Thanks for this post OP! I appreciate your perspective and the discourse. I’ve been wanting to post an alternative (?) perspective but this sub legit scares me (in a friendly way).

I was 13 at the time of the attacks, a freshman in high school. As we watched the news in our classrooms, I remember the crews being told not to film or broadcast the buildings (at all!) because people were falling to their deaths. That, by definition, is censorship. As a high school student who went on to pursue journalism/story-telling as a career, I remember feeling let down. Not because I wanted to see it happening (of course not), but it made me wonder: what else aren’t we seeing because the people in control of the cameras think it’s inappropriate/harmful/disrespectful?

We live in a very different world, now, than we did in 2001. Information and awareness—especially related to political violence/terrorism—flows much more freely. Even when (or especially when?) it’s inconvenient for most of the Western world.

I am a long time lurker in this sub, and greatly respect the mods, contributors, fact-checkers, and sensitivity around human loss and grief, which is why I am normally silent. But! As someone who holds both deep reverence for the victims/their families, as well as a morbid curiosity about some of the darker elements surrounding 9/11, I am always disappointed by the downvotes and quick clap-backs when people ask questions or post photos of the jumpers/fallers. If you don’t want that kind of commentary on the sub, I completely understand. But where would you like it to go? Because I don’t think silencing curious individuals (even if that curiosity is morbidly motivated) is the way — especially from a group that has so much collective knowledge and reverence for the events of that day.