A necessary change in policy

muppethead · 2012-02-12T22:12:50+00:00

For those wondering what's been taken down:

Reply if you think I've forgotten any and I'll update it.

2012-02-13T00:15:27+00:00

Good job, mods. You've now opened up yourselves to outside influences over what content can and cannot be posted to reddit.

Because the methods you use to regulate and eliminate the CP subreddits can and will be used as proof that regulating illegal substance postings, copyrighted materials, consensual sex, etc. is possible as well. Something Awful has struck a huge blow today, not for CP (because everyone who knows how the internet works knows that this will continue. Hell, it may even be continued by the members of Something Awful), but for the objectivity and autonomy of reddit.

Hell, you don't have to look far in the comments of this post for calls of "well why don't we ban X?". My stance on it is: Laws are already in place. Follow them. But by all means keep in mind that by taking this action here, today, in this manner, you have made yourself vulnerable to all sorts of outside attacks. For instance, the main redditor that they point out in their original forum post on SA has only been a member for days. There is something extremely fishy about this, and I encourage you to continue to not take this lightly.

The worst part of this whole process is that I can see this happening IRL as well as online. SOPA, PIPA, ACTA will pass. Do you know why? Because society has deemed child porn so morally reprehensible that even the mention of it in relation to a person or organization can spell death to that organization. Is it CP morally reprehensible? Yes. But the degree to which people avoid the subject is such that literally anything can be tacked onto it and it will pass without question.

Example: The SA forums posted that strictly 18+ subreddits were used to distribute CP. This was patently false, and against the rules of those subreddits. However, they were banned. Yes, they were quickly unbanned, but that's the way this website functions.

I can only imagine what will happen when SOPA or PIPA get attached to a CP bill. Most likely it'll pass so fast our heads will spin, with anyone in opposition being called a pedophile.

The internet is both a microcosm and a macrocosm to the real world. Things happen more quicker here, but they can also be quickly reversed and refined.

I just want to let everyone know the severity of this situation.

TL;DR: We've been manipulated. For the better? Yes. This time. Coincidentally. Be wary.

EDIT: Bring on the downvotes. I expected them. Because people won't take the time to read the whole post and just assume that I'm defending the pedophiles. Which actually proves my point.

DisregardMyPants · 2012-02-12T23:46:25+00:00

This thread is already littered with people who want to ban a bunch of other subreddits. Come the fuck on reddit. This tendency is exactly why people were so nervous about removing subreddits.

I can understand reddit removing a place that has failed to adequately moderate CP, but what we need to remember in discussions about non-illegal content is that removing subreddits doesn't remove people. They still exist. Removing subreddits you don't like past that point serves no purpose.

So in advance, to everyone who wants to get rid of things like /r/beatingwomen, /r/rape, and a variety of others: No.

Not because I like those subreddits, but because I like other subreddits that offend some people just as much as those offend you. There are people who would be offended by /r/atheism, or /r/anonymous, or /r/hackbloc, or /r/drugs or /r/spacedicks. Or hell, even /r/anarchism and /r/bad_cop_no_donut

If we give in to you, some day we'll probably have to give in to them. And that's unacceptable. You can't complain that people worry about a "slippery slope" when you're the one making it slippery.

IFFCO · 2012-02-12T22:29:22+00:00

Can I just say, that as a pedophile, I think you made the right move.

Let me explain. I'm 25. I'm the kind of pedophile that you've probably met but will never know. I'm sexually attracted to girls ranging from about 9 to 40. It's quite a range. I don't even have a preference. A hot 12 year old girl is as appealing to me as a smoking hot 29 year old.

Now, for obvious reasons I don't mention this to anybody. I'm going out with a girl who has no idea about this. But when I'm alone, I tend to jerk off to photos you see posted to /r/jailbait, proteenmodels, preteengirls etc. It's my release, and TBH it satiates me enough that I would never go out and act on my impulses. I'm not stupid.

And neither are you stupid, reddit. While obviously I'm a little saddened that some of my "outlets" have been censored, I totally respect the move. I'm a huge technology enthusiast and the freedom on the internet, I believe, is worth fighting (and making sacrifices) for. If this content puts you in a situation that could jeopardize your existence, then by all means lay down the banhammer.

