#please note that i have no interest in discoursing with the label police | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

caeliangel · 1 year

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[IMAGE ID: 3 images. The first and last images are ribbon or frill looking white dividers, with thin black contour. The middle picture is sephiroth in black and white, from the movie advent children. The contours of the picture are like ribbon or frills. END OF ID]

IF YOU USE A SCREEN READER

welcome to caeliangel's page... RQS: CLOSED

Pint: flags I made

about, byf && dni under the cut!

🦇⋅ ⋅ ⋅ about the winged one... ﹕ 𓆪

you can call me caelian / célian, or seph. I will always answer to those.

⚰️⋅ ⋅ ⋅ about the mind... ﹕ 𓆪

I have multiple clusterb pds (mainly b/n) + autism, along with other unlisted things. I am the host of a median osdd 1a system, we are traumagenic && bpdgenic. (We are traumagenic but use bpdgenic in a way that, my bpd affects our splittings. They are tied. It was not comfirmed by a psychiatrist, it is simply how I experience / see the thing. )

🩸⋅ ⋅ ⋅ about the identity... ﹕ 𓆪

My main pronouns are he, hew, hy, she! I am a femme boygirlflux bi velaurian! I am also a saphboy, an achigirl and much more! Otherkin stuff includes but is not limited to: angelkin, vampkin, werewolfkin && more.

🕊⋅ ⋅ ⋅ about the interests... ﹕ 𓆪

trigun, nge, ff7, tloz, hello kitty, psychology, writing, poems, reading, literature, hoarding stuff and much more!

will && won't do

．．．will

hyperspecific terms

icons

gender && term coinning

contradictory labels

names finds

．．．won't

whatever makes me uncomfortable

tranx/id or any radqueer labels

terms for things I do not know well

paraphilic flags or terms

please note I can refuse anything for whatever reasons!

byf && dni

．．．byf

Sometimes we use we pronouns or the third person!

I am critical of my own interests and believe that things should be consumed critically.

I take everything personally and struggle to read tone!

Anyone can use my flags, just be respectful and credit me. Dont steal them or change their meanings, thats all im asking! My flags have nothing to do with your queer discourse.

I support "contradictory" labels, this includes but is not limited to: mspec lesbian, mspec gay, lesboys, turigirls, etc

I believe bisexuals can reclaim the d slur, the f slur, and use the double venus and double mars symbol. I also think butchfemmes are queer labels and not lesbian exclusive.

I am a battle axe bisexual as in, a fight and advocate against biphobia. I am against separatists aswell and will not tolerate those who took away from bisexuals. Fuck biphobes.

Stances: endo neutral, crit radinclu, anti radqueer, anti contact, pro non-dysphoric, anti consang, anti-harrassment, anarchoqueer (more will / can be added).

．．．dni

Terfs, radfems, transmeds, truscums, gender skeptics, gender police, etc.

If you believe in monosexual privilege, or use terms like "cis passing" "straight passing"

If you are anti xeno/neos and anti mogai/liom

think non-binaries can't be gay/lesbians or don't support he/him lesbians or she/her gays

If you fakeclaim

If you do not support "contradictory labels"

Against otherkin, non-humans, therian, etc!

Under 13, unless I follow first.

If you demonize the cluster b (npd, bpd, hpd, aspd) and this includes if you belive that narcissistic abuse exist.

If you're going to judge me or mock me/my interests.

Anti-ageres.

Any kind of bigot.

Exclus or "Safequeers"

Radqueers

If you're here to argue or be a meanie whatever

Tags!!

🦇︰︵︵ winged hoard : my hoard!

⚰️︰︵︵ rise the flag : flag making

🩸︰︵︵ gift for the beloveds : any requests

🥩︰︵︵ the food is here : flags I find gorgeous

🗝︰︵︵ memories : icons

💌︰︵︵ letters : inbox/asks

just for archival / pinterest purporse

🎀︰︵︵ combo flags

💗︰︵︵ orientations

💋︰︵︵ genders

❤️‍🩹︰︵︵ mad flags

🍬︰︵︵ plural flags

🐈‍⬛︰︵︵ otherkin flags

🦴︰︵︵ pint: caepiric (posted on pint)

🕷︰︵︵ butchfemme

coining event archives...

cael300foevent : tag for the 300 followers event.

