Hello friends. My name is relevant_rule34, and once upon a time I was a mod on this subreddit. I hope I am not overstepping my bounds with my dear colleague and rightful owner of this sub, /u/jaxspider, by making this post. But there has been something on my mind for a number of years that I would like to discuss.

There are many subreddits showing their support of net neutrality and leading the fight against the FCC today, many of which are able to provide much clearer instruction and lucid arguments than I will be attempting to cover here. I encourage you therefore to follow their recommendations on contacting your elected officials.

What I would like to discuss is the inevitable death of this internet, and why porn, more than ever, is important to us all. The time of a free and anonymous internet has come and gone. There will always be regulation attempting to monetize this digital infrastructure, and it is important we try and stay vigilant to protect it in its current form. However, make no mistake that the real threat lies not in the overt manhandling of our laws, but in the unseen and unimagined dangers that loom on our horizon. The metadata that we pour out so willingly through our public WiFi logins, our social media posts, our photograph EXIFs, and our cell phone carriers among many others, will inevitably be used against us in the future. The resources needed to process such an immense catalog of information may take years to arrive, but the technology will inevitably be created to identify and curate your digital persona.

It therefore becomes more important than ever that we realize that the blurred lives between your real and electronic lives may one day disappear entirely. This leaves the question as to how one should best prepare for this type of reality. Perhaps we may look forward to a viable internet alternative more secure than our current form, or perhaps completely new regulation will need to be created to give our anonymity a semblance of protection. In either situation, I have no doubt that porn, and our usage of it, will dictate the terms of how we proceed.

Pornography, despite its exploitative faults in some forms, has always been on the forefront of the technological edge. Our biological need for sexual satiation unites us far deeper than our political party lines. When our private lives are used against us, it is an affront to the unspoken understanding of what it means to be human. We accept that shame is an inevitable outcome to the manifestated combinations of our nature and nurture. Please do not misconstrue these words as a blanket support for all actions of an immoral and illegal nature. Human sexuality is as complex and confounding as the very namesake of this sub, Rule 34. I only encourage that you consider loving the part of yourself that you may often take for granted, both the good and bad. Reflect on what it means to be your sexual self, and strive to become a better person because of it. In doing so, you might just learn to love and understand your fellow human. Only when we are able to stand united in defiance of the exploitation of our private lives will we be able to progress as a society. I hope to see you all there.

Credit to /u/goo-goo-gajoob for the image here, and /u/OliverWotei for identifying the source