There has been some chatter among writers about PayPal and
Amazon’s new decision to crack down on obscene materials. There is concern that legitimate erotica will
be targeted along with erotic fiction involving pedophiles, incest,
beastiality, rape, etc. The guidelines
are very vague and open to broad interpretations. Things have been moving very swiftly and
legitimate authors haven’t been given a lot of time to adapt or appeal
decisions. There is further concern that
this decision with disproportionally target independent, small and
self-published works, since the major publishing houses will have alternatives
and lawyers.
The following statement may make me very unpopular with my
fellow writers. I support censorship of
erotic material designed to appeal to pedophiles, rapists, etc. I realize there are arguments about the
fiction being an outlet, preventing action.
I also realize that censorship drives the fiction underground rather
than eliminating it.
This is how I see it: the easier it is to get, the more
susceptible people will get it. Erotic
fiction works best when it’s new. Thus
those people keep going for more and eventually words on a page aren’t enough
and they go further. So I’m in favour of
getting rid of it. It’s simple. The actions described are illegal, therefore
it’s a very clear guideline to use.
I’m not in favour of censoring erotica that deals with
legitimate actions between consenting adults. (We can deal with the parochial ignorance of
those areas which still outlaw homosexuality in another post.) I don’t have to like or approve of every
sexual adventure. If I don’t like it, I
won’t buy it or read it. Simple
enough.
I am concerned by how swiftly this crackdown is being enforced
and worried about the vagueness of the guidelines. I’m worried this will turn into a morality
exercise or a witchhunt. I’m worried it
will unfairly target those without the resources to fight back.
But child abuse is not something I accept risks on. Children deserve our protection and those who
abuse them should be hunted down with every resource we can bring to bear. (We have to be careful not to taint those who
are innocent while still being vigilant to track down the guilty.) The other specific references are disgusting,
disturbing and I believe an argument can be made in favour of censoring them as
well.
I also want to distinguish between erotic fiction and other
fiction. I have books where women and
men have been raped or other bad things have happened to them as part of the
story. But the scenes are not designed
to titillate. I believe that those
stories can be useful in helping those who have been victimized and help those
who haven’t to understand the terror and difficulties which can result.
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