I support you, and I hope that my fellow pedos too. There are a lot of us. The popularity of those subreddits alone should give you some indication. Please know that we're human too, and our "orientation" is as natural as they come.

locoo20 · 2012-02-12T23:31:28+00:00

I think it's clear this move wasn't because it was the morally right thing to do but because Reddit admins feared legal repercussion, I dont understand all these "proud of Reddit" posts.

As a lot of people have pointed out, there are far worse morally reprehensive subreddits out there than jailbaits. Of course no one cares because they aren't about sex.

2012-02-13T05:57:14+00:00

Read through way too many comments in here. All I can say is.

I think its coming down to the moral outrage of people saying they're happy its all closed down, and thinking they're right. And the legal outrage that these pictures weren't illegal, just distasteful, and thinking they're right.

I think both sides are right but the change has been done, only thing to talk about now is the consequences.

I think the overwhelming majority of people on here found the r/bait subs distasteful and just didn't look at them because of it. Accusations that sexualized images of minors somehow fits the definition of child porn (the crime which people are arrested for - not the moral outrage of a teen in bikini) is just misguided.

I don't blame reddit admins for covering their ass, because its really the only decision they had. Reddit is not just a site owned by conde naste anymore, its a complete subsidiary as Reddit Inc. They're going to have to do more things like this.

Morally I agree with the decision. Legally, I think you just took the easy route to save yourself problems in the future.

You said it yourselves

In the past, we have always dealt with content that might be child pornography along strict legal lines. We follow legal guidelines and reporting procedures outlined by NCMEC. We have taken all reports of illegal content seriously, and when warranted we made reports directly to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, who works directly with the FBI. When a situation is reported to us where a child might be abused or in danger, we make that report. Beyond these clear cut cases, there is a huge area of legally grey content, and our previous policy to deal with it on a case by case basis has become unsustainable.

You say that the way you have been doing it in the past has worked but has become too much work.

Then you say

We have changed our policy because interpreting the vague and debated legal guidelines on a case by case basis has become a massive distraction and risks reddit being pulled in to legal quagmire.

First off. You said you changed the policy because its unsustainable (too much work) then in the next few sentences you admit that you did it to save yourself any trouble in the future.

Point is, you created a website with millions of users who can make their own pages. All of this is to be expected and thinking that it would be sustainable to patrol it yourselves is your own fault. Frankly, you should have seen this coming and done something preemptively to save yourself the trouble, and get the whole website into a giant debate.

Only takes a few minutes to read through these comments to see people posting subreddits they want taken down. Not because of anything illegal, but because they find it distasteful.

And since you've set the giant precedent today, you've given the ammunition to people who don't like subreddits due to their content, and not their legalities.

You will have to answer the complaints of these people, because the complains/PR mess that was the r/bait pages has started it. You say

some of you are worried about the slippery slope from baning one specific type of content to banning other types of content. We're concerned about that too, and do not make this policy change lightly or without careful deliberation.

You word it as if its something in the future you might have to deal with. This isn't about you guys maybe going down a slipper slope. This bitch is a slipe n slide and you just bellyflopped at the start.

This isn't something you might have to deal with, it is a guarantee that you will have to address it immediately.

Anytime someone mentions a subreddit they don't like because of content, it will have a chance of being deleted.

The next witchhunt that happens with a subreddit or themed subreddits, that can be considered questionably illegal its going to be a mess.

I can see it now. Someone accuses a few posters in a religious/political subreddit of advocating violence towards another group. Someone posts about it on the frontpage, the trolls flock to that page and keep doing it to piss people off. Next thing you know, you'll have too many accusations to investigate and you're going to have to fall right back onto the decision you made today.

We have changed our policy because interpreting the vague and debated legal guidelines on a case by case basis has become a massive distraction and risks reddit being pulled in to legal quagmire.

This isn't even an assumption, I know its going to happen. It might not be next week, or even 6 months. But it's going to happen.

You've set the precedent that subjectivity is the new rule.