118 notes · View notes

orupabo · 4 years

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Vanessa Obioha captures entertainers and events that made 2019 an OMG! Year

2019 started on a high note for some entertainers and is ending on some sour notes for others. We look back at the exhilarating and shocking moments that literally left our jaws on the floor.

Burna Boy

It was at the 2018 Soundcity MVP Awards held in January this year that Burna’s Boy winning streak began to blaze. At that awards, he scooped four awards including best song of the year for his 2018 hit single ‘Ye’. Burna would go ahead to win other awards such as the BET International Act of the Year and the MTV Europe Music Awards African Act of the Year. Prior to his performance at the international music festival Coachella, Burna grabbed headlines when he condemned the diminutive space the organisers gave him in the promotional ad.

He took to Instagram to express his displeasure, posting that “I really appreciate you. But I don’t appreciate the way my name is written so small in your bill. I am an AFRICAN GIANT and will not be reduced to whatever that tiny writing means. Fix things quickly please.”

The moniker ‘African Giant’ will end up being the title of his next album, a body of work that has received tremendous reviews. Burna was also among the artistes who recorded with award-winning American musician Beyonce for the ‘Lion King’ album. However, the most significant thing that happened to Burna this year was his nomination in the Grammy. His ‘African Giant’ album was nominated in the World Music category. The ‘Anybody’ crooner is confident that he will bring back the gramophone trophy home next year when the awards holds.

Joel Kachi Benson

Benson is one of those documentary filmmakers who allow their works to speak for them. A young man with big ambitions, Benson made history this year when he emerged the first African and Nigerian to win the prestigious Virtual Reality Award at the 2019 edition of the Venice International Film Festival. His surprising win was highly lauded and celebrated in the media. The winning film ‘Daughters of Chibok’ yells the story of Yana Galang whose daughter is among the missing girls from the infamous 2014 Chibok girls abduction. Benson’s immersive storytelling helped to remind the world of the plight of the women who are still waiting for their children to be returned.

Teni the Entertainer:

Teni, the younger of the Apata sisters stamped her presence in the music industry this year with the chart topping hits she released. From ‘Power Rangers’ to her latest single ‘Billionaire’, Teni continues to set new records. After becoming an instant sensation with her breakout song ‘Case’, Teni dominated the airwaves, scooping awards such as the Best New Artist at the 2018 Soundcity MVP Awards, YouTube Trending Artiste on the Rise, and even having her own sold-out concert this yuletide season. Her blazing trail could only suggest that she is almost reaching beyond the stars, particularly now that she wants to become a billionaire.

Mo Abudu:

Not a few has wondered what other glass ceiling the media entrepreneur and filmmaker Mo Abudu will shatter.

This year has seen the founder of EbonyLife Films achieving milestones that almost seem insurmountable. Her film production company produced two films this year ‘Oloture’ and ‘Your Excellency’ with the latter, directed by Jennifer Akindele-Bello raking in over N50 million since its release.

More good news followed for the media personality after she was appointed Director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the organisation responsible for staging the world famous International Emmy Awards last year. This year, she received a gold membership card from the organisation for her new role and became the first African woman to chair the 47th Emmy Awards Gala held recently

The most striking achievement of the 55-year-old entrepreneur in 2019 was the unveiling of the EbonyLife Place,a luxury lifestyle venue that offers premium entertainment and hospitality. The majestic building situated on Adetokunbo Ademola Street in Victoria Island is a sight for sore eyes, glittering with opulence at night. Forbes Africa’s Most Successful Woman has consistently shown that she is not resting on her oars. As 2020 beckons, one can only wonder what glass ceiling she will shatter.

Shina Peller:

Few days before the Christmas celebration, Shina Peller, the gentleman behind the popular club Quilox, found himself on the wrong side of the law. Peller has declared a 36-hour marathon clubbing in his club on Sunday, December 22, a long-held tradition of the club according to those who are familiar with the activities of the club. The large influx of club revellers that night led to traffic congestion on the Ozumba Mbadiwe road where the club is located, drawing the ire of motorists who ply that route. By Monday, the Lagos State Government has sealed off the premises of the club for environmental pollution while three cars owned by patronisers of the club were towed. In an interesting turn of events, Peller who was said

to have gone to the Maroko Police Station to resolve the case ended up being arrested. While the police claimed that Peller had invaded the police station with thugs, leading to his arrest, his friends and fans claimed that it was a plot by the police to keep the businessman behind bars. Peller is also a member of the House of Representatives.

