I think I had originally said that I was thinking of adding articles here, but perhaps it may be better (and easier) to simply use this space for the occasional rant/opinion. After all, it's one thing to post a view on OB (or even OB World), but having your own platform to explore your thoughts is entirely different.

With that said, I should move on to the subject of this post: Where is the line? I could probably also ask questions such as who draws that line? And, for that matter, how does one objectively judge when the line has been reached?

What am I referring to? Censorship: the hot topic that is always hot.

Censorship has always been an important question on this network for obvious reasons (we are dealing with imagery/artwork and we cater for a wide variety of visitors). I think, however, that censorship and content have always been bigger issues on OtakuBoards. This is perhaps because of the nature of a web forum, as well as its users (I tend to think that OB has always skewed to a different audience than theOtaku - older, for one thing).

At OB World, I recently linked to a number of RPGs, which I considered to be worthy of mention. The idea was to point out that the RPG community at OB is thriving; that, even now, there are still a number of excellent collaborative projects on the site. They vary in quality and they certainly vary in subject/theme, but there should be no question that they all represent examples of tremendous effort and creativity on the part of their writers.

One RPG in particular raised quite a firestorm among a couple of members. Why? It contained a single post that described a sexual encounter between two characters. At least, this was the justification given for the apparent outrage. Also, I was told that I was violating our own Terms of Service (which I have just linked to).

I think anyone who can genuinely claim to know me also knows that I take complaints and concerns very seriously. I also believe in absolute fairness. In any situation where there is a disagreement over content, I try to balance the inherent rights of the content creator with the valid concerns of the viewer/reader.

My first response was to take down the link from OB World. Did I consider the post in question pornographic? No, I did not. It was certainly "adult/mature" in nature, but our site does not prohibit this; it prohibits the distribution/advertising of pornographic material (note that the definition of this word relates to "obscene" material with "little or no artistic merit"). If the post in question was designed to illustrate a milestone in the relationship of two characters (that have otherwise been developed within the context of the RPG), then I would tend not to suggest that there is absolutely no artistic merit involved. And, in the interests of fairness, such merit must be considered largely subjective in nature.

Having said that, I have always recognised that everyone is an individual; each person has limits and expectations. And I do think that the post in question was definitely borderline, so the most logical and reasonable thing to do was to remove the link. I did this as a matter of my own logic and as a courtesy to the complainant; it was a recognition of the validity of the complainant's concern. How else, after all, can one respond to a legitimate and heartfelt complaint?

Removal of the link was, I felt, reasonable. As I said, the fact that I took this step was a clear recognition that I did not dismiss the complaint (and that I in fact considered it carefully).

This issue did raise several questions in my mind, though. And I think those questions went beyond the offending post itself.

First of all, to what extent do we censor artistic content on OB? And to that end, how do we determine that? Do we base it on a single word, or a particular theme, or an event? Do we classify it by the implication of adult subjects or the literal depictions of such?

The core problem for anyone who owns and runs a community-based site is that there will never be a truly happy medium. You can certainly block or ban the most extreme end of the spectrum - I think few would disagree with that. But what about everything that sits in between? How close do you get to the "extreme" before you begin censoring content?

For theOtaku.com, I think the answer is clear. In most cases, this network deals with visual art - and it is relatively easy to pass judgment on what is and is not appropriate there. I do think that theOtaku.com is reasonably lenient when it comes to work that is deemed to have artistic merit, but certainly, theOtaku.com is no DeviantART when it comes to imagery and depictions of sexuality and/or the human form.

Things are a little different at OB, but not radically so.

For one thing, OB obviously deals primarily with the written word. When I look at our history, I can remember quite a few controversial threads. They were usually controversial due to their themes and specific content and, on occasion, they sparked debate. A great deal of this debate died off over the years though.

My theory about this is twofold. One, our membership has unquestionably aged. Longterm members who were fifteen or sixteen when they joined are now in their twenties. Also, the site has become clearly segmented - we have deliberately applied different guidelines for our creative writing forums versus our other discussion areas.

This was not an autocratic decision that came overnight. In fact, I was originally against any loosening of standards - moreover, I was initially opposed to the idea of removing the language filter on OB at all.

So what changed?

Well, I realised two important things. First, a growing proportion of our own members were demanding greater artistic freedoms. None of these people were interested in producing pornography - such a suggestion would be an insult to both their character and their creative works. Instead, they simply wanted to have greater freedom to depict their characters accurately. All characters are different and some express themselves with more colourful language, for example.