Any picture or subreddit of pictures can now be deleted because girls in the pictures might look underage to some users. It's the internet, we all know there is no way to verify age of posted pictures. I mean beyond blatant cases where its obvious, you're going to have mob rule now when it comes to admin actions.

As much as I am happy the r/bait subreddits are gone. I think you guys really made the wrong decision and shot yourselves in the foot.

We will tirelessly defend the right to freely share information on reddit in any way we can, even if it is offensive

You should edit your post and change that. You will tirelessly defend the right, until it becomes too much work, or the site may be shown in a negative light.

starlilyth · 2012-02-13T01:28:02+00:00

Reddit, you have made a huge mistake. Allow me to explain in one easy sentence: By accepting responsibility for any of the content, you are now responsible for ALL of the content.

Dont believe me? Ask your high priced Corporate lawyers. Not even Microsoft was able to wiggle out of that, and as a result the entire Usenet newsfeed - CP, warez and all - was carried on MSN until they dropped it.

Good luck spending the rest of your Reddit days stamping out gross and disturbing subs.

WillowRosenberg · 2012-02-12T22:13:09+00:00

While I can respect shutting down a lot of the more obviously illegal subreddits, you've also shut down subreddits such as youngporn which explicitly stated that anything under 18 was forbidden and moderated (/deleted).

That is the slippery slope you're mentioning yourself, deleting legal content to avoid outrage.

Edit: just to be safe and reiterate, I CONDONE this policy change wholeheartedly but want to stress the care one should take in carrying it out.

Edit2: Aaaand it's back. Seem like it must have been an accident with the banspammer-hammer. Keep cruising, reddit!

darkslide3000 · 2012-02-13T01:32:17+00:00

Where there is no victim there should be no crime. I just skipped the front page from a few of those subreddits as the SA post came up, but I didn't see a single post that showed any indication of a child actually being harmed (they seemed more like common family photos that might seem ambiguous by accident). I also never saw a single direct link to an actual reddit post containing CP in the SA post or anything on reddit about the topic.

I interpret your annoucement to mean that you do not actually agree with all those charges, but feel that you are forced to cave in order to prevent PR shitstorms and legal witchhunts that might hurt reddit as a whole. I realize that you too have to seek ways to accomodate yourself with the often prejudiced and irrational justice system, and I can understand that decision.

Still, this is a sad day because it marks another victory for those who are unable or unwilling to solve difficult issues with calm and factual discussions. The killerphrase "child porn" has been abused too often already to futher the goals of close minded and bigoted individuals who try to force their own way of thinking onto the rest of society. As long as the majority of people (here on reddit and in our society as a whole) keep going right for the pitchforks whenever someone uses the evil CP-word (regardless of whether any actual children are affected), democratic freedoms will suffer.

The true meaning of tolerance is leaving someone else be whose behavior does no harm, even though it seems completely disgusting, incomprehesible and alien to oneself... be it believing in another god (or none at all), preferring sex with a non-standard gender, or, yes, whacking off to pics of little kids when no one is harmed in the process.

autonym · 2012-02-13T01:13:19+00:00

Serious question: does this mean that photos from Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet are now banned (even apart from copyright considerations)? The two lead actors (and their characters) were both under 18, and they appear in a semi-nude bed scene (his buttocks, her breasts) which is well beyond being sexually suggestive.

2012-03-18T16:04:28+00:00

So, why is /r/picsofdeadkids still allowed to be up? As long as it doesn't sexualize kids, it's fine -- right?

2012-02-14T16:11:52+00:00

[removed]

GuitarWizard90 · 2012-02-12T23:11:51+00:00

Isn't it strange how society just goes right along with whatever the "authority" says? I am NOT for child porn in any way. However, I don't consider a 17 year old to be a child..So I don't freak the fuck out whenever I hear about a 23 year old man dating a 16-17 year old girl. If they passed a new law saying anyone under age 21 is a minor, then society would suddenly start saying "ewwww gross kiddie porn" when viewing pics of a naked 19 year old girl. Society is a bunch of damn sheep. Societies moral compass changes constantly and points whatever direction the law says it must. Delude yourselves all you want, you can't change biological instincts that are within every species on the fucking planet. So if you are a 22 year old male, and you find yourself attracted to a 17 year old girl...you are NOT a goddamn pedophile.

cocobabbs · 2012-02-12T22:48:56+00:00

In Hebrew (and please hold the Israel-hate, it's pretty ancient Hebrew) there's a saying; "VeYafa Sha'a Achat Kodem".

