Want to start a controversial “adult” political/religious blog. OK?
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I want to start a WordPress blog that would be fairly inflammatory and controversial in various ways. However, I’m not sure it would be allowed. I’ve searched the FAQs, and the support forum archives, but couldn’t find a definitive answer. So I’ll ask it here: would the following blog be banned from WordPress?
This blog will feature primarily “amateur” adult images, ranging from real women (not models) posing topless, or exposing themselves, or total nudity — and sometimes just fully clothed standing on the street or at a party and smiling. These will be of the strictly non-professional variety — just average people who take racy pictures of themselves to show off, or photos taken by boyfriends or husbands and posted online for the thrill of it. I’m sure you’ve all seen such photos — either on “girls gone wild”-type sites, or on singles/dating sites, or whatever.
But that’s just the beginning. Because these won’t be just any ol’ amateur nudie pictures — these will come exclusively from Middle Eastern countries! The more repressive the regime, the better. (And yes, there are plenty of such photos to be found online if you know Arabic or Farsi and know where to look — underground sites from Saudi Arabia and Iran and so on.)
And accompanying these photos will be blog posts of a fairly caustic political and religious nature — the theme of the blog being the use of sexual freedom to break down these theocratic repressive societies and regimes. Whether this would count as “left-wing” or “right-wing” within our Western political context is hard to say — perhaps a little of both. Think of it as the motto “Make love, not war” taken to extremes.
So, you could consider this either an anti-totalitarian/anti-fundamentalism blog that features pictures of nude people — or an amateur porn blog with extreme political commentary. Either way, it’ll be sure to piss a lot of people off.
Needless to say, this will be strictly non-commercial, as I plan to have no ads, and not technically “racist” in that the blog will be bashing religious beliefs, not races.
So — would such a blog be allowed on WordPress, or would it be censored, forcing me to find another service? Thanks.
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WordPress does not censor but the law is the law and must be adhered to. The law in this case is American regardless of where you reside. The ToS is a worthwhile read as you have already agreed to be bound by it’s contents to get a blog here. http://wordpresss.com
Blogs with legal adult content are not removed. They are flagged as “Mature” so they become less visible across the domain by being excluded from
(1) Top Blogs,
(2) Recent Posts and
(3) Tags [ i.e. the wp.com global tagging system and the Tag Surfer].
http://faq.wordpress.com/2006/05/07/ive-seen-a-blog-with-unsuitable-content-how-do-i-tell-you/WordPress requests that those who have blogs with “Mature” contents voluntarily declare them to Staff. However, if they are not declared then the report form states:
“If you come across a blog which you believe to be primarily adult-related or too mature for a general audience, please let us know …” — staff make the call.There are links regarding “mature content” blogs in the forum searchbox https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic.php?id=12516
Any further inquiries or requests for clarification must be directed to staff. To contact staff you can use the feedback button on the top righthand corner of any admin side blog page or you can clisk the “support” button at the top of this page.
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thistimethisspace: I’ve read the Terms of Service, but it does not clarify matters too much. It says content that is “hateful or racially or ethnically objectionable” is forbidden and would be banned, but it does not make clear what constitutes “hateful.” I’m quite sure that conservative Muslim men and Islamic fundamentalists would blow a gasket and find the blog hateful in the extreme — but does their opinion count? Who determines what meets the criteria for “hateful” or “ethnically objectionable”?
You say that “WordPress does not censor,” but that’s not technically true. Would they allow a KKK racist site? i doubt it. Would they allow a site advocating violence? I doubt it. My blog is like neither of these two examples, but you get my point.
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The American courts and legislators have defined what is “hateful” in legislation and in case law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. If you need legal counsel then you will have to retain an attorney to advise you with regard to the content of your proposed blog.
Any further inquiries or requests for clarification must be directed to staff. To contact staff you can use the feedback button on the top righthand corner of any admin side blog page or you can click the “support” button at the top of this page.
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Of course I would self-report the blog as Mature, and agree to have it be excluded from the WordPress Top Blogs/Recent Posts/Tags system. And I would agree to have it Flagged as “Mature.”
I’m just worried that someone will get really offended by it and send a complaint to WordPress staff, who would then “make the judgement call” that it was “hateful” and take down the blog — causing me to lose all my work and have to start all over again somewhere else. Which is why I’m asking now ahead of time.
