In 2012 nudists still tackle the problem of bans against
their material, but they are much more likely to come from the private
sector. Today, for example, we learned
that ALL NUDIST had their account suspended by Facebook over a posting that the
site’s “autobots” deemed offensive. As
AllNudist laments, there is no way to reach a live person to resolve the
problem. All that can be done is to wait
out the suspension and wonder what does and doesn’t cross Facebook’s ever
moving line of propriety.
Facebook recently bought Instagram, and it already seems
that company has Stepped Up Enforcement of no-nudity policies. These may have
been included in Terms of Service for some time, but have been taken to a new
level. Photographers and artists have decried these moves, while the company
claims they are necessary to comply with yet another company’s nudity policies:
The iPhone app rules from Apple.
Bare Platypus also read this week that PayPal sent an EDICT
out to eBook publishing companies warning that it would terminate credit-card
processing privileges for any company carrying objectionable material. One clever poster on a message board noted
that if every offensive topic on the PayPal list got a book banned, then our Holy
Bible would be first to go.
Bare Platypus team members once approached some of the
highest level employees of Pay Pal (e.g. the General Counsel and the Director of
Government Affairs) after meeting them at a legislative conference. Despite laying out a case that had those
individuals nodding their heads and following up with us in emails, there was
nothing we could do to get policies--- like Pay Pal’s refusal to process funds for
the Federation of Canadian Naturists’ subscriptions to Going Natural---reversed.
We agree with those who state that corporate policies are
not, in the classic sense of the term, “censorship.” They do not involve government action and
violators of corporate policies do not face prison sentences. However, the impact of “no nudity” and
strict topic restrictions is no less pronounced when it comes to advancing the
message of nudism.
This continued and increasing level of censorship on the web seems in direct contrast to the 'loosening of morals' in modern society. Could it be a backlash by reactionary forces?
ReplyDeleteIt might just be be that the vast majority of people don't want to run into skin. Or it could be a reflection of the increasingly conservative nature of governments and societies as the world's economies crumble and people fear the unknown. The resurgence of fundamentalist religions around the world, perhaps?
Maybe it's just good legal sense since it's cheaper to avoid 'obscenity' questions altogether than risk litigation somewhere, sometime for allowing something illegal. That also removes the necessity and expense of reviewing and judging images according to... to WHAT definition of obscenity?
Besides, customer service is expensive. You can always get more customers to replace the disgruntled ones.
We can't expect a corporation to operate at the pleasure of just some of its customers, that's not good business sense. It's also been said that the definition of corporation matches the description of a psychopath, as far as behavior and moral responsibility is concerned. No social conscience. Are we getting close?
Originators of the concept and rights of a free press never foresaw an age where most of the information media worldwide are owned by a few individuals or groups Also unforeseen was the huge impact of social media as it became a vital part of world communications and the informal 'free press' of the people. The rights of those 'Press' members, you and I, were not considered.
With all of our sources of information controlled by the few, and our ability to access that information held by the same, we'll be in one helluva pickle when 'they' finally have it all under iron rule.
At that point, we'll only know what they tell us, with no means of assessing its truth; not when we no longer have a free and un-censored 'free press' of our own.
And of course, there will be no one to complain to about it.
Maybe all you need to show on Facebook is:
ReplyDeleteHere is the Exit. Get the hell out of here!
Great points - thanks for raising them. I've got a new post at Nude, Renewed that mentions this problem and talks about how I want to address it. http://nuderenewed.com/2012/04/26/taking-it-back-in-house/
ReplyDelete