulted in the deaths of kids; in part, I was inspired to report on and make formal complaint to LJ Abuse in regards to these due to reports that fanartists were having accounts removed whilst communities that were promoting activity known to be harmful to minors were left alone (in particular, several "pro-anorexia" communities which provided explicit instructions on how to binge and purge, sources of diet pills and laxatives, etc. that LJ had indicated were acceptable despite specific conditions in the terms of service that prohibit any community meant to "harm minors in any way").

A few days ago, Livejournal Abuse finally got back to me in regards to the complaints I had made (which included specific pointers to content promoted)...and, well, I think the evidence speaks for itself.

( Livejournal, apparently, sees Harry Potter slash artists as a greater threat to the common good than communities promoting religiously-motivated child abuse and neglect which has proven fatal to Real Life kids )

Needless to say, I have appealed LJ Abuse's info (including providing additional info in pointing out specific TOS violations and also pointing out instances of children who have died because of advice promoted; at least one followup sent to LJ Abuse in regards to babywise contained info re infant deaths directly attributed to the advice given in the "Babywise" books and Babywise support forums as well as info re the original publisher having stopped publishing and even considered a recall when they found out that kids were dying as a result.

I honestly don't expect anything to be done--but I do intend to make a case that real child abuse communities aren't being followed nearly as aggressively as the complaints LJ has acted on with its strikeouts.

(As always, people are free to link/mirror/Digg/etc. this link and wide distribution is encouraged)

There are several pending membership requests. If you have no (or few) friends listed, the journal was recently created, and/or no (or few) entries, can you please make a comment here comment here (in my open post in my journal) with your main journal or handle? All comments will be screened for this post.

Thank you!

P.S. I'm sorry, I thought I had allowed screened commenting to all but I guess I can't override the community defaults.

I've had a whole lovely day of deep thought and consideration regarding the future of this community, and this is what it comes down to.

This community was originally started as a source of news and information regarding the first round of Strikethrough; the first cause was to defend our fictional literature and art from unfair reportings by the Warriors for Innocence. Then we realized that WFI wasn't the only thing this was about- they may have been the force behind it, but Livejournal hit the suspend button. We began working on organized protest, and those efforts began to fade as the passion died. They apologized- Everything was fine, right?

Second round, and strike two. The community came back to life, and the protests began again. Unfortunately, this time around, I've been noticing that people aren't focusing on the contradictions of Livejournal/SixApart regarding literary and art censorship; It's leaning toward 'LJ/6A = ultimate evil', and even if they're not our favorite people, and even if you really think that, it's not the point of this community.

We're setting down some rules now, and it's going to be strict from here on out. Think it's hypocritical of a 'free speech' community to have rules? Well, even the US has laws, and they have the first amendment. It's order over anarchy, people.

First, we are a <b>fandom</b> community. If you aren't fandom, but you still support us, fine. Stay on, keep up the good work. If you've only joined this community to laugh at us and call our efforts ridiculous, you should take your asshattery elsewhere, because we don't want it. People who do this will be warned twice and banned on the third offense.

Second: We are all here for the same reason. We are against the censorship of Livejournal. Not each other. If you have a problem with someone, disagree <b>politely</b> and with <b>maturity</b>. If you behave rudely, offensively, or otherwise stupidly, you'll get warned twice, and banned on the third offense.

Third Rule. Trolls are not going to be tolerated. What's a troll, you might ask? Let's look to our friend the Urban Dictionary.

<i>2. Troll</i>

One who purposely and deliberately (that purpose usually being self-amusement) starts an argument in a manner which attacks others on a forum without in any way listening to the arguments proposed by his or her peers. He will spark of such an argument via the use of ad hominem attacks (i.e. 'you're nothing but a fanboy' is a popular phrase) with no substance or relevence to back them up as well as straw man arguments, which he uses to simply avoid addressing the essence of the issue.

A troll doesn't have to have a new journal, be using a sock puppet, or anything else stereotypical. A troll is a troll is a troll. If you see a troll, you should report it, and then a moderator freezes replies on the thread and/or deletes the post. That really depends on how funny we find them. Trolls are banned immediately upon the freezing/deletion of their post. If they’re not a troll, we’ll let you know. Don’t reply if you think they are.

Four: Post content only related to the cause of the community. I know, you guys have some really great essays about the evils of LJ/6A, but I'm going to have to ask you to take them to another community. Is there an <lj user="we_hate_lj"> community yet? Someone should make one, if not, because you guys do your research and deserve to have other people read it. Unfortunately, they just don't fit here, and they cause more trouble than they do good.

