I have now gotten 2 asks in the last 24 hours that want to know my opinion on the current accusations against AO3. The smart thing for me to do would be for me to ignore this, because it’s not my business, and talking about it at all will paint a target on my back.
But if there’s one thing I can’t stand its disinformation and rumor being passed off as fact.
👉 What AO3 is being accused of vague “zionism” and specifically “censoring users who talk about Palestine.” Some people have taken this to mean that works on AO3 that discuss Palestine have been removed. This is not true.
👉 What AO3 actually did: ask a volunteer in the official OTW volunteer chat not to use a specific pro-Palestine slogan in the server, because several Jewish volunteers were being made to feel uncomfortable and unwelcome by it.
👉 It was made clear that the volunteer was perfectly allowed to show their support of Palestine, in and out of the server. Alternatives were suggested, such as putting the flag in their username, etc.
👉 This volunteer refused to compromise, and continued to make other volunteers uncomfortable.
👉 In order to protect the mental well-being of their volunteers, the uncompromising volunteer was removed from the organization.
👉 As far as I am aware this is the only actual “censorship” which has taken place. This is exactly the same as someone being asked not to use language in the workplace that makes their fellow jewish workers uncomfortable.
👉 As far as I’m aware there has been no censorship of works posted to AO3. The only action that took place was a discussion of language to protect volunteers.
👉 If you genuinely feel that this action was wrong, and that this volunteer should have been allowed to continue using language that made their fellow volunteers uncomfortable, then yes, you absolutely should follow your moral compass and stop supporting AO3.
👉 However, please do not repeat untrue rumors or overblown versions of the situation out of context.
👉 Please be aware when you consider this situation that many of the people who are promoting and spreading these accusations are the same people who look for any excuse to tear down AO3 and remove the organization’s support base.
👉 Please follow your own moral compass when deciding if a non-profit creative organization protecting their volunteers mental health, and refusing to take a political stance in an on-going war is enough to make you no longer support that organization.
Here are some screenshots of a conversation I had about this back in November with a concerned friend.
would you be willing to provide a link to the post you linked in these DMs?
The slogan “from the river to the sea, palestine will be free” has a genocidal meaning/intent; it’s been used to mean to erase Israel. Some people don’t see it that way, but you can’t ignore the history around it- ofc people are uncomfortable with it (I’ve seen a lot of Jewish folks expressing this)! Honestly, your workplace (volunteering or not) shouldn’t be talking about such loaded things unless you handle them as a part of your job.
(I don’t think any country/area or group of people should be eradicated if that’s not clear.)
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