On 16/11/2009, at 1:04 AM, private musings wrote:
Hi all,
On Wikipedia Review, 'tarantino' pointed out that on WMF projects,
self-identified minors (in this case User:Juliancolton) are involved
in
routine maintenance stuff around sexually explicit images reasonably
describable as porn (one example is 'Masturbating Amy.jpg').
http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=27358&st=0&p=204846&…
I think this is wrong on a number of levels - and I'd like to see
better
governance from the foundation in this area - I really feel that we
need to
talk about some child protection measures in some way - they're
overdue.
I'd really like to see the advisory board take a look at this issue
- is
there a formal way of suggesting or requesting their thoughts, or
could I
just ask here for a board member or community member with the advisory
board's ear to raise this with them.
You just won't give up this topic, will you?
I'm not sure where you get the idea that it's somehow inappropriate
for minors to be viewing or working on images depicting human nudity
and sexuality. Cultural sensibilities on this matter are inconsistent,
irrational and entirely lacking in substance.
I'm also unsure how you propose to define "sexually explicit". The
definitions under law are elaborate, attempting to make distinctions
that would be irrelevant to any negative impact on children, if one
existed. Are images of the statue of David, the Mannekin Pis or the
Ecstacy of Theresa deserving of such restrictions? What about the
detailed frescoes of sexual acts displayed in brothels and living
rooms in ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum? How are those distinct from
the image you've used as an example, and how is that distinction
relevant to whatever supposed harm you are claiming to children?
If it is truly inappropriate or harmful for children to be working on
such images, then those children should be supervised in their
internet access, or have gained the trust of their parents to use the
internet within whatever limits those parents (or, indeed, the minor)
believe is appropriate.
It is absolutely not the job of the Wikimedia Foundation, nor the
Wikimedia community, to supervise a child's internet access and/or
usage, and certainly not to make arbitrary rules regarding said usage
on the basis of a single culture's sensibilities on children and
sexuality, especially sensibilities as baseless and harmful as this one.
--
Andrew Garrett
agarrett(a)wikimedia.org
http://werdn.us/