I reserve the right to add more rules as they are needed. You all know I waited as long as I could to do this, and you all know I wouldn't do this unless I thought it was absolutely necessary. I'm sorry if you disagree, but this is for the wellbeing of the community and everyone in it.

From now on this community is going to be friends only. From now on, PLEASE post your entries as friends only. This ensures the privacy of the posts and the posters. Things of great importance to the whole Livejournal community will be made public.

join 'em.



(With thanks to the person who helped me with the technical assistance)

And for everyone else there's:

This post is directed to Anildash since we can assume that he does read this community, but I am making it a general post due to its tl;dr nature, and the fact that I stopped being emotional and think I came upon some relevant things to ask of the VP of 6A:

( Dear Anildash )

Meanwhile, I am interested if anyone else reading this is good at math and can analyze the data in LJ’s most popular interests about how many people would affected by this change roughly? An estimate of fans in general if not fandom since fandom is more than just the artists or writers, but also the lurkers watching. If I believe these numbers to be right, then there are a lot more people involved in this issue that aren’t saying anything, but are watching to see which way the dice tumble.

Also, anyone know what Anildash's e-mail is so I can send this letter to him personally?

Well, that’s all I have, if anyone has anything else to add or I forgot an issue, feel free to add it in comment and I will edit it in. Please don't try answering the questions listed since I'm hoping for an official/un-official-but-from-6A reply. If you got documentation from abuse reports and official comments made by employee's, please add them.

( Earlier ETA's )

ETA @ 8:25 PM EST:

( Holy crude, I actually got a reply! )

stardust_rain's post of yesterday got me thinking, because both arguments that seem to be dominating discussions-"LJ wants fandom gone" vs. "LJ is in heap-big financial trouble"-both seem to have their flaws. If LJ wants fandom gone, why not just yank on the copyright violation angle, which is much more plausible than ZOMGCHILDPORN!? If LJ is in heap-big financial trouble and needs every paid user that it can get in addition to the sponsors, then why are they being such dicks in the first place? Strikethrough the First can be chalked up to the mistakes of bunch of techs who have never had a PR explosion like that before. Strikethrough 2: Fascist Boogaloo is much more head-scratching.

And then I stumbled across this post on metafandom: LJ as the New FanLib.

I have to admit, it's a pretty plausible argument. They get content for free, the content draws the eyeballs that will see the ads, and there you go. The main reason that FanLib failed is that fandom didn't need it when they already have LJ. I would like to think that this venture is going to fail where FanLib is at least squeaking along by attracting feral fans who have never really been socialized in the first place, because LJ is currently making the exact same mistake that FanLib made: underestimating the power of a united response because they don't understand just how social their target audience is. It's certainly reasonable, however.

You might as well pop open a Pepsi MAX and swallow; 6A played you well.

How could they have not predicted the backlash after all the past dramas? 6A knew it would whip everyone up into a paranoid, self-righteous frenzy. By mid-September, nearly every livejournal user will be familiar with Pepsi MAX, not because of traditional advertisement, but by your unintended word of mouth. They know you like to bitch, and it doesn't matter what context the brand name is brought up in as long as awareness of it is instilled.

And I don't blame them. I'd channel your entitlement wangst into marketing revenue, too, if I had opportunity.

You want to do something about it? Go create some heinous journals with the Pepsi branding you've been authorized to use, and send the link back to Pepsi.

Enjoy your Nazi-analogies, E-Lawsuits and weak censorship attempts. :) I'm out.

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1312472007

follow down: second half about 'slash porn' and harry potter.

ETA: pictishqueen in comments below http://community.livejournal.com/innocence_jihad/210129.html?thread=3622097#t3622097

very good points.

If this post is inappropriate, I have no problems with deleting it or it being deleted by someone else.

soleta_nf and I created ljconfl_archive for the purpose of gathering in one place all those links and pieces of information we’ve seen floating around out there. We want to have an archive to act as a single, cohesive and comprehensive resource where users can have this information at their fingertips. Personally, I’ve been running an ongoing series of posts covering the current issue, but I wasted time searching for links to reference what I was talking about. ljconfl_archive will hopefully remedy that problem, not just for me but for everyone needing information for coverage purposes or for essays.

We have done our best to make certain the Archive will remain objective information, free from bias. While the information linked in the Archive may show bias itself, anyone posting to the Archive must refrain from using any biased/subjective language.