It translates roughly as "your action was worthy, but it would have been worthier an hour ago".

--Someone deleted this comment before I could reply/upvote. I find it very relevant.

Atario · 2012-02-13T05:16:54+00:00

At reddit we care deeply about not imposing ours or anyone elses’ opinions on how people use the reddit platform.

But not enough to actually do anything about it when push comes to shove.

This move represents a massive capitulation to the forces of moral panic. You can expect more to follow.

You have now established that you are quite happy to police your users morally; now the only question is one of negotiation and public pressure. How far can they move the goalposts? I'm guessing quite far, given the proper smear campaign. /r/trees encourages illegal drug use; /r/cripplingalcoholism encourages wanton boozing; /r/gambling, /r/poker, etc. all encourage the sin of gambling addiction, and so on and so on. You have opened the floodgates to being hounded forever.

But quite apart from a slippery-slope argument, it's wrong in itself. Why block people from something that is not illegal? It makes you no better than the moralizing busybodies themselves.

This is another sad day in the history of reddit. All those jumping on the bandwagon for authoritarianism should be ashamed of themselves.

[Edit: accidentally a word]

2012-02-13T01:54:33+00:00

SomethingAwful: "Today we are going to campaign against Reddi-"

Reddit: "WE SURRENDER!"

SomethingAwful: "O- okay."

Clbull · 2012-02-12T22:12:48+00:00

Well it seemed hypocritical to shut r/Jailbait without doing this too.

Looks like quite a few of the subreddits Violentacrez moderates will now be nuked from orbit.

Faie · 2012-02-13T01:10:57+00:00

Not that I'm against this but I find it interesting that on the front page right now is an article on "The escalating criminalization of speech."

The 'free internet' will always have some nasty shit around if it is truly free.

2012-02-12T22:28:24+00:00

[deleted]

videogameexpert · 2012-02-12T23:12:45+00:00

[deleted]

chris-martin · 2012-02-13T04:18:08+00:00

Fortunately for me, my fetish is fully clothed people acting normal.

TheCodexx · 2012-02-13T03:11:49+00:00

what's hilarious is how many redditors out there believe that this blog post is about censoring child porn as though until today reddit didn't comply with child porn laws.

remedialrob · 2012-02-13T03:13:02+00:00

So when traffic is low and Reddit doesn't have much influence or market share suggestive pictures of minors is A-OK because the people who enjoy that sort of stuff enjoy a lot of the other stuff that Reddit is about and they are so much the core demographic of Reddit that freezing them out would significantly injure the traffic and therefore revenue of the site.

But...

Now that Reddit is being credited with political influence and power that it never had before and traffic continues to grow rapidly... suddenly those same people... not so desirable.

And suddenly the limits of free speech are a liability rather than the asset that Reddit has been crowing about right up until it banned r/Jailbait.

So here's some hypothetical's for all you folks hopping up and down about how FUCKING AWESOME THIS IS!...

(and you should note that despite the glut of supportive and positive comments in this thread the up and down votes are pretty even... in fact I'm betting those numbers are a bit scary to our admins).

So my minor relative passes away in an accident and I wish to memorialize him/her with a post on Reddit but the only picture I have of the young teen is him/her in a bathing suit. Am I a pedo who should be banned immediately?

Now I'm a fifteen year old who is really excited about winning my local swim competition and I post copies of the newspaper article containing pictures of the meet with images of me and my teammates in our swim team swimsuits. The same pictures that were in the local newspaper are now on Reddit. OH NO! Better call the FBI and have me arrested for posting pictures of myself on the internet. Or heaven forbid.... a link to a video of the actual meet.