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The American courts and legislators have defined what is “hateful” in legislation and in case law. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. If you need legal counsel then you will have to retain an attorney to advise you with regard to the content of your proposed blog.
Any further inquiries or requests for clarification must be directed to staff. To contact staff you can use the feedback button on the top righthand corner of any admin side blog page or you can click the “support” button at the top of this page.
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pelloz – send in a few details. You should be fine though from what you have already said.
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don’t do it unless you can live with the fact that a woman from a middle eastern country who gets shown online naked/semi-naked may lose her life because of it.
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… the theme of the blog being the use of sexual freedom to break down these theocratic repressive societies and regimes
Using erotic photos of naked females to further your political aspirations cannot be rationalized — it’s patriarchal pandering. And that’s not to mention the danger factor stated above. So don’t delude yourself into thinking that erotic photos can bring down these political regimes and that you are some kind of *coughing* hero. A flesh peddlar is a flesh peddlar is a flesh peddlar and from where I sit you’re simply another con-artist working an angle.
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If you’re a flesh peddlar then say so. But trying to spin the BS line that you’re a “hero” intending to bring down repressive political regimes by presenting middle eastern models as masturbation material for the gazillions of zeta males in the blogosphere, whose best friend is their hand, is an insult to the intelligence of any thinking woman or man … sheesh.
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Just as long as it’s U.S. legal and no children or animals allowed. I say U.S. legal because WordPress is U.S. based, I think, and lots of countries allow child porn like Traci Lords type porn. Heard her talk about how her videos can still be seen in many countries. :( But if these women are Middle Eastern, won’t their lives be in danger?
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{waving to weirdscience and nosy}
I am addressing this person’s bullshit spin as presenting himself as a hero under the pretense that the use of flesh peddling can be rationalized as a force that can bring down repressive political regimes. What a crock. And “yes” nosy the middle eastern models lives will be in danger. -
Please do not attack another blogger for their actions or beliefs.
The blog is legal, will be marked accordingly and does not break our Terms of Service.
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Yes, their lives WILL be in danger. I’m actually half Iranian/half British so am particularly familiar with the Middle Eastern culture. Pelloz -should- know that by having this blog, he IS contributing to blood that may be shed because of the images.
Mark: fair enough. :) At the same time, my concern for the welfare of these women means that I think it’s acceptable and not surprising to offer an opinion. I wouldn’t call it an attack as such. ;)
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@Mark
I have a legal right to express my opinion on any matter of “public interest” and this forum is a public forum. So please be very sure that you are prepared to be equally as protective of my legal rights, and of weirdscience’s legal rights, and nosy’s legal rights, to freely express our opinions as you are of this would be blogger’s rights. -
I’m not taking a position on this, only bringing attention to something I remembered reading in the Terms of service; I’ll paste it below. Please know porn is illegal in Saudi Arabia. I am somewhat familiar with some middle eastern cultures; it’s nothing to take lightly, unfortunately.
13. “General Representation and Warranty. You represent and warrant that (i) your use of the Website will be in strict accordance with the Automattic Privacy Policy, with this Agreement and with all applicable laws and regulations (including without limitation any local laws or regulations in your country, state, city, or other governmental area, regarding online conduct and acceptable content, and including all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside) and (ii) your use of the Website will not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property rights of any third party. ”
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If the blog comes from Saudi Arabia, rest assured you’re risking your own life as well as those of the models. I had family connections there and know whereof I speak. And the police WILL find and trace the blog; they are good at that. I know the guy that taught them how to do it.
That said, I do not see anything in the OP’s language that indicates this to be a gender-discriminatory blog. That there are countries which are gender-discriminatory is an issue, but it is not an issue for WordPress.com as far as I can see. I don’t know if this blog is going to achieve the goal of changing the world, but I don’t see any reason to call it sexist.
The majority of porn images from the Middle East are images of Jews anyway, and a Jew in Saudi Arabia is already at risk of death simply for being Jewish.
And OP, if you’re worried that people will get offended, allow me to put you out of suspense: people WILL get offended. Either be okay with that and move on or say “no, I am not willing to offend people” and give up on this project.
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Oops, forget what I said about non-sexist. Obviously I need to learn to read for comprehension.
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