Mark Gallagher wrote:
With this article using the other less offensive image [[Image:Kotori-Kan Vol 2.jpg]] would already be an improvement.
That is still a non-free image. We do have at least two free images that could be used to illustrate that article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lolicon_comicbooks_sold_in_Japan_001.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lolicon_comicbooks_sold_in_Japan_002.jpg
I don't get it. What justification did the, ahem, good-faith editors use to argue that we needed fair-use close-ups of kiddie porn instead of the photograph (also, admittedly, of kiddie porn ... but more appropriate and tasteful, if that word can be applied here).
I think 'appropriate and tasteful' absolutely can be applied here. The differences in culture between Japan and the rest of the world are a valid topic for an encyclopedia article, and so the *subject* is one which we ought to cover, and some sort of *illustration* can certainly improve the article.
I think the best way to understand 'what justification' is to understand a certain sort of POV pushing... one of the goals of pedophiles is to make the case that such materials are perfectly normal and healthy and should be viewed as being completely routine. One way to achieve that goal is to be sure that such materials are published widely.
This alone is not an automatic argument against including the image, of course! Many images might be included in many articles by people who want to push a POV, but might also be accepted by virtually all editors as being important and relevant to the article.
And this is not an argument that anyone who wants to include this picture rather than another one is a pedophile POV pusher. Indeed, I think a part of the rhetorical trolling that goes on this way is to push people who are opposed to censorship to stand up for editorial nonsense by recasting a serious editorial debate as being merely about censorship or the alleged prudishness of (usually) Americans.