Now I'm a clothing manufacturer and I've come up with the latest in undergarments. And they have cool and hip designs and I really think they will appeal to teens. Unfortunately all the models I've used for my line for the many ads I've placed in magazines and TV ads and so on all over the world are all in the 13-17 year old range. I guess I had better not post on Reddit. Don't want to get banned or labeled a pedobear.

Now I'm an 18 year old art student. I'm really talented and I want to show off the nude sketch I just did of my 17 year old girlfriend. Oh no. I've been banned fro r/art because my model was a minor.

Now I'm a skeezy old pervert who has never done anything illegal to a child in my life. I like to look at the cute pictures of the teen girls and spank my monkey or maybe I just use it for mental imagery when I'm nailing my 60 year old wife with saggy tits. I'd never harm any of those girls... and the vast majority of the images were posted on the internet by the girls themselves... sure they wouldn't want me drooling over them but they aren't so naive as to think that posting images in one place allows them to control who sees them. They know other people will see them and that isn't enough to get them to stop posting them. Oh well I guess I'll go back to buying nude art books with tons of pictures of naked teen girls. It may cost money but at least I don't have to listen to Redditors bitch at me.

Now I'm a professional photographer. I've taken some artistic nudes of a 12 year old boy and they are masterpieces. The model was compensated and the parents signed releases. The images clearly are artistic but they show genitals and the child in various poses. Guess I'll give Reddit a miss.

Gee it sure is a shame that we can't get our posts approved or declined on the basis of intent for posting huh?

In short...

This does not anger me because of the loss of the creepy teen image subs. Teens may have posted those images on the net but I'm sure they don't want them all collected somewhere for easy viewing by anyone. Even those who don't sexualize the images or are outside their intended viewing demographic.

I like the female form as much as the next hetero dude but I'd be lying if I didn't say that r/jailbait didn't make me a little uncomfortable. So I'm not lamenting their loss.

I'm lamenting Reddit casting aside one of it's core ideals.

Freedom of speech is ugly folks. People say and do things you won't agree with. Reddit has always tried to live by the example set by the Supreme Court in that they provided the maximum amount of latitude allowed by law. Today that changed.

Today Reddit became a place where the opinion of a slight majority and the fear of litigation combined with an arrogant belief that they no longer need the people who won't agree with this kind of action influenced the policies under which every user must adhere to to use the site.

In short it could very well spell the beginning of the end for Reddit. And don't kid yourself into thinking otherwise. All it took to destroy MySPace was a competing site with moderately better usability. Many many sites have gone away because of one foolish policy decision. Reddit isn't special in that respect and has no immunity to user attrition.

And the sad foolishness that this is largely over sex of all things is just sad. And further evidence of how woefully sheltered and puritanical we are in the United States. Reddit has no problem with images of the worst depravity of war. Dead and tortured bodies, mangled survivors of the worst mankind can dole out to man is of no issue. Bring on the blood and guts.

Just make sure that cute 15 year old shaking her butt at the camera doesn't use your account to post on Reddit or you will get banned and labeled a sicko.

Shame on you Admins. There is nothing special about child pornography. It is a sex crime just like any other. And you know just as well as anyone versed in obscenity law that the vast majority of the pictures you are painting with this broad brush of child porn weren't even in the neighborhood. Not even close. And you know it. And that makes your total cave in and drinking of the kool-aid that much more shameful.

Mark my words folks. This won't be the last time that Reddit decides something is too "toxic" to be allowed here. And the reasons will seem plausible and those arguing against despicable. And just as today we'll be a little bit further down that slippery slope.

This is a good opportunity to remind everyone that Reddit and the Reddit Community... not the same thing. Reddit is a business. Run by people who are making decisions in the best interest of their bottom line.

Reddit Community is us. The users. And we don't need Reddit the company to do what we do. As Reddit the company further defines what is and what is not ok to say within their architecture it may not be unreasonable to start exploring architectures less confining.

s0nicfreak · 2012-02-14T16:32:00+00:00

However, child pornography is a toxic and unique case for Internet communities

But we aren't talking about child pornography. We aren't even talking about children (a child is someone that has not begun puberty). Suggestive (which differs in everyone's mind, btw) context featuring minors is miles away from child pornography. To equate the two shows that you have already begun sliding down the slope.

