Derpibooru and Censorship · 8:17am Aug 3rd, 2020
I didn't really realize the scale of the whole censorship issue on Derpibooru that spread to here as well. I suppose I have a bad habit of staying out of things like that until they personally affect me because I avoid drama where possible.
I noticed while looking through Derpibooru today one artist I follow has removed all their art work from the site as an Anti-Nazi protest. Scared they had actually deleted everything and left the fandom I looked around a little and saw the forum post they made stating their intention to leave the site. Yes I knew there was something going on but I had no idea how severe. It's selfish of me to ignore an issue like that but I just wanted to look at pony art, I didn't want to deal with politics or racism or anything like that. Looking at just a few posts on the Derpibooru forums leaves me feeling pretty negative about the future, I don't see a possible solution that pleases both the anti-censorship and anti-hate crowds. Make no mistake, racism, sexism, Nazism, anti-LGBTQ, all that stuff is incredibly wrong, but at the same time who decides what stuff is censored, if at all? I loved being able to just find any pony art on Derpibooru without having to scour multiple sites, but it seems that time might be coming to a close.
I just wanted ponies to be ponies, an escape from the divisive political environment and racial tensions. Now those issues have come to the pony platforms and fractured a fandom about friendship and tolerance. I understand how serious these situations are, but I just wish ponies weren't involved.
Unfortunately the real world isn't nearly as friendly and loving as the pony world I try to mentally escape to.
Mods and site admins. They decide what is appropriate for the site they are tending. There is usually some level of user feedback involved. And advertisers, payment processors. Everyone with a stake. They collectively decide. If a stakeholder doesn't like the decisions made by the site admins and moderators, they can walk.
I think patreon pulled support for derpi. Patreon has been cleaning up their image as they've grown. A lot of things that got a pass when they were starting no longer do. Furry porn artists and Nazis have had to look for other places. Not sure what else.
Similarly, a lot of artists took notice of the Nazi shit on derpi and decided that either it goes or they do. Given recent events, people generally seem less willing to put up with racism and bigotry. Also the doxing and death threats. Derpi had a loud, public conversation about what types of things they should allow. They settled on a stance that probably pleases nobody. Fimfiction too.
I thought it'd be easy to just leave the real world hatred at the door when you step into the world of magical cartoon horses.