Is it just me or does this seem exceptionally stupid?

[zinnith]

Ok, about this new adult content flagging thing?

I might be old-fashioned and traditional, but isn't it the parents who should have the responsibility for making sure their poor wee innocent kids don't read 'inapropriate' material. There are all kinds of surf filters you can install if you want to keep your offspring ignorant of the facts of life. And, let me be honest, if I was a parent I'd much rather my kid read fandom porn than watched the traditional kind. 

Also - what is 'inapropriate'? What happens if somone comes across my writing and goes: "Gaaah, fags, fags, a journal full of fags!  Won't someone please think of the children?" I am certainly not going to adjust my settings so that a large part of fandom won't be able to read my stories.

And what about the writers who are under the age of 18? Do they get to view their own journals? Are you going to censor what young people write as well as what they read? Sorry to make you disappointed, but the imagination of a person under 18 does not consist of fluffy sheep, wild flowers and little ducklings.

And last - what are you doing to make sure that a person who says s/he is 18 really is 18? Are we going to have to verify our age from now on? Send you a copy of our birth certificates? If so, who's going to open all those thousands and thousands of letters?  

In short, dear LJ-staff, the idea gets you this:




*waiting for this entry to be flagged for use of the word 'porn'*

 

Comments

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what everyone going "Yay! Child protection!" thinks today's childhoods are like. This is just a very naive kind of censorship.

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

All I know is that when I was a pervy 14-year-old, I would sneak, cheat and lie to get access to even potentially explicit stuff. For some reason, I don't think the kids of today are that much different...

If you seriously don't want your precious little children to be exposed to adult material, you'd have to give them earplugs, blindfold them and lock them up in a closet. And even then, they'd probably sit there and think about sex.

*steps down from soapbox*

;-)

[the-cephalopod.livejournal.com]

I'm really in two minds about this. I do think it is important to put warnings on things that contain content that might be offensive/inappropriate/off-putting/disturbing to others. We can't predict how people are going to react - everyone is different - and I have no wish it inadvertently cause anyone pain. I do believe in the certification of things such as films and video games and also for TV to have a watershed time before which adult content cannot be shown. It is inappropriate for children to be exposed to adult material - violence in particular. Many studies have shown an statistically significant increase in the amount of violent behaviour exhibited by children following watching something violent on TV. Furthermore, children do not have the same ability as adults to contextualise content or differentiate between fiction and reality and so what is appropriate behaviour in each. However, having said all that, I do believe that it is the *parents* responsibility to teach what is acceptable behaviour and to protect their children from inappropriate content. However, I also recognise that we live in an imperfect world where many children are not fortunate enough to have parents who are willing or even able to do this for them...
For the moment I am erring on the side of caution and have put an 'adult content' filter on my LJ... all my entries depict graphic sex and so I believe warrant this rating - the fact that I have put an NC-17 rating on all the entries demonstrates this. I will however be keeping an eye on the inevitable debate as I am certainly open to persuasion.... cep xxx

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you about the importance of warning for potentially offensive material, after all, that's what we have ratings for! But I also believe that most kids are, in fact, intelligent and can think for themselves. Especially in that age between 14 and 18, when you're beginning to grow up and are trying to figure out who you are.

This new policy seems very arbitrary to me and I have a feeling it'll do more bad than good. I mean, who's to decide what's appropriate or not? Should a fifteen year old be kept out of sex health comms? Should a smart kid who wants to discuss violence in video games be hindered from doing that? (I know, I know, there are all kinds of kids and they all have different maturity levels. But in the end, I still feel it's up to the parents to decide what material is appropriate for their kids to view, it's

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I completely agree with you about the importance of warning for potentially offensive material, after all, that's what we have ratings for! But I also believe that most kids are, in fact, intelligent and can think for themselves. Especially in that age between 14 and 18, when you're beginning to grow up and are trying to figure out who you are.

This new policy seems very arbitrary to me and I have a feeling it'll do more bad than good. I mean, who's to decide what's appropriate or not? Should a fifteen year old be kept out of sex health comms? Should a smart kid who wants to discuss violence in video games be hindered from doing that? (I know, I know, there are all kinds of kids and they all have different maturity levels. But in the end, I still feel it's up to the parents to decide what material is appropriate for their kids to view, it's <i<not</i> up to LJ.)

I think what I object the most to is the idea of letting people flag content that's not their own, because it puts the poster at the mercy of the personal preferences of the reader. The flagging system is far too easy to use and therefore abuse. It leaves the field open for people to flag entries out of spite or to flag entries because they don't agree with the posters' opinion. Instead of flame-wars, there will be flag-wars. You only have to click a button to flag an entry an inappropriate. When you have to sit down and write an actual e-mail reporting abuse, it's much more likely that the report is serious. As it is now, I have a feeling the abuse prevention team is going to be flooded with flags. I don't think the LJ-crew has been thinking this whole thing through properly...

And now I'll shut up and go back to trying to get Ronon and Radek away from the Wraith and into the sack...

[the-cephalopod.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I've been thinking about this very hard and discussing it at length with my husband... You raise some very good points. The flagging system is kinda stupid and certainly open to abuse. Also the age of 18 is way too high. I mean the age of consent in the UK is 16 and varies vastly across the world. I went for the 'adult content' rating which is 14... but now am wavering and might remove it entirely... I just don't know. I mean I don't want to lie and say there is no adult material, because clearly there is.... In short, I'm confused.
On a completely different note, my dentist appointment involved drilling, injections, a cavity, and a bill for 140 euro.... ick!
Finally, hope Ronon and Radek have fun!
cep xxx

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

Ooohh, evil dentist! *feels sorry for you* I hope there wasn't too much pain...

[the-cephalopod.livejournal.com]

No too much pain, thankfully... but apparently there's a 50% chance I'll need a root canal....! I'm not thinking about that too hard, it sounds both too painful and too expensive...
Also, I apologise for clogging up your Inbox... but I've thought of a somewhat better ending for s_s that I'm going to try to get on paper today - so feel free to delete the earlier two versions ('cause, seriously the endings is so crap it's unbelieveable!) cepxxx

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

Gah, open tags. I fail at life.

Ranting

[saffie-lew.livejournal.com]

I work in a computer game shopa and we can't sell 12/15/18 rated games to people under that age, we chack ID and everything...unless the child has a parent with them, and they buy the game for the child. Then all we have to do is inform them that thegame is rated an 18. 99 times out of 100, they buy them anyway, you wouldn't believe how many parents come in and buy grand theft auto, or Canis Canem Edit for five year olds - it drives me mad.

Point being, I think flagging entries will be about as much use. I understand giving stories/images ratings and warnings because it gives people the opportunity to choose whether they want to look at it and if they get offended after that then its their own fault. Realistically kids will always find a way to look at restricted content, and without the support of parents (seriously, Manhunt, for an 8 year old!), this policy has no chance.

Rant over...at least until I go to work and smile nicely at the people who may be raising the next generation of sociopaths (according to some studies).

[erda-3.livejournal.com]

No it's not just you and yes it seems exceptionally stupid. The idea that anyone on lj can stir up trouble for me anonymously with a press of a button is extremely disturbing.

[zinfic.livejournal.com]

Exactly! It's one thing if you have to sit down and write an actual e-mail to report abuse, the trolls just won't go to that kind of trouble just to piss someone off. But the flagging system is far too easy to use and it will be abused. It's just dumb.