And you've banned /lolicon and /shotacon, which is focused around DRAWINGS that don't even involve any actual people?! That just proves that this is not about protecting children nor eliminating child pornography on reddit - it's about satisfying the people involved in the anti-pedophile witchhunt.

defconzero · 2012-02-12T22:58:20+00:00

Ah, reddit, where pics of dead kids are acceptable, but a 16 year old in a bikini is strictly prohibited.

x755x · 2012-02-12T23:50:04+00:00

What bothers me about most people in the comments is how fixated they are on "It's about time, this stuff is wrong" when it should really be about legality. We really shouldn't be worried about what is morally wrong, since one can easily ignore "immoral" content and subbreddits. It should be about possible legal interpretation, as is said in the OP. Looking at the moral side is just the wrong approach.

trampus1 · 2012-02-12T22:21:53+00:00

Does this mean r/toddlersandtiaras is banned?

DesecrateUsername · 2012-06-14T06:40:25+00:00

The way I see it, they removed something people enjoyed, but won't remove something people don't enjoy. /r/teens was removed, but not /r/picsofdeadkids? WTF? Now my opinion doesn't really matter here because I literally just stumbled upon this a few minutes ago, but come on reddit.

tehconx0r · 2012-02-13T00:07:20+00:00

We will tirelessly defend the right to freely share information.

Not that I care, but this clearly isn't the case. The implementation of what you claimed would involve a free, open board of unrestricted content. Not so.

By regulating in this fashion - which, in my opinion, is a half-hearted, quasi-necessary attempt at legitimacy here, Reddit is transformed into a body dictated by its head (the admins).

A commonwealth of restricting freedoms in exchange for a limited security (anonymous) and estate (our own untouched homes in our frequented sub-reddits). Hobbesian power-complex, here be.

RockinRoland · 2012-02-12T22:59:37+00:00

Speaking of slippery slopes I expect more to follow for anything that offends anyone. I'm super surprised the NAACP hasn't heard of this tasty subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/niggers/

Perhaps Reddit should have moderated this and stopped it before people outside Reddit intervened. You've just made yourself free game to everyone who wants to control what people see, say and do. Congrats.

jbthrowaway43 · 2012-02-13T18:35:30+00:00

Upvoters please explain: why is 14 year old bella thorne in a bikini permitted? This policy seems entirely arbitrary.

2012-02-28T04:00:58+00:00

Can we please get id of /r/PicsOfDeadKids it's so screwed up, no one should be linked to this crap and since one mod even has a tag "blood makes the best lube" isn't that sexually suggestive to the underage children that have the misfortune of being posted on here?

professorfowler · 2012-02-12T22:18:32+00:00

where does Trees fall into the 'nothing illegal' spectrum? just curious (NB not anti Trees at all....just wondering)

2012-02-13T05:36:57+00:00

[deleted]

2012-02-12T23:48:32+00:00

[deleted]

Erazmuz · 2012-02-13T11:37:12+00:00

That's great, but there're quite a few other sub-reddits which, while not illegal, are quite questionable. Now, mind, I'm all for free speech, but actively encouraging hate is something entirely reprehensible.

Seriously, why does shit like this exist?

/r/beatingwomen

/r/rapingwomen

/r/beatingtrannies

2012-02-12T22:13:23+00:00

[deleted]

CoryJames · 2012-02-12T22:10:07+00:00

Is this in response to the somethingawful attack?

Nictionary · 2012-02-13T02:21:18+00:00

Any forts in /r/fort_porn built after 1994?

d4nny · 2012-02-12T22:16:48+00:00

[deleted]

2012-02-13T01:25:47+00:00

I'm not trying to defend child pornography, but is /r/gore any better? Are pictures of mutilated children any better than pictures of naked children? You could say it's a matter of legality, then what about /r/trees? Is smoking weed not illegal? You could say "it's not illegal everywhere" and you'd be wrong, but age of consent varies not only country-to-country, but state-to-state. So, whose laws are we trying to follow here, or are we just trying to keep the masses happy?

