I’ve never been a fan of censorship. But I do believe that children should be shielded away from dangerous materials. The reason why I abhor censorship is that it is always subject to abuse. And sometimes, in their exercise of censorship, some people are just plain dumb.

Remember the Digg Revolt?

Now, it’s LiveJournal‘s turn to suffer from a revolt. Six Apart, LiveJournal’s mother company, has initiated a purge of LiveJournal accounts and communities on the behest of one Warriors for Innocence. The purge has taken down around 500 accounts, and will probably continue. And as I have said, sometimes in our quixotic quest, we tend to go too far. And that was what had happened. Included in those that were taken down were Harry Potter fan fiction communities, a Lolita discussion community, and other fan fiction communities.

Unfortunately for that organization, censorship does not work on the Internet. My suggestions to LJ account owners whose journals were unjustly deleted to create another LJ blog, or create another blog somewhere. Other bloggers who likes to support LJ bloggers may give space for them. Digg the Boing Boing entry and other entries tackling this issue. Some chose to boycott LiveJournal altogether.

And if I am a malicious person, I would have begun a DDoS against that organization. But there are better ways on proving your point. Censorship is not one of them.

Some posts to Digg:
* LiveJournal deletes hundreds of “illegal” rape survivor, LGBTQ communities
* Livejournal suspends hundreds of accounts
* LJ purges incest, slash fic under pressure from self-appointed “warriors”
* Digg Revolted. Now It’s LiveJournal Turn!
* Mass deletion sparks LiveJournal revolt
* The Purity Police and Fanfic
* Banning of hundreds of LiveJournal – are YOU promoting paedophilia?
* the fandom voice

And, oh, if you want, you may bury this, for all I care:
* LiveJournal Deletes 500 Pedophile Sites

UPDATE:

The Chair and CEO of Six Apart issues an explanation and an apology. Digg or bury it here.