Along with the increasing amount of comments we receive, we also get an ever increasing number of comments that are never published on the site and are rather promptly deleted. In other words, Yes to Freedom does “censor” certain comments from an internal point of view. As we are an organisation that claims to fight for absolute freedom of speech, explaining the reasons behind such moderation is becoming pressing.
Archive for the ‘Information’ Category
Why We Moderate Comments
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 by AzariusWebsite’s Database Wrecked by Online Attack
Monday, January 25th, 2010 by AzariusThis weekend, http://yestofreedom.org was hit by an attack of unprecedented scale, originating from an unknown source. We are not in the position to blame anyone or any organisation, but would like to remind users that someone, whether intentionally or not, is breaking the law to stop us.
MangaGamer: “Not Censoring our Games Was Unrelated to Free Speech”
Thursday, January 7th, 2010 by Azarius and the_pragmatistWe recently decided to send a letter of support to the company MangaGamer, in response to their decision to not censor potentially “objectionable” content in upcoming eroge releases. We also made use of this email to ask for their moral support in our campaign for free speech. Below is the full text of the email we sent to info[at]manga-corp.com.
Freedom-tan
Friday, December 18th, 2009 by AzariusAs both of Yes To Freedom’s current campaigns are related to Japanese subculture, and more precisely anime and manga, we have deemed relevant to create, in a line of thought similar to Wikipedia‘s Wikipe-tan, our own “-tan” anime-styled mascot.
We have named said character Freedom-tan – or, in Japanese, Jiyū-tan (自由たん) - as a clear reference to our goals and ideals. While her rather diminutive frame is somewhat meant as a reference to our campaign on lolicon art, her usual items hold a more mainstream meaning. The pen/brush is a way of defining writing as a “peaceful weapon”. The art palette, on the other hand, stands as a shield – art – against censorship and everything Yes To Freedom opposes. Finally, the feather, official logo of Yes to Freedom, symbolizes both freedom itself, through its link with bird-like features.
Think and Fight
Saturday, November 28th, 2009 by ArokanWhen you want to make a change in society, you deliver the message in a way society understands: you don’t make adverts for coke in London in hindu, and you don’t plaster swastikas all over your games in Germany, instead you plaster your adverts with good looking scantily clothed models and legions of fans telling us how amazing your product is.
Logic and Censorship
Thursday, September 24th, 2009 by AzariusBrowsing through the comments on a recent post at Sankaku Complex that featured Yes to Feedom, I stumbled across these words of wisdom:
Actualy [sic] by all logical means.
Equality should support hentai as hard as they could.But they don’t think logicaly [sic] do they?
So now, do radical feminists think “logically”? The normal, reactionary answer of most readers of this very post would be that “such people can’t be logical”, that they “obviously are acting on the impulse of emotion”.
I beg to differ. Most women – and men – that militate among organisations such as Equality Now, the very kind Yes to Freedom is fighting against, are in no way short of intelligence and logic. Equality Now’s past campaigns hint to this quite conclusively.
On the Protection of Fictional Media
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 by SycamoreFreedom of speech is among the most important things we are given as humans. We have naturally gained the ability to let our creativity flow through the many streams and rivers that are our imagination. To say you may speak and imagine what you wish as long as it conforms to what “we” believe is not true freedom of speech, and to deny freedom of speech is to corrupt, decay, corrode, and stagnate society. To believe in freedom of speech is to look beyond our initial judgements and stereotypes and even tolerate ideals that we disagree with, thus increasing the diversity of our culture and ideals. The only speech that should ever be impeded is that which inhibits another person’s human rights.
A Timeline of Events
Saturday, August 1st, 2009 by solace(Related to the Recent Movement Towards Tightening Restrictions on the Portrayal of Sexual Violence Against Women and the Sexualization of Minor Females in the Fictional Media of Japanese Anime, Manga, and Computer Games)
Summary of Events: Japan’s lucrative pornography industry is relatively liberated by many standards. Although the law prohibits the visual depiction of genitalia [1], there exists a wealth of material to satisfy an impressive variety of niche interests. Only in 1999 was the commercial production and distribution of child pornography outlawed [2], and while this marks a step forward for the protection and welfare of children, there are some who would fight to see the ban include purely fictional representations of underage sexuality, such as that portrayed in erotic anime, manga, and computer games – the production of which does not by necessity involve any real children, much less a victim [3]. Not only would such a move be a huge strike against the freedom of expression, but it could potentially introduce more – not less – danger for children [4].
