LJ Strikeout '07: Support Freedom of Expression!

[ladybrighid3333_archive]

Ok...so sorry if you've all seen this all over your friends list, but compiling two different "action plans". I'm sorry, but i'm screening comments and logging IPs. >>; you will have to wait till your comment shows up.



roaring's compiled a listing of some of the facts,which link to more facts, etc., of what's going on, mostly in relation to the fandom people getting hit by this.
Click the banner above to see that.

this was taken from rosesatmidnight for the same program on a more personal standpoiont, though I edited it for my own words at the end. For the original go take action!
1. Change the end greeting to your username
2 You can tweak the last paragraph so it's yours.
3. Spread it to your friends list by posting it to your own journal or linking here.
4. Also feel free to comment here with the textbox at the bottom of this entry.

Change your user name, personalize your comments in the last paragraph, and email this to privacy@livejournal.com and post it to your journal or profile.

Dear LJ:

I was quite appalled to hear about your mass-deletion of communities and journals with what you deemed as 'triggering' interests. Some of us have survived Rape. Some of us have survived abuse. And some of us wish to speak up and help others. How can we do that if you're taking away what we use to help those in need?

Have you even researched this "Warriors For Innocence"? Now what about the countless others who will not benefit from this deletion? What about the countless molesters who will now be driven further underground?

What about the countless members who have survived abuse, who have survived rape, and are now, finally, proud to stand up and say that they have... only for LJ to tell them that they can't?

Now what will we do? Now what source will we have to share our stories and our knowledge with others, now that your once-valuable source has been so ruthlessly and thoughtlessly taken away?

You were once one of the voices that helped make us strong as a united front.

And now your silence in the fight deafens me. Your silence speaks volumes, as much now as it will ever speak. Your silence is like a slap in the face to those of us who have survived the rape, survived the abuse, and are now, or will soon, learn to stand again, learn to live again, learn to function again.

As the friend of several people who have survived abuse and rape, I, personally, hope that you never experience it. And if that does happen, I hope that this very same silence never crosses your path.

Respectfully,
ladybrighid3333

Edit: Or if you feel uncomfortable sending it. Fill in, Copy and paste the text in the text box below into a comment here.

<b>Name/Alias:</b> <b>Journal name:</b> <b>Location(optional):</b> <b>Comment(optional):</b>

Comments

[b-c-draygon.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Alice
Journal name: B_C_Draygon
Location(optional): Manchester, England
Comment(optional): I can understand why LJ have decided to purge communities/users. However, I'm sure a little checking on those communities/users would show (in most cases) that there was no need to delete them in the first place.

[lunatic-the-7th.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Annie/Nee
Journal name: lunatic_the_7th
Location(optional): Ontario
Comment(optional): How dare we write weird fanfiction?! I mean the nerve... to speak our minds. We're just a bunch of wackjobs obviously...

[bessyboo.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Bess
Journal name: bessyboo
Location(optional): St. Paul, Minnesota
Comment(optional): *sigh* You guys seriously screwed up here. I know MULTIPLE people who were planning on buying permanent accounts, and will most definitely NOT be buying them now. This whole this is just NOT COOL. Prepare to feel the wrath of fandom.... *shakes head*

[inidhil.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Dominika
Journal name: inidhil
Location(optional): Poland

[rikayla.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Wendy
Journal name: Rikayla
Location(optional): Canada
Comment(optional):

[minist.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: KC
Journal name: Minist
Location(optional): Illinois
Comment(optional): I am appalled. What about freedom of expression? I realize that some things on livejournal may not seem to be appropriate for people of younger ages. But if that's the problem then why don't you set age-locks and make certain pages only accessible by those over a specific age? Livejournal is for people who want to be able to express themselves freely and talk with those interested in the same things they are.

By deleting posts and communities you aren't stopping anything, people will just go to different and possibly more dangerous sites to look for what they want. Atleast here they may be monitored slightly.

I realize that material people have posted may offend some, but if it does, why don't those people just not look at it? It's not like the authors, artists, etc. are forcing them to read. Why can't people just cool it and stop finding things to get ticked off about?

[queeniefox.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Elizabeth-Anne
Journal name: queeniefox
Location(optional): UK

[sayaka-sama.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Cass
Journal name: sayaka_sama
Location(optional): New Jersey
Comment(optional): Sure, some of us here at LJ have rather questionable tastes, but it does not equate to condoning pedophilia or child molestation. Get your facts straight before this escalates into something out of your jurisdiction of control. Because right now, you're about a step below starting your own re-enaction of the Red Scare.

[minist.livejournal.com]

I forgot to mention...
If you start taking away from one group, you'll need to start with another.

What if I said that romance offends me because I don't believe marriage is right?

And even though I didn't want to throw out this car...
As a person who was abused as a child, I don't see how this will help anyone. It's not as if deleting things people have written is going to suddenly make what happened to me better. I'm not going to forget about it and I doubt anyone who has been through the same will either. If anything all this will do is alienate those who have been through traumatizing events. We can talk about 9-11 but we can't talk about what's still going on today? That doesn't make sense to me.

