Censorship at FanFiction.Net

[rusty_armour]

I'm sure some of you know about this already, but I only learned last night thanks to a post from keiramarcos. Apparently, some cyber book burner named Lord Kelvin has created a program called RedBootton that is systematically culling through stories at FanFiction.Net, one fandom at a time, to mark any stories that the Literate Union feel are unsuitable. According to Lord Kelvin, RedBootton is only meant to flag stories that have been misrated or are breaking ff.net rules in terms of content. However, I've been reading some rather alarming facts about other search criteria that RedBootton uses and the writers that have suffered for it. As Civil initiative has pointed out, RedBootton actually violates the ff.net Terms of Service!

Personally, I have a problem with anyone who sets it upon himself to determine which stories make suitable or unsuitable reading material, especially if the person in question is backed by an organization such as the Literate Union. If RedBootton was simply flagging stories that were violating ff.net rules, I might understand, but this seems more like Lord Kelvin's personal crusade.

As I refuse to be a part of any website that condones censorship, I'll be removing the stories I've posted on ff.net, along with any links I have to the website. Check out the links below if you'd like to learn more about this issue:

Kelvinia: RedBootton

Civil Initiative: The RedBootton Issue and what it means for FFNet

Comments

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

That was pretty much my response when I first heard about Lord Kelvin and RedBootton. My basic rule of thumb is that if you don't like something (such as a particular brand of fic) then you should just ignore it. Hell, if I don't like a particular story, I usually just stop reading it. I won't even offer any kind of criticism, unless a writer specifically asks for my opinion. Even then, I try to make it constructive criticism.

I don't know why people like Lord Kelvin feel they have the right to decide what should or shouldn't be read. Well, actually, in his case, he probably gets off on the power of his position and his attempts to exert control.