I hate to dig up an old thread, but I just had to mention this because its so important for practical real life situations:
The majority of content distribution platforms, for example Patreon, Subscribestar, Pixiv and related entities, etc. make moderation policies that are constrained by their PAYMENT PROCESSORS, and less so explicitly about legal questions.
put differently:
The actual legallity of content, whether black and white legal distinctions exist or more of a grey area, is a “ceiling” to the strength of moderation.
in practice most platform moderate MORE strongly (banning content that is ostensibly legal), due to the “pressure” from their payment processors
And to be even more clear: “Payment processers” really means “the C-suite of the company” which really means that these moderation policies are being dictated by a tiny number of people, likely numbering fewer than 10 (or of a similar order of magnitude), and people who almost certainly have filtered and self selected into particular ideological groups
the OnlyFans debacle was the first time that “mainstream erotica” had been affected by this broader nonsense, but its plagued the 3d and 2g erotica communities for years.
I remember when Patreon performed that 1st big “purge” of accounts due to their switching up their corporate HQ (For a while I worked on the same block as Patreon, when they were still operating out of the 1st floor commercial space of a mixed commercial/residential building on 9th street in San Francisco and regularly spoke with the employees)
I also wanted to point out that it is by no means “safe” to consider Obscenity an issue relegated to low priority, low risk, or “unlikely to change” category of laws that belong to a type of sensibility and POV that most Americans no longer possess. This is flat out false.
This is, ultimately, a political topic.
If you don’t believe me, remember that conservatives spent 60 years trying to overturn Roe V Wade. had they not succeeded they would spend another 60 years.
In more specific terms:
In rare instances where conservatives have stated what type of legislation they want to pass if they regain control of government in the US (eg rather than politicking purely on being against Democrats), they have fallen back on many of the “old chestnuts” of the Bush Administration, including media/content obscenity legislation.
It may sound hypocritical, but conservatives have been quick to point out that “they only mean” they dont like censorship in terms of WORDS. “certain words” obviously.
Plenty of conservatives still get on stage and talk about sexuality in film and TV and violent video games.
Remember that at least 30% of the country, or if you generously concede for the sake of argument as much as 50%, of the people in the US are hostile to “objectionable” erotica of all types
this is especially important when you consider the politics:
In any Red state, and even within red communities of blue states, District Attorneys or Attorney Generals (both of which are partisan elected offices that run under D or R parties), you can be arrested or at least sued EVEN IF THE CONTENT WAS EXPLICITLY LEGAL… Again, SEE: abortion.
Thus: being in red state increases the risk for any person in possession of this type of content drastically.
Also note: Despite the extremely obvious association that the notoriously grey obscenity regulations have to the ACLU, they did not touch Handley or Williams with a 10 foot pole
the reason is simple: this is a politically radioactive topic that liberals or liberal leaning organizations do not want to have associated with them.
I mention this due to the necessity of vast quantities of money required to effective litigate
IIRC, either Williams or Handley had some support from a Comic Book industry trade group or something similar.
Who knows if this topic would even be discussed had the ACLU’s army of lawyers helped in either case.
