4 ms·
It's not at all irrational to be wary of a system that can ruin your life if you run afoul of it. It's a shame that the situation forces self-censorship, but t
by jtheory 15y ago
It's not at all irrational to be wary of a system that can ruin your life if you run afoul of it. It's a shame that the situation forces self-censorship, but the situation is a reality in the US, and it's irrational to pretend the risk isn't real.
Here's an article that stuck in my mind when I read it a few years back:
http://www.salon.com/2006/07/18/photos_18/ http://www.salon.com/2006/07/18/photos_18/
It discusses (after the writer's personal horror story of being investigated for child porn after taking photos of his kids nude on a camping trip) how the laws intended to keep kids safe are actually causing many unsubstantiated reports, which in turn must be investigated, which in turn has disastrous consequences for many completely innocent parties. It also takes a stab at estimating how many people this actually happens to.
Would you to have all of your co-workers, neighbors, etc. interviewed about you due to child pornography charges? Be forced to take your own children into child protection services to be asked leading questions about good touches and bad touches? That damage isn't fixed when the charges are dropped.
I'm a parent, and perfectly comfortable with breast-feeding, nudity, and all that. My daughter loves running around naked, and that's awesome. But I don't put any photos online that would put me or anyone else at risk, and would never send them to a photo lab, in the US or any other country I've lived in. It's just not worth the risk.