[thefacelessevil.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: thefacelessevil
Journal name: "
Location(optional): California
Comment(optional): RIP shota, may you rise again with people who are educated about your existance.

[sakurazawa.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Takumi.
Journal name: fangirlingagain
Location(optional): Indiana.

[yuki-no-hime.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Daniela
Journal name: yuki_no_hime
Location(optional): Vienna, Austria
Comment(optional): Writing/Reading things like incest, rape or pedophilia doesn't equal supporting those things in real life.

[bamf-girl.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Pietro
Journal name: bamf_girl
Location(optional): Beaumont, CA
Comment(optional): I think it's disgusting that you're deleting these journals needlessly. I went and read the ToS myself, and I notice they all say that you basically don't want to monitor the going-ons of your community, yet at the prodding of some self-righteous group that gives Christianity a bad name, you go on a trigger-happy deleting spree. Actual pedophilia is one thing, but fan pedophilia? Made-up stories? These are artistic works, and regardless of if you agree or don't, you can't delete them just from the proddings of another source. I really had thought LiveJournal was an open-minded place, accepting of all things. I see I was wrong.

[stefflebug.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Stephanie
Journal name: Stefflebug
Location(optional): England
Comment(optional): Words fail me, besides it's all been said by people more eloquant than me.

[britgeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Johanna
Journal name: britgeekgrrl (and several others, all paid)
Location(optional): DTS
Comment(optional): This is, indeed a ridiculous situation. Not only has LJ managed to overreact to pressure from a group of dubious legitmacy, but their ongoing silence is only making them look worse.

*sigh* if they continue to duck the issue, I won't be buying a permanent account next month, as I had originally planned...

[ladyblack888.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Joana
Journal name: ladyblack888
Location(optional): Lisboa/Portugal

[transephera.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias:transephera
Journal name:transient ephemera
Location(optional):Louisiana
Comment(optional):I feel compelled to pull out a thesaurus to look up more words for ridiculous. Forget about expecting the parents to monitor their own children; forget about teaching the kids why they shouldn't vomit their personal information all over the net. No, why do that when instead you can delete original art and works of fiction. Why do that when instead you can terminate what used to be the only forum for free expression some people had. Who gave these people the authority to determine our moral compass, anyway? In many countries the age of consent is as low as thirteen or fourteen, and I know LJ is used in more places than just the U.S.

For that matter, step into any public library and look in the card catalog. You will find many of the same subjects that these accounts are being deleted for. Step into any bookstore that sells fiction and/or non-fiction. You will find stories about murder, rape, torture, incest, etc. ad nauseum. Some of these stories are true and some are not, but the bookstore makes money from them regardless. What are we going to see from these so called 'warriors of innocence' next, book burning bonfires? Fucking fascists!

[rowanberries.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Amy
Journal name: rowanberries
Location(optional): UK
Comment(optional): You know, I wouldn't mind if you deleted only journals that seriously looked as if they might be those of active child-abusers. But no. You're not even using your eyes to see if the journal is in reference to fiction, or a support group for abuse-survivors? There goes any respect I ever had for the people in charge of decision-making on LJ's behalf. And, incidentally, any money I would have spent on the site.

You are hurting more people that you could ever hope to help.

Or... wait, that never crossed your minds. Silly me, all this is, of course, to cover your behinds. Never mind freedom of speech, or the trust of your customers. Nice going.

-Amy, hurt and disappointed.

[fairady.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Fairady
Journal name: fairady
Location(optional): Indiana
Comment(optional): This move of yours has really done nothing at all to accomplish what you wanted to. All you've done is upset a lot of people for the sake of a group that does not look very legitimate at all.

[dtn.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Dee
Journal name: dtn
Location(optional): New York, United States
Comment(optional): Deleting communities and accounts isn't going to save the fucking world.

[twilight-near.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Alana
Journal name: Twilight_near
Location(optional): Raceland, Kentucky
Comment(optional): This is wrong, and i commend you for taking a stand agiast this outragous censorship

[piperredfern.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Piper
Journal name: piperredfern
Location(optional): Texas
Comment(optional): By not researching each journal/community, you're on your way to losing most of your customers by doing this.

[bellishness.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Bell
Journal name: bellishness
Location(optional): Chicago
Comment(optional): To be frank, this is bull. LJ is the home of so many fandoms, and absurdly strict policies such as these will ruin it for everyone. I'm all for removing truly sordid material from the general public's eyes, but what is the point of deleting, say, a community for discussion on Lolita? That is unjust censorship, plain and simple. Works dealing with mature, even sexual themes are not necessarily crude; I had hoped that the LJ staff knew this.

[chaotic-vanity.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Maggie
Journal name: chaotic_vanity
Location(optional): Ohio

[noir-blanc.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias:Kassandra
Journal name: noir_blanc
Location(optional):St. Mary's, Georgia
Comment(optional):I fully support the exposure and prosecution of pedophiles, who prey on the smallest and weakest of society. However, this purging is a clumsy execution and has caught many innocent people in the cross-fire having unfairly been tarred as criminals. Fandom is different then real-life and I am infuriated that you allowed yourself to be bullied by a half-assed "watch dog" group.