Freedom of Speech and Interaction

I don't usually do blog posts, aside from the occasional announcement or random thing, but this has been on my mind for a while.

Freedom of Speech, while it has legal meaning and protections it also has a social meaning too. The ability to say what you want and, for the most part, not be censored or arrested for it. That rolls over into writing where you're free to write just about anything you like and post it in an appropriate place. That is what has led to foalcon stories being alowed to be posted on here, a genre of stories still being posted today.

As with all things, the general rule of thumb has been, "if you don't liek it, don't read it" and the sometimes forgotten "don't tell others what they can and cannot write." As with all things, there are ways to avoid what you don't like; not entering groups focusing on it, using search terms like -foalcon, or simply scrolling past it quickly.

All of that brings me to the main point, interaction. Much, if not the whole point, of this site is for us to be able to share stories, interact with others and have fun. For the most part, on a personal level, you absolutely should be able to choose who you do and do not interact with.

Don't like what a person writes? That's fine, you don't have to read their stories or leave a comment on their blog, or ever reply to a thread in a group you share.

However when you become an moderator of a group, run a contest, or make your own event, that right changes. No longer can you just dismiss people because their stories don't match your tastes, or your beliefs, instead you have to evaluate them on the rules of the site, and the group. At the same time setting rules that exclude one specific group because of the content they post is as much discrimination as exclusing someone because of the color of their skin or the genitals in their pants.

I'm not going to lie, I hate EQG stories and art. I dispise Flash Sentry. But if I ran a group that was not specifically dedicated to feral focused stories or a single character, I would not deny people the ability to add their stories to the group or make threads to discuss them. Same goes for contests and events that don't have a super specific theme (i.e. anthro Cadance, or feral Luna).

At the end of the day, this site is about being able to express yourself through writing and sharing that writing through groups, events, contests, following specific authors, or even just browsing through the most recent or popular stories all without being discriminated against or excluded from things for what we read or write.

Comments

[Oops door]

I couldn’t agree more.