The Internet is a Police State
You may think that title sounds a bit clickbaity. But it's completely accurate. The internet is now a police state.
In the last few days, we've seen several large outlets for hosting content eradicated, while single large companies tighten their grip. In just this decade, internet celebrity Linkara lost several different platforms for his video hosting, including Blip.tv, Vid.me, and many others he migrated to. Chuck Sonnenburg, aka SF Debris echoed these same issues.
That alone wouldn't be a problem... but there's a larger one. The major companies are biased and cowardly at the same time, and not just in the sense I deem it, but in the sense that they overcompensate for any problem by creating a police state. If there is a problem with copyrighted content being uploaded, including full episodes, all content is destroyed involving that content... including things like reviews and fanvids such as AMVs.
Put simply, a machine cannot tell the difference between the content itself, and the derivative work, despite Fair Use. This even gets to the point of stepping on the toes of other companies; Linkara is a member of Saban's official Power Rangers fan club, the Power Force, and has been requested by them to use official sources like DVDs for the episodes. Unfortunately, this official content falls into the over-vigilant and ignorant eyes of automated machines, and the videos, despite having the consent of the Power Force, are taken down anyway.
But that's probably not why you're here. You're here because my Pixiv page exploded and lost a lot of content. That's because the internet is also a police state because it tries to deplatform "enemies of the state". Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Tumblr, all platforms millions use, all have clear biases against people with the "wrong" opinion, and will shut them down any way possible, including complete banning of their account. If it sounds like the phenomena of "unpersoning" in George Orwell's 1984, it's because it is.
Moreover, this policy has done damage to the loli art community by destroying their works. I often make many attempts to keep my art SFW and not show too much, but according to the policies, and the court of public opinion, drawing a child in a state of undress is considered sexual abuse of a child. If we go by that logic, drawing an adult being sexually abused is actual sexual abuse, drawing a death scene in a webcomic would be considered murder; even depicting a bank robber in a piece of clip art would be considered equivalent to actual theft.
The statement on monopolies applies here as well, as alternative platforms for artists wanting to depict this art are destroyed, while major platforms strictly increase their policies. DeviantArt recently enacted a policy that a character is as old as their first appearance, to which characters who start as children or even babies in a prologue would be considered children by this policy. Furthermore, these policies are often retroactive; James Gunn was removed from Twitter over jokes involving touchy subject matter; to that end, anyone who wrote a gory comic book would, by this logic, be a felon for several counts of murder.
I started doing the work I did in the art field to provide a safe, sensible alternative to lurid pornography, as well as to provide people with something that was too often denied by the actual networks. Violent video games are cited numerous times as an outlet for aggression, and the work I provide is much the same way. It actually prevents further harm towards children, especially since it means any kid who accidentally stumbles across the work in question will see nothing worse than what the show would depict.
But with the internet becoming a police state, where thoughtcrimes can and have been punished with imprisonment, I worry that I may lose a platform I can rely on to publish less-damaging works of art. I've lost DeviantArt, FurAffinity, and Pixiv as places to post my work, and I worry Inkbunny will be next. If this does not stop, the number of people who do not have a safe place to see non-damaging works like mine will increase, and with it a rise in potential child rapists.
And it will be a monster the censorship bureau creates in an attempt to stop its creation.
In the last few days, we've seen several large outlets for hosting content eradicated, while single large companies tighten their grip. In just this decade, internet celebrity Linkara lost several different platforms for his video hosting, including Blip.tv, Vid.me, and many others he migrated to. Chuck Sonnenburg, aka SF Debris echoed these same issues.
That alone wouldn't be a problem... but there's a larger one. The major companies are biased and cowardly at the same time, and not just in the sense I deem it, but in the sense that they overcompensate for any problem by creating a police state. If there is a problem with copyrighted content being uploaded, including full episodes, all content is destroyed involving that content... including things like reviews and fanvids such as AMVs.
Put simply, a machine cannot tell the difference between the content itself, and the derivative work, despite Fair Use. This even gets to the point of stepping on the toes of other companies; Linkara is a member of Saban's official Power Rangers fan club, the Power Force, and has been requested by them to use official sources like DVDs for the episodes. Unfortunately, this official content falls into the over-vigilant and ignorant eyes of automated machines, and the videos, despite having the consent of the Power Force, are taken down anyway.
But that's probably not why you're here. You're here because my Pixiv page exploded and lost a lot of content. That's because the internet is also a police state because it tries to deplatform "enemies of the state". Twitter, Facebook, Google, and Tumblr, all platforms millions use, all have clear biases against people with the "wrong" opinion, and will shut them down any way possible, including complete banning of their account. If it sounds like the phenomena of "unpersoning" in George Orwell's 1984, it's because it is.
Moreover, this policy has done damage to the loli art community by destroying their works. I often make many attempts to keep my art SFW and not show too much, but according to the policies, and the court of public opinion, drawing a child in a state of undress is considered sexual abuse of a child. If we go by that logic, drawing an adult being sexually abused is actual sexual abuse, drawing a death scene in a webcomic would be considered murder; even depicting a bank robber in a piece of clip art would be considered equivalent to actual theft.
The statement on monopolies applies here as well, as alternative platforms for artists wanting to depict this art are destroyed, while major platforms strictly increase their policies. DeviantArt recently enacted a policy that a character is as old as their first appearance, to which characters who start as children or even babies in a prologue would be considered children by this policy. Furthermore, these policies are often retroactive; James Gunn was removed from Twitter over jokes involving touchy subject matter; to that end, anyone who wrote a gory comic book would, by this logic, be a felon for several counts of murder.
I started doing the work I did in the art field to provide a safe, sensible alternative to lurid pornography, as well as to provide people with something that was too often denied by the actual networks. Violent video games are cited numerous times as an outlet for aggression, and the work I provide is much the same way. It actually prevents further harm towards children, especially since it means any kid who accidentally stumbles across the work in question will see nothing worse than what the show would depict.
But with the internet becoming a police state, where thoughtcrimes can and have been punished with imprisonment, I worry that I may lose a platform I can rely on to publish less-damaging works of art. I've lost DeviantArt, FurAffinity, and Pixiv as places to post my work, and I worry Inkbunny will be next. If this does not stop, the number of people who do not have a safe place to see non-damaging works like mine will increase, and with it a rise in potential child rapists.
And it will be a monster the censorship bureau creates in an attempt to stop its creation.