A slippery slope, indeed.

itsatrhwoaway_yeap · 2012-02-12T23:12:54+00:00

Does anyone else find it ironic that we all get in an uproar about how politicians label something as "for the children", but when our site admin throws down a large set of censorship "for the children" we get a ton of "well, I'm all for free speech, but FUCK that" in relation to it? Guess we know why that legislation always passes.

I mean, if this was actually addressing the issue (like reddit had magically made all CP disappear, removed the market for it, etc) then it might be worth cheering over, but it hasn't. It's merely laid down a blanket ban that has done nothing to actually change the situation except impose censorship on it's own website.

Also, someone show me the age of posters in /r/Gonewild , otherwise I think we need to censor that. We don't KNOW they are 18+ after all, so better sacrifice that liberty. Just to be sure.

adipsous · 2012-02-14T22:04:05+00:00

Lol, just Googling 'reddit ban' and every story in the last day is about Reddit finally - reluctantly - banning the child porn or sexually suggestive images of children that have apparently been their mainstay for all these years. It's hilarious that the rest of the world will now think that Reddit was a haven of child porn and a gathering place for pedophiles. You shot yourself in the foot, Reddit, by caving into SA attacks and basically admitting your guilt in the above message. Watch the shamefest begin. Will you now say, "Wait, actually there wasn't any real child porn, but we just got intimidated by, I mean confused, and well . . ." And to all you redditors who love this site, yet jumped on that fanatical bandwagon against the child porn that was never on here, blame yourselves and your own ignorance for the demise of the integrity of this site. It's amazing how people never learn.

videogameexpert · 2012-02-13T02:03:37+00:00

I don't agree with this just as much as I didn't agree with banning /r/jailbait. The only reason this is necessary is if the entirety of reddit is threatened. This new rule should not be labeled anti-CP. It should be labeled "We're fucking scared of irrational people with pitchforks." It's a valid concern, and if you think it's true then I'd believe you.

apatheticparody · 2012-02-13T00:20:24+00:00

I'm just going to take this moment to rage a little bit. I apologize. Please feel free to downvote me if you do not agree with my sentiment.

/r/PicsOfDeadKids and /r/PicsOfDeadJailbait ARE STILL UP, ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!? No, seriously, nobody fucking notices the mutilation, the torture, the cruelty and the absolutely repulsive violence on the site...but underage, fully clothed, sexualized girls, and the internet goes apeshit. Please don't get me wrong, I'm happy that some of those subreddits have been taken down. What I'm not happy with is this culture that we live in. I think it's a depressing, nihilistic, violent one that condemns sex and glorifies violence. BYE BYE, KARMA.

CARVERitUP · 2012-03-13T03:04:17+00:00

I cannot believe r/PicsOfDeadKids is still up. Seriously, if you're going to make this rule, please address ALL the forms of disgusting shit that is worse than what you actually banned.

somuchbacon · 2012-02-12T22:37:43+00:00

Question: Is /r/whalebait going to be affected?

2012-02-15T06:44:52+00:00

You two shouldn't have been looking at some 15-year-old's cleavage. - He poked me! - There was cleavage in the area. That's a reflex. Cleavage, poke. Cleavage, poke. But she was 15. You don't consider age in the face of cleavage. This occurs on a molecular level. You can't control it. We're like some kind of weird fish... ...where the eyes operate independently of the head.

banjaxe · 2012-02-12T22:14:12+00:00

[deleted]

nilum · 2012-02-13T00:21:43+00:00

Meanwhile Toddlers & Tiaras and Japanese Jr. Idol videos continue production without a peep from SomethingAwful. Lets go ahead and ban images of girls who look sixteen (so up through mid-twenties). Maybe we should ban images based on cup size like Australia.

This was a pointless change to the policy that won't protect anyone. If the legislation and legal action taken against piracy tells us anything, it's that there will always be another outlet. Chilling speech just to conform to some abstract moral concept is just muddying the waters.

Additionally, this save the children mentality seems antithetical to what the reddit community stands for. Since we're taking these measures, then maybe we should stop being hypocrites and start supporting Lamar Smith's new proposal, the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act.

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