We want information on Strikethrough and Boldthrough, of course, but also on past controversies that have occurred in the LiveJournal community, such as the controversy concerning default user pics depicting breastfeeding.

By posting this information, we are inviting everyone with links to information to come join and help us build the Archive into the comprehensive resource everyone needs. Already, we have a timeline of events, a listing of communities dedicated in one way or another to the issues at hand, and other information. One person can only gather so much, however. We need to come together as the LiveJournal community to offer our knowledge and in it, seek the larger truth.

~~**Sailorcelestial**~~

EDIT: The number of these 'gifts' is a bit too large to be a random occurance. Planned attack, anyone?

EDIT 2: Community's back to moderated posting and membership. Don't we all love maturity in opposition?

__________________



Oh, look, free corporate gift spam.

How clever. e_e



*points to userinfo of community*

It's no news that LJ's take on the whole strikethrough fiasco is inconsistent and offensive, but a lot of what they did is also very contradictory - from the long time it took to apologise to the targeted communities, a lot of it didn't seem like a reactionary stances from professionals. So I took a wild guess that 6A has planning something along the lines of this for a while - a good while, in fact. Not the whole shitstorm that it brewed, but a 'search-and-destroy' round of their Undesirable Number Ones.

In last round of strikethrough, it was a generally accepted theory that LJ was planning on an IPO, investing in advertisements and/or had at least some big money-making plan up their sleeve. Well, the latest news post reveals that they have struck a big deal with Pepsi, but I'm not ready to rule out the IPO-theory just yet. What got me going was not what they did as much as it was the way they did this. If 6A is going public, then they're definitely following a step-by-step routine which would reflect in the actions they take with LJ.

This is basically speculation and analysis of the actions that 6A took, from when they bought LJ to their taking care of to strikethrough.

This essay just comes from years of taking part in fandoms that have a boatloads of conspiracy theories (Bleach SS-era, Death Note, D. Gray Man, FMA, Lost, Harry Potter...) and being an over-workedanalytic ex-IBer. When I first started, I was going out on a limb and following hunches and I am, in no way, educated in economics or business&management, so feel free to, I dunno, beat this down if it's full of holes or has been posted before.

Under the cut: theorising, events and the analysis of them, some more interpretation, all complete with links and footnotes. It's very tl;dr, so I wouldn't blame you if you skipped parts of it.

(Well, okay, not real footnotes since I don't know how to do to make the number appear above the letters, so the numbers are in square brackets. Any help would be hugely appreciated, though).

( Overview: The life and failings of LJ )
( As much as two or three years in advance, or: sorry, you're all pretty much screwed )
( Focus on your company's media policy, or: you do NOT talk about strikethrough )
( Disclosure of your company's operations, or: get rid of those Undesirable Number Ones before it's too late! )

1. As someone without a paid account, I would like to second telewoman's suggestion and add that, should anyone decide to file a suit with a private lawyer (Assuming that's an option with this kind of case. IANAL.), they already have over $200 in pledges to help them and will probably get much more if they ask for it. Just a little incentive there.

2. The new and probably illegal (see above point) sponsored v-gifts are free. You can send them to your least favorite lj-staffer to show them just what a bad idea they are.

3. Pointing out 6A's hypocrisy will always be cool. Using it as a pretext for banning the people that you don't like is not. Anti-racism, anti-anorexia, and anti-self-harm are all good causes, but I signed up with innocence_jihad when it was strictly anti-censorship, and I'd personally prefer if y'all didn't change the rules half-way into the game.

First, I want to assure everyone that, though this journal is just created, I'm not a troll or wanker.  I've had no use for an LJ before and will probably delete it after all this mess is over.  However, people I know and care about have been/are being hurt by LJ/6A and I'm a vindictive bitch!  I've been seeing a lot of posts regarding reporting LJ to the BBB.  That's fine, but all it does is hurt their reputation.  Now is the perfect time for paid account holders to contact the California State Attorney General's office.  Placing ads on the news post and the free Pepsi V gifts is a clear violation of the contract between them and their paid clients.  And, best of all, it has nothing to do with fandom! 

According to LJ, graphical depictions of minors in sexual situations are not allowed, even if they are fictional or fantastical. This includes fan art and drawings, and there have been highly controversial deletions of journals and communities as a result of this.

So why does shota still exist?

Also, LJ has a policy against promoting or instructing illegal acts.

Why does chemicalwhores still exist?