Also, these same members who demanded the removal of the language filter were always willing to compromise, as mature and reasonable people tend to do. These members wanted me to give them a bigger canvas for their work, but in return they acknowledged the need to maintain the language filter in all other areas of the site - areas where "artistic merit" probably would not be relevant.

So, in short, censorship has always been managed in a cooperative fashion between the site's leadership and its members. I would say that most writers at OtakuBoards respect both the limits and freedoms that exist.

These changes did bring about a further measure that was introduced to protect users from content that they may find objectionable: thread ratings.

I remember that there was actually quite a strong call for a ratings system before it was introduced. And there was a lot of debate about how such a system could be implemented.

In the end, we collaborated to design a standard set of ratings for all creative writing.

This system functioned on the surface, but it never really delivered. Most people labelled their work as "mature", as some kind of precautionary measure should any of their posts go above the intended rating. So really, it was never going to work and it had to go. In the end, the staff acknowledged this as did the members.

Now, ironically, a growing number of members are asking me to re-establish thread ratings. I don't think that can be realistically done now and possibly not even in the future (proper ratings would require independent staff to manually rate threads - to summarise their content objectively - and we will never have the ability to do this effectively).

Although we lack thread ratings, we do utilise minimum age registration, which ensures (at least to a degree) that young children are not permitted on the site. The same is true at theOtaku.com. This provides some degree of a buffer, so that both readers and writers are protected.

In addition, I have always felt (and I'm sure Adam would agree) that the broader question of web safety is one that all members of a family should be involved with. Any young child who uses the Internet without parental supervision and support is at risk; parents and teachers in particular must take responsibility for their children. If content creators were forced to constantly cater for irresponsible parents, I imagine any idea of true artistic freedom would disappear.

Adult members of the community have no excuse, as compared to an innocent child. By that I mean, adults are capable of making decisions about which content to view and which content to avoid. If you are reading a great RPG but you come across a post that you find offensive? Skip over it. And if you feel that the post is a serious issue, then by all means, lodge a complaint; complaints are certainly not discouraged especially if they are heartfelt.

In the same way that we would never willingly/knowingly allow any kind of general pornographic content, members must also be prepared to pay to others the due respect that they expect for themselves. Writers, members and staff all deserve respect and fair consideration. Staff are usually in the middle of such exchanges between members - it is important to remember that staff are people too. And staff often have the unenviable task of trying to satisfy both sides (who's interests are often mutually exclusive).

So, what is the bottom line here?

More than anything, I think this is just my way of detailing what I think of an often controversial subject. Those who disagree with me will now at least understand where I'm coming from. And those who wonder why OB is the way it is will now have some insight into my thought process.

Also, I want to show that I am never outright dismissive of serious complaints or heartfelt feelings. It is never in my interest to reject legitimate points of difference. Instead, I put a great deal of consideration into the many differing viewpoints that pop up all the time.

In such an environment, I not only have to make a judgement of my own, but I also have to aim to serve the majority of our audience. In some cases, this does mean supporting a majority stance over the stance of only a few. When I take a stance like that, I try as best I can to compromise with those who are in the minority - but in the end, OB is what it is. It is a site that has a colourful history and a real sense of personality. As soon as its unique traits and values die, it will cease to be relevant to anyone.

So, whilst I am still around (unless I am run over by a bus or something), OtakuBoards will remain a place where people of all backgrounds can feel welcome. I will continue to encourage general tolerance and respect for other members and I will continue to support the rights of members to develop creative content.

I will not, however, allow that trust to be abused. Members who take advantage of our approach to the language filter by posting nothing but profanity, for example, are definitely not welcome. Likewise, members who disrespect and abuse our relatively flexible position on artistic content should consider publishing their work elsewhere.

As for that invisible line in the sand where artistic merit becomes "obscene"? We will all have at least somewhat different opinions on where it should be drawn. And we should always have an open and ongoing discussion about our standards and requirements. We should do this knowing that we can have a point of view while also respecting the culture of our favourite Internet haunt.

If we are to do that, though, we should always remember to respect each other. We should never resort to name-calling, insults or patronizing those whom we disagree with. In the end, it serves no purpose and only chips away at our position and credibility, no matter which end of the spectrum we fall under.

(Apologies for the length of this post, it just grew and grew. It's a true stream of consciousness, I guess. If you got this far, kudos to you!)

(Oh, and if you do read and respond, I promise I will reply to each comment in my next post. You guys definitely deserve that for your effort. )