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Witch hunts
OK, I think I'm cooled off enough to write about the stupidity of SixApart's behavior without blowing a gasket. If you don't want to hear it, skip over this.
This incident was nothing less than a witch hunt. Witch hunts NEVER reflect well on those who perpetrate them. They are ALWAYS judged badly when viewed from a historical perspective. It is made that much worse when the inspiration for the hunt was the accusations of an obvious lunatic fringe group that is dedicated to hating EVERYONE who is different from themselves. Not just possible or potential pedophiles, but everyone. Like gays, blacks, immigrants, women, non-Christians, ethnic minorities, and, no doubt, anyone who doesn't vote straight right wing candidates.
As with witch hunts everywhere and in every century, the utterly innocent were dragged into the pit along with the guilty or possibly guilty, merely because of association, vague resemblances, or semantic misinterpretation. SixApart acted like fools and assholes. There's no other way to put this, folks. They followed the hue and cry raised by a shill, and like a wild mob, started the lynch party rather than due process and fair evaluation.
You cannot condemn people for taking an interest in, discussing, or being curious about anything. I don't care what it is. Will you put the author of a murder mystery in jail? Yes, murder is illegal in our society. Will you put everyone who likes to read murder mysteries in jail as well? What if the author writes a novel in which the murderer gets away with the crime? What about a suspense novel in which an unpunished rape takes place? Furthermore, you can't assume, as SixApart did, that everyone who writes about or discusses murder is a murderer.
Whether it is 14th century Spain, 17th century England or Massachusetts, or 20th century Germany, the witch hunt is always, inevitably, and irrevocably wrong. It incriminates and punishes the innocent, and is manipulated to the personal glory and power of the perpetrator. Joseph McCarthy was just as wrong as Adolf Hitler, and Franklin Roosevelt committed equal atrocity when he allowed the Japanese Internment. The Bush administration is engaged in secret persecution and probably torture of innocent or only vaguely guilty people right now, simply because they speak the wrong language, are of the wrong religion, and happened to be in the wrong place at a bad time. SixApart is no better than these great criminals of past human history, and their apologies and promise to do better have no more value than those offered in the past by such people.
In a society that is supposedly dedicated to freedom of speech, religion, race, and culture, we seem still to be extremely narrow minded and quick to jump to potentially wrong conclusions. Worse yet, unlike chat rooms and other more notorious internet venues, LiveJournal is hardly a suitable forum for a genuine pedophile to use in attracting and injuring the innocent. Believe me, people who are up to such acts know how to choose their methods much more effectively than that.
Who will you go after next, SixApart? Homosexuals? Communists? Drug users? Illegal immigrants? Furries? Anyone who speaks a disparaging word about the current administration in Washington?
Frankly, this is an incident that calls for more than just empty words of apology. Those who decided to take this unilateral action and overreacted so extremely should resign their positions in the organization. It would be ludicrous, except that they are messing with people's lives and reputations here, and appointing themselves as a secret inquisition without appeal.
This incident was nothing less than a witch hunt. Witch hunts NEVER reflect well on those who perpetrate them. They are ALWAYS judged badly when viewed from a historical perspective. It is made that much worse when the inspiration for the hunt was the accusations of an obvious lunatic fringe group that is dedicated to hating EVERYONE who is different from themselves. Not just possible or potential pedophiles, but everyone. Like gays, blacks, immigrants, women, non-Christians, ethnic minorities, and, no doubt, anyone who doesn't vote straight right wing candidates.
As with witch hunts everywhere and in every century, the utterly innocent were dragged into the pit along with the guilty or possibly guilty, merely because of association, vague resemblances, or semantic misinterpretation. SixApart acted like fools and assholes. There's no other way to put this, folks. They followed the hue and cry raised by a shill, and like a wild mob, started the lynch party rather than due process and fair evaluation.
You cannot condemn people for taking an interest in, discussing, or being curious about anything. I don't care what it is. Will you put the author of a murder mystery in jail? Yes, murder is illegal in our society. Will you put everyone who likes to read murder mysteries in jail as well? What if the author writes a novel in which the murderer gets away with the crime? What about a suspense novel in which an unpunished rape takes place? Furthermore, you can't assume, as SixApart did, that everyone who writes about or discusses murder is a murderer.
Whether it is 14th century Spain, 17th century England or Massachusetts, or 20th century Germany, the witch hunt is always, inevitably, and irrevocably wrong. It incriminates and punishes the innocent, and is manipulated to the personal glory and power of the perpetrator. Joseph McCarthy was just as wrong as Adolf Hitler, and Franklin Roosevelt committed equal atrocity when he allowed the Japanese Internment. The Bush administration is engaged in secret persecution and probably torture of innocent or only vaguely guilty people right now, simply because they speak the wrong language, are of the wrong religion, and happened to be in the wrong place at a bad time. SixApart is no better than these great criminals of past human history, and their apologies and promise to do better have no more value than those offered in the past by such people.
In a society that is supposedly dedicated to freedom of speech, religion, race, and culture, we seem still to be extremely narrow minded and quick to jump to potentially wrong conclusions. Worse yet, unlike chat rooms and other more notorious internet venues, LiveJournal is hardly a suitable forum for a genuine pedophile to use in attracting and injuring the innocent. Believe me, people who are up to such acts know how to choose their methods much more effectively than that.
Who will you go after next, SixApart? Homosexuals? Communists? Drug users? Illegal immigrants? Furries? Anyone who speaks a disparaging word about the current administration in Washington?
Frankly, this is an incident that calls for more than just empty words of apology. Those who decided to take this unilateral action and overreacted so extremely should resign their positions in the organization. It would be ludicrous, except that they are messing with people's lives and reputations here, and appointing themselves as a secret inquisition without appeal.
no subject
LJ's apology was pure crap as well. They claim Both in the instructions for profiles and in other places on the site we make it clear that interests listed should be evaluated within the context of “I like x”, “I’m in favor of x” or “I support x”. The fact is that the interests page only has this instruction: Rule of thumb: You should be able to put the interest in the sentence "I like ________". A "rule of thumb" is a far cry from "making it clear that interests are in the context of 'I like'." If 'Interests' are supposed to be 'Likes', then label them as such.
They go on to say As many profiles are the only public part of a private journal and profiles serve partly as an advertisement for people of like interests, it is important that the content of a profile can be evaluated as if it stands alone. If your profile were to express interest in pedophilia with no other content that describes this interest as in helping survivors or protecting children from it we must read the profile as “I like or I support or I’m in favor of it.” For this reason we suspended profiles that meet this criteria. Excuse me? They have no way of seeing private entries to check into complaints? I don't buy that for a minute and if someone makes a complaint on a page they can't see, then that complaint is baseless, much like their shallow excuses.
Going from their actual Terms of Service page, the only document that actually counts since it's in effectively a contract, the only thing that comes close is in Section XVI, number 13: Promote or provide instructional information about illegal activities, promote physical harm or injury against any governmental entity, group or individual, or promote any act of cruelty to animals. This may include, but is not limited to, providing instructions on how to assemble bombs, grenades, and other weapons or incendiary devices. I'm sorry, even if Interests meant Likes, someone saying they like something like pedophilia is a far cry from promoting it.
Sounds to me like they're trying their damnedest to cover their asses when they have nothing to cover them with. Anyone with a paid subscription should consider filing a class action lawsuit for slander and breach of contract.
no subject