I unexpectedly fell face-first into the issue of ‘net censorship this weekend. And it looks like I’m the villain.
In principle, I have always been opposed to censorship. When I think of censorship, I think of a tight-lipped, tight-assed old lady (or man) who takes a black marker to any library book that she doesn’t throw on the bonfire. Censorship inhibits free expression and the exchange of ideas.
Having said that, I have to admit that I just deleted someone’s comment and the link to their site. My reason? Although it was a perfectly fine (but weird) comment, I was worried that it wasn’t appropriate for non-adults. And I have reason to believe that my site is visited by younger types who, in my humble opinion, probably shouldn’t be exposed to certain subjects just yet. His link I removed for the same reason.
To me, it’s a matter of responsibly gauging the audience and presenting material that is not offensive or even traumatizing for the wee ones. The last thing I want is for a 10-year-old to link to my site from a Lego fan site and get smacked in the face with inappropriate adult conversation topics. If there were no such links to my site, I wouldn’t censor a thing, unless someone called me a “poo-poo head” or something else (that I probably deserve).
Now that I’ve done this, how do I feel about censorship? I’m still opposed to censorship and suppression of ideas, but this kind of self-censorship is different. It’s more akin to avoiding the “F” word in front of children.
Then why do I feel like the tight-lipped old man with the black marker?