Thank you for posting your letter and sending such a lucid and well thought out set of questions and concerns. In some ways it has served as a rallying call and shared the information we needed.
I would like to point out that WFI was quoted in a comments post on page 4 or 5 specifically thanking two people one of which is the VP for marketing for LJ and their parent company. As concerned members of the LJ community I think we need to express to him and others our concerns about letting one group of individuals dictate how LJ applies their policy. That while we understand LJ's concern regarding liability shouldn't they instead of this knee-jerk response of deleting journals have taking more action like sending out a message notifying members with hot button words to clarify their interest or risk deletion. This act of communication would have allowed folks like the rape survivor who commented earlier a chance to act. Liability is a valid concern, however, there is a big difference between placing the word under the interests on your profile and acting on it. As a community we need to let LJ and their advertisers know that we are displeased with how they are responding to this situation.
The comments I read reminded me of a quote from the movie American President...
"America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".
As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse I know with absolute certainty that people with those interests will find each other and its not going to be via the interests listed on LJ or other such blogs. If catching them was that easy then law enforcement groups and organizations like the Center for Exploited Children wouldn't have to work so hard to catch them and keep children safe. All WFI has done is make a difficult task all the more impossible and while I believe WFI has the right to advocate their point of view, I am concerned that they are just harming innocent bystanders.
no subject
I would like to point out that WFI was quoted in a comments post on page 4 or 5 specifically thanking two people one of which is the VP for marketing for LJ and their parent company. As concerned members of the LJ community I think we need to express to him and others our concerns about letting one group of individuals dictate how LJ applies their policy. That while we understand LJ's concern regarding liability shouldn't they instead of this knee-jerk response of deleting journals have taking more action like sending out a message notifying members with hot button words to clarify their interest or risk deletion. This act of communication would have allowed folks like the rape survivor who commented earlier a chance to act. Liability is a valid concern, however, there is a big difference between placing the word under the interests on your profile and acting on it. As a community we need to let LJ and their advertisers know that we are displeased with how they are responding to this situation.
The comments I read reminded me of a quote from the movie American President...
"America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free".
As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse I know with absolute certainty that people with those interests will find each other and its not going to be via the interests listed on LJ or other such blogs. If catching them was that easy then law enforcement groups and organizations like the Center for Exploited Children wouldn't have to work so hard to catch them and keep children safe. All WFI has done is make a difficult task all the more impossible and while I believe WFI has the right to advocate their point of view, I am concerned that they are just harming innocent bystanders.