An Open Letter to All the Idiots Bitching About FF.net

27 August, 2003

To Whom It May Concern,

Recently, several "petitions" making the rounds on the various anime and fandom lists to which I belong have been brought to my attention. The gist of these letters is that FF.net has decided to remove all [insert fandom term of choice for m/m pairings here]...or was it all R-rated fics? or was it all the fics in a certain fandom? from its archives.

I was dismayed to discover that this has resulted in the usual braying along the lines of, "Your[sic] violating my freedom of speech!!11!! o.o;;" and "this is America!! What happened 2my freedom of speach?"


Well fear not, fandom ingenues, because I am here to tell you.

In a word, NOTHING.

Your freedom of speech is safe and sound, right where you left it yesterday.

Please allow me to clarify:
Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and the decisions of FF.net have nothing to do with one another. Period. If FF.net sees fit to remove all lemons, or all slash, or all fics above a PG rating, or all fics written by authors who are virgins/under 18 (and wouldn't that be a blessing?), users are perfectly allowed to continue writing such stories and posting them elsewhere. No one's freedom of speech is being violated.

FF.net is a non-government entity. As long as its policies do not violate established anti-discrimination laws - denying African Americans or Jews or women the right to membership because they're African Americans or Jews or women, for instance - then it can set limits as to what may be posted on its servers with impunity.

To summarise - you are more than welcome to write and publicly share lemons and slash and R- and NC-17-rated fics to your heart's content. No one is stopping you from doing so. Thus, your Constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech has not be violated. End of story. Thank you for your time and consideration on this matter.

Yours sincerely,
LeBateleur

(PS - FF.net is free. They don't owe you anything, idiots. And on the off-chance that you are one of the few who actually pay to use its services, you are perfectly welcome to vote with your wallet and select another host for your stories. No one is stopping you. ::soothingly:: Nobody's rights are being violated. Now go back to sleep...