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

[viskenplasuuir.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Teri
Journal name: Viskenplasuuir
Location(optional): Florida
Comment(optional): In a way, you guys did have the right idea, but your execution of the entire thing leaves much to be desired. People subject to such accusations should at least be looked at beyond what interests they list, when you KNOW you have a fanbase community, or journals dedicated to stories and using keywords/interests as a means for people to find their stories. In the fiction world, there are villains and their are heroes, but even then you have to read the WHOLE book to find out which is which, because every event can be a plot twist, every obvious clue not really so obvious at all. The snap actions taken now have angered the community you are striving to keep thriving, a lot of them people who have paid to have their spot on this site and not be harassed over it.

I understand the need.. the WANT.. to help a cause such as one devoted to uprooting and arresting child predators, and so forth, but what has been done is on a scale beyond what most of us ever imagined. Innocent people have been accused of things they are not guilty of.. and even if that doesn't mean anything to you or the people behind you wanting to push the cause.. it means something to them.

Shaking the faith of those who are the sites foundation is not a good way to do anything, regardless of the cause you're trying to support. Rattling the bars of this freedom constricting cage is also a thing rising on the side of horrible. Researching what you're stamping to inexistence might take time, but it ensures that what you are doing is the RIGHT course of action to take. Instead of slapping the mouth of an innocent person with a wonky interest listed, you could try investigating the person instead of depending on a keyword hunting bot to do the mouth-slapping for you.

I hear nothing but silence...

[kimiessu.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Kimie
Journal name: kimiessu
Location(optional): Malaysia

[shinsengumi]

Name/Alias: V.S.
Journal name: cruxis
Location(optional): Canada
Comment(optional): Can't censor the Internet, people. Don't even damn well try. (And if all these users protesting doesn't catch your attention, why the hell did you listen to them?)

[sake-chan.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: sake_chan
Journal name: sake_chan
Location(optional): England
Comment(optional): This mass deletion seems to be taken on an extremely superficial level, with communities and personal journals deleted merely for simple connecctions to anything which could be seen as violating 'innocence'. For example, some people who simply wrote about a certain taboo topic such as rape or pedophilia have been targetted, when many of them were not writing in the style of 'this sexy five year old' as was the original concern, but many were discussing the after-effects and trauma suffered post-suffering. And now people have had their journals deleted for icons? I think LJ needs to take responsibility for their sometimes brash deletions which took place merely because of an interest and were not investigated to a deeper extent.

[imuhar.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias:
Journal name:
Location(optional):
Comment(optional):

[paralinguistic.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Sian
Journal name: paralinguistic
Location: England
Comment: Paedophiles don't use methods of artistic communication to snare children. While I don't personally indulge in shota/lolita offerings. Besides, who decided that censoring the internet was right or fair?

Think a little harder, LJ.

[whisperthewords.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Mandi
Journal name: whisperthewords
Location(optional): Massachusetts
Comment(optional): I am disgusted with livejournal and how they've handeled this. If the situation is not rectified, I will be moving to greatestjournal.

[kiriga.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Kiriga
Journal name: kiriga
Location(optional): Sweden
Comment(optional): I really have nothing new to say. Good thinking and all, but you're still doing wrong!

[osakaromanesque.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Lina
Journal name: osakaromanesque
Location(optional): Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Comment(optional): It's not fair that communities and LJs that have little to nothing to do with pedophilia are being shut down, and also giving it a chance for people who are actually guilty of the acts that are stated by the RETARDS Warriors of Innocence to go into hiding. If you want real pedophilia, go on Myspace. This witch hunt is just a pile of bullshit.

to ladybrighid3333, thank you for setting up this petition. I spent a lot of time on LJ and this place means a lot to me and to see it go under will make me want to cut a bitch.

[dropsofgleam.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Maria
Journal name: miyuki_mina
Location(optional):
Comment(optional): Well, hello. You have given the real paedophiles the hint so they can hide, and several innocent comms have been deleted or suspended instead. Way to go, giving all child protectors a bad rep.

I do NOT condone pedophilia in any farking way, yet I'm appalled by this crap. Way to go, really.

[ochibi-chan.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Meagen
Journal name: ochibi_chan
Location(optional): Las Cruces, New Mexico
Comment(optional):

LiveJournal, what has become of you? It's heartbreaking to think you'd give this much right to a group that has no way to back themselves up. Your actions will only send the actual predators into the underground and they'll become even more better at seeking out their targets.

Your loyal journal keepers who pay for your service, those who don't but come here to use LJ over the dozens of other places. And to go unnecessarily deleting anything with "Questionable content" without so much as looking at how it's being used is ridiculous.

I thought people who faithfully believed in you would have more value than you're laying us down for, LJ.

Sincerely,
Meagen; ochibi_chan

[ramsara.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Kiri
Journal name: mrssleazoid
Location(optional): Sweden/Ostersund
Comment(optional): LJ speak up, this is ridiculous.

[draiol.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Christa
Journal name: draiol
Location(optional): Sweden
Comment(optional): Fiction is not real life. Look and think before you delete.

[ficangel.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias:
Journal name: ficangel
Location(optional): Oklahoma
Comment(optional): You're villifying innocent writers and leaving the survivors of real rape, incest, and abuse with no forum. I hope that you're proud of yourselves.

