Is LJ about to censor religious and political discussion?

[mijan]

Yes, the move to Russia is raising eyebrows.  Yes, LJ has fucked up repeatedly.  THIS, however, is probably the most disturbing thing I've seen from LJ yet:

The LiveJournal Advisory Board will publish and update on a regular basis a clear a set of aims and values. This will address such vital community issues as privacy, security, taste and decency. It will also provide a forum to consider any relevant legal, political or religious concerns.


It doesn't take much to read between the lines there.  This is really worrisome.

Link the article on your LJ's.  Pass it on.  We need to get the LJ drones to respond in detail.  This is insanity.

Comments

[tonights.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to get seriously unnerved about this.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I was unnerved before. Now, I'm completely on-edge. This entire thing is just more and more bullshit.

[annulvapore.livejournal.com]

LOLOLOLOLOL

GG LIVEJOURNAL

I'D COMMENT FURTHER BUT I'M LATE FOR THE LIVEJOURNAL-SPONSORED TWO MINUTES HATE.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

What can really be said? It's all censorship and bullshit, and I can't wait to see what these LJ people can give as an excuse, if any.

[savvyjd.livejournal.com]

so aggrivating. their ebay adverts were bad enough.

advisory board = censorship = NOTFUCKINGCOOL!

thanks for posting...i have put it up in a few communities

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for passing it on!

Granted, we can't demand to have freedom from censorship on a privately-owned website... but we sure as hell can leave and take their customer-base with us.

It's just all completely nuts. Livejournal used to be BASED on free speech.

[sulky-rhino.livejournal.com]

Values, taste, decency, religious concerns - Eek! O_O

[mijan.livejournal.com]

We've already argued with them over the concepts of "taste and decency", which seem to be defined very differently by LJ than the rest of us.

But... "religious concerns"??? WTF???

[sulky-rhino.livejournal.com]

I'd understand if "religious concerns" meant they wouldn't tolerate people bashing other people's beliefs, but we all know that's not what they mean by that. :O

[tealin.livejournal.com]

You missed that wonderful line about informed thought leaders at the beginning of their post. The good news just keeps rolling in, eh? Sigh.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Thought leaders --> thought police next?

[stitchesandlace.livejournal.com]

There are no words.

I'm actually seething. Who the hell do these people think they are? Sounds a heck of a lot like Big Brother and the Thought Police if you ask me.

What irks me too is that they're completely ignoring user's concerns. They keep saying that they want everyone to be happy and that they want feedback, but when we wildly flail in protest, it goes unnoticed. Enough is enough!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you made that second point. It's really the most insane part of this whole mess. You're right - they KEEP SAYING that they want to make their users happy, but when we protest, they don't listen. I mean, seriously, can't they stop this double-talk and bullshit?

[stitchesandlace.livejournal.com]

Well it's become clear that the user's interests don't actually matter anymore.

This, however, is just downright scary:

Check out what some Russian users are saying about the purchase of LJ by SUP. It doesn't really seem like SUP bought LJ as an investment, hmm? There are ulterior motives here.

Feel free to link this on your LJ - you have a much larger reader base than I do, and this needs to get out.

Thought you might be interested...

[stitchesandlace.livejournal.com]

More LJ fail: certain search terms have been blocked (some since Strikethrough) - with good intent I'm sure - but the result is somewhat hilarious.

This post on ljspeaks describes what's happened, and explains the methodology behind it. Basically, words with 'inappropriate' roots are blocked (although they've failed to include a lot). So since the root 'spic' is blocked, now you can't find fellow Spice Girls fans. Or spicy foods. Or suspicious persons. Same goes for Rollercoaster Tycoon, Family Morals, or info about the town of Essex, Virgina. (spot the roots! hahah)

.... but you can still search for beastiality, mutilation, self-injury, suicide, etc. o_0

The list goes on and on.... check out the post, and feel free to pimp. (PS, ljspeaks is awesome for updates.)