kewpies

I have seen many petitions flying around and have signed some myself. However, the main issue isn’t tumblr, the App Store, or even Verizon’s wish to monitize ad space.

The issue is the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and Stop Enabling Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA) packaged set of bills. These bills were passed in April 2018 in US Congress, where websites are now liable for their content posted by 3rd parties - and can be sued if someone uses their website to solicit sex.

There’s been articles on this for a while, but they have gotten no where near as much publicity as needed - especially because it was a US bill that was passed rather than an international one. However, the effect it has internationally is widespread. No matter where you are, if you are an internet user, these bills WILL affect you.

It has directly affected websites and platforms such as Craigslist, Reddit, Microsoft, Instagram, etc., and is now affecting websites like Tumblr, Facebook, and more than likely Twitter and other platforms soon. The terms and conditions of these sites are very unlikely to change much if at all after they change to meet the current guidelines. It has affected third party users and has even been reported to have affected police in a negative way. The majority of articles on the bill are not written with positivity towards it, and it has been a controversial bill since the beginning.

This issue is not isolated to Tumblr, and even if you leave this website and switch to another, the rules will be similar or will soon be so. If you’ve been here for a long time - sure, open up some other accounts. However, I wouldn’t be so eager to jump ship - you’ll end up in the same waters.

FOSTA/SETSA has compromised section 230 of the 1996 CDA (Communications and Decency Act), which is known to have been the section that has given us the internet we have today by being a major part of internet freedom and protecting freedom of speech and expression online (by protecting hosts from being ultimately liable for third party content). There is speculation that in the future there will be more attempts made to make more acceptions or “poke holes” in section 230.

This packaged bill is what needs to be targeted by internet users internationally, and especially by US citizens as it is the US government who has put this into law. Due to lack of knowledge about this bill, previous petitions did not meet the required amount of attention. This bill is not only directly affecting tumblr, but is affecting the internet as a whole and it’s time to focus on the root of the cause.

In Summary:

THIS ISSUE IS NOT ISOLATED TO TUMBLR.

The adult content ban by Tumblr is NOT caused by the website curators or the Apple App Store.

The main cause of the adult content ban is NOT Verizon trying to monitize ad space, but requirements by the US FOSTA/SESTA combined bill.

FOSTA/SESTA has poked a hole in the 1996 CDA, section 230 which protects web hosts from being liable by content posted by 3rd parties.

Now, websites will be liable and can be sued for content posted by their users, notably in relation to the solicitation of sex.

It is speculated that further attempts will he made to break down parts of section 230.

Although it is a US Bill, it affects the entire World Wide Web. This new joint bill has directly impacted several other websites and continues to do so.

Due to lack of public knowledge, previous petitions did not meet requirements.

FOSTA/SESTA repeal needs to be the main focus by tumblr users and social networking sites as a whole.

So, what can be done?

Read this tweet, and thread from twitter user Aditya Mukerjee (@chimeracoder) for more information on what you can do, and more information about what is going on.

Also, explicitly banning and calling out “female-presenting nipples” - note there’s an exception if it’s after giving birth or during breastfeeding because OBVIOUSLY the only way breasts and nipples are okay is when you’re fulfilling your goddamn job of being an incubator and not just posting nipples wilfully or for (gasp) money. Because obviously, when we’re talking about the banning of child pornopraphy we must target “female-presenting nipples” and let everyone know that those are the real problem. Nipples are only okay when they’re “male-presenting” and in the proximity of a newborn that is confirmed yours. 

Like c’mon… FOSTA/SESTA has been presented under the guise of fighting human trafficking just like these moves are no different. If they wanted to go after these very real issues then they would and they definitely wouldn’t be (dangerously) conflating the issues. Also why can I still look up violent pro-Nazi, antisemitic imagery but not a goddamn nipple??