{"id":5820,"date":"2018-12-08T09:50:35","date_gmt":"2018-12-08T14:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/masspirates.org\/blog\/?p=5820"},"modified":"2018-12-08T09:50:35","modified_gmt":"2018-12-08T14:50:35","slug":"apple-fosta-take-aim-at-tumblr-vigil-sign-making-party-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/masspirates.org\/blog\/2018\/12\/08\/apple-fosta-take-aim-at-tumblr-vigil-sign-making-party-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple & FOSTA take aim at Tumblr, Vigil Sign Making Party Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tumblr recently announced that it was banning all explicit images<\/a> from its site and started notifying posters which of their images would be removed.\u00a0 As we expected, the algorithms were too broad, identifying images that showed clothed people, abstract art, dinosaurs and\u00a0even a vase<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tumblr took the action after Apple removed the Tumblr app from its app store due to claims that\u00a0Tumblr displayed child porn<\/a>.\u00a0That Tumblr took the posts down once they were notified, per CDA Section 230, didn’t matter.\u00a0 Apple’s heavy handed action\u00a0demonstrates the power that gigantic corporations have over what we are allowed to see and post. Faced with their profits or right to free speech by the millions of Tumblr users who weren’t sharing child porn, it isn’t hard to see which one wins in the eye of corporations.<\/p>\n

FOSTA, a law which removes CDA Section 230 protections for web sites if they are found to have hosted posts by sex traffickers\u00a0even if they removed the post, likely affected Tumblr’s decision.\u00a0 What better way to remove anything a sex trafficker might post than by removing any explicit post. \u00a0Verizon, Tumblr’s owner, gets to show they are doing something and removes its liability.<\/p>\n

FOSTA was justified as a way to fight sex trafficking, which it failed at<\/a>.\u00a0 Now it is a tool to promote censorship, whether by corporations or individuals<\/a>.\u00a0The internet sex panic that FOSTA started won’t end with trolls going after ASMR creators<\/a> or Tumblr censoring explicit images.<\/p>\n

This is why our December 16th vigil to mourn sex workers lost to violence, and to renew our commitment to greater rights and safety for all sex workers is so important. Attempts to equate all sex work with sex trafficking\u00a0got us FOSTA. Supporting people’s right\u00a0to control their bodies is\u00a0part of the effort to end laws that hinder our ability to speak and share freely.<\/p>\n

In preparation for the vigil\u00a0we will hold a sign making party this Saturday, December 8th from 2-4pm. It will be at the Capital One Caf\u00e9 community room in Copley Square, 799 Boylston Street, Boston. We’ll also have flyers you can distribute. We hope you will make it.<\/p>\n

The vigil will be\u00a0Sunday, December 16th at\u00a07pm\u00a0in front of Boston Police Headquarters. BPD headquarters is\u00a0at One Schroeder Plaza in Roxbury. It is between the Roxbury Crossing and Ruggles stops on the MBTA Orange line, and a short walk from either. We are happy to join with the\u00a0Harvard Law School\u2019s Sex Worker Advocacy Network<\/a>\u00a0for this event.<\/p>\n

There are multiple ways you can help make the vigil\u00a0successful:<\/p>\n