[tipsiturvi.livejournal.com]

Oh, can I snag your icon? o_o

[ikky.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Evangeline
Journal name: Ikky
Location(optional): New York
Comment(optional): I find it very interesting that the one time I reported a livejournal for a pedophile who was talking about how much he wanted to molest young children the folks at livejournal told me there's nothing they can do about it because he's just saying he wants to do it, not talking about actually doing it. Now you're deleting the journals of fiction writers and aritists because of a few touchy interests? That's hypocritical. Good work letting down your paying customers, Livejournal.

[cleo84.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Cleo
Journal name: cleo84
Location(optional): Germany

[ozqueen]

Name/Alias: Lisa
Journal name: ozqueen
Location(optional): Australia
Comment(optional): Way to tar everyone with the same brush, lj. Look before you leap.

[cobaltcrafter.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Cobalt
Journal name: cobaltcrafter
Location(optional):
Comment(optional): Your own reputation is what is going to suffer for this, LJ. What harm were the writers doing? They were using their imagination (Oh the horror!) while the real child abusers are now wrapped up in safety somewhere out there.

[ikiningyo.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias:Tina Cuypers
Journal name:ikiningyo
Location(optional):Belgium

[xperfect-lines.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Shanice
Journal name: xperfect_lines
Location(optional): Philippines
Comment(optional): I also emailed the letter. I just can't afford to let several fandoms die. I know how it feels to have something you love, taken away in front of your eyes. We just can't let these Warriors kill our happiness. I mean, seriously. NO WAY. I love LJ so much.

[devicing.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Becca
Journal name: skitzoheartless
Location(optional): Pennsylvania
Comment(optional): Alright, so you had an okay idea. Did you go for it the right way? Absolutely not. Nothing's stopping the people you suspended from just getting a new username. Now that everyone knows you're targeting interests and tags, they'll just change them. And the innocent people you targeted? Last I checked this site was for freedom; it was a place where we could put down our own thoughts, feelings, and works of inspiration, and now that's ruined. Just because some god-complex jerkoffs decided they'd take it upon themselves to bring justice to their own biases.

[baranohanayome.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Rae
Journal name: baranohanayome
Location(optional): Alabama, U.S.A.
Comment(optional): I applaude the sentiment expressed by WFI and you, LJ, but I can not condone the current course of action. Auto-bans and TOSing comms and individual user and/or RP journals on the basis of interest keywords, without checking through the sites themselves to see what activities abound therein, is the kind of knee-jerk reaction that helps no one and hurts or offends many. Please reconsider your actions and attempt to find a more...realistic and helpful solution.

Also, banning a Nabokov fan comm? Bad form, LJ.

[yamikarasu.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Raven
Journal name: yamikarasu
Location(optional): Florida, USA

[sunbaked.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Ryukku
Journal name: Traversed
Location(optional): Illinois
Comment(optional): You have the right idea livejournal, but you're off course in doing anything about it. You have wrongfully deleted journals of innocent people, mostly writers, who have nothing to do with rape, incest, or pedophilia in real life. As a writer I know that writing about something does not mean believing in it too. I write about rape and incest, but I do not approve of it. I write about it because it's true to the story and characters. It's something horrible that they have had to go through and I'm sure many people in real life as well. No where in the United States code of laws does it say that writing about these things is illegal, and according to your TOS, a journal can write about these things but declare that they do not support it. I don't support it. I'm sure many people who have gotten their journals deleted didn't see it so maybe you should bold it so more people see it so they can do it ahead of time.

One of the best things about the United States is freedom of speech and, the way I see it, you are wrongfully taking that freedom away by deleting personal and community journals, where speech lived. If the whole world used that logic, then there would be no novelists like Anne Rice writing about rape and other sexual acts. It would not bode well in real life and by god it will not bode well on the internet either.

I'm not saying you should not stop pedophiles and other illegal activity here, I'm saying that you should really "look before you leap". Actually go the extra mile to interview the persons in question or privately do this and see if they are actual pedophiles. I know many people who may have had certain interests in their profile, either as a joke or because they wrote about it, but I have met them in real life and surely I know that these people are not pedophiles or the like.

Now I'm sure this has gotten all over livejournal. So really the only thing you've succeeded in doing is pushing the real culprits more underground. They're going to be more careful now and hide certain things in their profiles and develop new ways to go undercover about the whole thing. So that means if something happens, you are still liable and you have just made it harder on yourself to catch the real criminals. We have you to thank, livejournal. And if my journal gets deleted for "questionable content", you'll have a large legal problem with me on your hands.

[mhael.livejournal.com]

Name/Alias: Brian
Journal name: mhael
Location(optional): Southeast, USA
Comment(optional): The completely spineless buckling by the LJ Admin on this issue disgusts and angers me more than I can say. Good people have been terrorized, villianized, or otherwise discriminated against FOR NO GOOD REASON. As word of this leaks out further and further, LJ will lose more and more good users and gain more of the trolling, MySpace types. Which is what this site deserves if it's going to treat good people like criminals without the slightest shadow of a trial or chance to defend themselves.