"flagging" adult content

[arethinn]

On the_lj_herald:

A 'Flag content' icon/link will be added to the icons/links found in every entry (Leave a Comment, Add to Memories, Tell a Friend, Track Comments, etc.). (Sources: 1, 2 and 3)

ETA (on Oct. 20 @ 11:45pm GMT): Users won't be able to "flag anything if their account isn't at least one month old". Logged-out users won't be able to flag content. Editor's Note: thanks to [info]worldserpent for the heads-up. (Source)

ETA (on Oct. 20 @ 7:55pm GMT): developer [info]janinedog tells us that users won't be able to flag their own entries via the Flag icon. However, they will be able to flag their entries when posting or editing them and, of course, flag their journals via Manage Settings or Manage Communities (we already knew that). The Flag icon will therefore be used by other users to report content to the Abuse team who will then review the content and decide to flag it as containing adult content or not. Janine also tells us that these changes will go live next Thursday. Thanks again, Janine. (Source)


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I'm rather annoyed about this. It just seems like it could be open for so much abuse, even if it's only people with accounts of a certain age who can do it (presumably to stop people opening sock-puppets just for this, although if you're vindictive enough surely you can age them a month and then go on your spree). I'm not against the basic idea of being able to restrict access to the content of one's own journal in this fashion, which would enable you theoretically to have stuff "kind of public" where adults could find it but minors could not without having to friend them first; I'm just hearing a subtext of "you'd better do this OR ELSE" and a possibility for "lowest common denominator" that is really bothering me. (Also, like this stops anyone from simply lying about their age, but then there's never anything you can do about that anyway.)

Comments

[silussa.livejournal.com]

I think this is safely classified as 'the sanitizing of America'.

Can't risk having anything out there that might be offensive, after all.

Sheesh.

[nepenth.livejournal.com]

*head to desk* WHY?
man i'm gonna start eyeing IJ again.

[stillvisions.livejournal.com]

For once, this is a user "right" that I'd like to see for paid members only, with misuse resulting in the loss of said account. There has to be a tangible result in the case of abuse.

That or someone spidering all of lj and mass-submitting every entry they can read.

That or just not having it at all, but that's unlikely sadly.

Someone will pull a bait/switch meme (i.e. one with a graphic that changes three days later into something offensive) and fuck over a good portion of lj methinks.

[starlightforest.livejournal.com]

The recension of goatse is imminent.

[twopiearr.livejournal.com]

repeat after me:

LJ MUST BE SANITIZED SO AS TO BE ADVERTISER FRIENDLY

brad sold out

it's just that simple

[starlightforest.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know, it's still disappointing.

I thought Brad had already jumped ship long before this debacle.

[metaphorge.livejournal.com]

I'm really wondering what kind of access restriction s this will end up leading to as well as how Abuse is going to handle the drastic increase in things they have to check out.

Say an entry or an entire journal gets flagged as "adult". Does that then mean that only logged in, verified above 18 users can view the entry? If so, where does that leave those of us who actually want our LJs to be public blogs? Will we see messes like the whole Flickr/jailed Hong Kong blogger mess?

Feh.

[starlightforest.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm really annoyed that it means that someone other than me gets to say what kind of journal it is I have.