There is a pretty good population of drug communities on LiveJournal.  As far as I'm aware, abuse of drugs is still illegal in the United States.

I disagree with LJ's policy and implementation.  This witch-hunt is idiotic and unnecessary...  But if they're going to bother doing something, shouldn't they at least do it right or all the way?

I stared a community called nosponsoredgift. I'm sure you know why and what it is about. I am a perm user and I hate seeing these ads. I had a comment on the first page with the gist of "this sucks" and was spammed with so many cans of pepsi. I am seeing ads and I really dislike it.

September 15th the Pepsi gifts ads will no longer be around, but what company is coming up next? Instead of cute home page themes for holidays will LJ turn into Myspace and have a movie/product themed page every other day?

Thank you to txteva for the gold star.


Apparently we're spiffy, and that makes me happy. <3


BTW, don't have a computer for a few days. Laptop was being a piece of shit and is now in the shop for repairs.

Don't eat each other while I'm gone, k?

Go to LJ abuse... and report this anti-Asian hate speech...

http://pepsi2dmax.livejournal.com/1381.html

And this anti-"Black" speech:

http://pepsibettymaxxx.livejournal.com/603.html

I reported it, but I figure that since it's one of the paid advertisement sites, we need as many reports as possible to get this offline.

Thanks.

xo M.

Edit To the people accusing me of being a troll & overreacting. Too bad you don't know a troll when you see one, because I am not a troll. If I were a troll, I would have created a journal yesterday and would be responding to each and everyone of you with some kind of weirdz intarwebz speak. Too bad, too that you apparently haven't a clue about the very real campagins against Pepsi for their appalling human rights record. Even worse, that you don't know about the effects caffeine and aspartame has on your body. And yes, as an Asian, I think those posts were completely insulting to Asians. It's possible to be satirical without being a racist. It's also possible to be racist without being a member of the KKK or the white supremacists. So check your own bullshit at the door before you tear my opinion appart. Thanks for nothing.

I've been reading for awhile, and i've only noticed a single post mentioning this.
Hopefully you know of the beheading video. If not, some links to enlighten:

Radio Free Europe: Controversy Grows Around Russian Beheading Video
NY Times: Beheading and Shooting by Russian Neo-Nazis on Video

Okay. That done, on to the meat of the issue:

I'm not going to link to it, but this looks like a screencap from the video:
pics.livejournal.com/vik23/pic/0000q6tb/
Hosted right here on LJ's own gallery service, no less.
His journal:
vik23.livejournal.com (plug that url into google's russian->english beta, and see what you get.)

Snagged and (badly)translated from here (emphasis mine):
As has been discovered, a suspect is a 23-year-old Victor Milkov, a student absentee office Adygeyskogo Technological University. He was the National Socialist Party of Russia, and to life earns painting orders. Mr Milkov blogging in "Living Magazine" (Livejournal?) by anyone "vik23." This web diary on August 12 has reference to the spot, and August 13 -- Party statement that it is the armed wing of the National Socialist Society (PDF), together known participate in the "Russian marches and disperse gay parades. Yesterday against Mr. Milkova a criminal case was opened under Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code (incitement of ethnic hatred), which provides for punishment of up to five years' imprisonment.

...So he's being charged, and his content remains up, untouched? (I can understand the necessity of keeping evidence for prosecution; however, this doesn't necessarily require said evidence remain online for all those hypothetical children to see. HELLO? MCFLY?)

LJ interest search for "white power". Notice all the Russian-language comms. Plug those comm urls' into Google's R>E engine, and let the hate speech and racism flow forth. Where's the outrage? Where's the open letters, the petitions, and all the spotlight?

Oh, right. LJ News just announced back-to-school v-gifts, and gratuitously plugs the shit out of Diet Pepsi Max (even going as far as to offer journal and mood themes!) hoping that everyone will get distracted. Because nothing says "I love you" more than a virtual diet pepsi max!

Dear LJ: Nice to know that stopping HP slash fanart, supporting anorexia, and chugging Pepsi's cock are more important than actually dealing with hardcore hate speech ToS violations. It's not like anyone's died, right?

LJ/6A should just come right out and admit that they're being 'selective' about whom they choose to apply the rules to.



Crossposted to a few other comms; apologies if you see twice.



I *really* wish i could install the russian text plugin, into my head. This language barrier crap needs to go.

Ok, here is the over thirty age poll - with as many slots as a drop-down will allow!

( Read more... )