Tekno:

Nowadays, it is unclear what direction Tekno’s music is taking. Nonetheless, the young singer has not relented in his ambition to be one of the superstars in the country, even if it means sacrificing decency on the music altar. In August this year, Tekno hugged headlines after a video showing scantily clad women dancing to his song went viral.The risque display on a mobile ad truck was visible to anyone playing the Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge that night. What followed was a cacophony of gasps and sighs that reached an irksome climax when the Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency, (LASAA), the body responsible for outdoor structures for signage and advertising, wade into the matter, promising to bring the perpetrators to book.

In his defense, Tekno released a statement on his Instagram page, giving details of the events that led to the indecent show.

According to him, he was only using the vehicle to convey his crew to a location since some of the cars scheduled for transportation broke down. He would later be invited by State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, for questioning while LASAA suspended the practicing licence issued to Provision Media System Limited, owners of the unregistered advertisement truck used for indecent exposure.

The singular event generated a discourse in the public space with dissenting voices arguing on the widespread of indecency in the society. Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture, a parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Otunba Segun Runsewe condemned the act, urging Nigerians to reject such stain on the Nigerian culture. Tekno received no serious punishment but may perhaps have learnt that being a musician requires a level of responsibility.

Wizkid:

You can call Wizkid a child of luck and you will not be completely wrong. He manages to come out on top each year irrespective of the trend. In 2019, Wizkid arguably made more headlines than any artist. If it’s not about his rumoured relationship with female music star Tiwa Savage, it’s about how he shut down the O2 Arena with his Starboy Fest concert in London. This year made it the second time he’s achieving the feat.

There is also the ingenious collaboration between him and Beyonce ‘Brown Skin Girl’ that dominated the charts as well as won awards. The song was highly praised and with the feature of Beyonce’s daughter Blue Ivy, it garnered more positive reviews. In August, it was reported that the ‘Ojuelegba’ crooner was the first African artist to have eight million monthly listeners on the music streaming platform Spotify. He was also paraded as the most streamed African artiste with over 1.7 billion streams. Before his Starboy fest held on Boxing Day, Wizkid told his fans on Twitter that he would release one last album as Wizkid, suggesting either a retirement from the music scene or a change of name.

Yinka Ayefele:

The year started well for Yinka Ayefele, the gospel music artiste who has been confined to a wheelchair for over two decades due to an accident that affected his spinal cord. He was finally blessed with triplets after searching for the fruit of the womb for more than 10 years on January 18. The news was an exciting and a scary one for the artiste who is also the owner of Fresh FM in Ibadan. For fear of losing them, he hid the news of the birth of his children from the public until June. He held a special dedication ceremony for his triplets in November.

Kizz Daniel:

The legal battle between Kizz Daniel and his former record label G-World Wide Entertainment continued to generate discourse this year; the latest being the threat by the latter to stop the planned concert of the former scheduled for Boxing Day. Yet, Daniel and his legal reps have assumed an unperturbed disposition, insisting that the show will go as planned. The grudges between the two parties stemmed from Daniel’s insistence to exit the label in 2017, a decision the label didn’t take likely. Though Daniel had changed his name, flaunted his own label, G-World Wide Entertainment insists that the singer breached the mandatory buy-out clause and accused him of infringement of the Intellectual property rights of the label. As such, they are demanding he pays back the company’s investment and damages from loss of earnings from scheduled programmes/events prior to the termination.

Tiwa Savage:

So far, Tiwa Savage seems to have had a good year. She landed a deal with Universal Music Group Nigeria immediately her contract with Mavin Records expired, released a visually stunning video for her ’49-99′ single, and involved in the never-ending love storyline with Wizkid. To end the year, she held her own concert where she brought on stage two dominating female music stars, Yemi Alade and Simi. It’s been rumoured that Savage and Alade hardly get along. By bringing her on stage, she quelled every rumour about their relationship.

Don Jazzy:

Don Jazzy would have made major headlines if he settled down this year, a wish his fans have constantly clamoured for. Nevertheless, he was on the spotlight for many reasons this year. One of the significant reasons was the discovery of Rema, the young lad who is slowly becoming the poster boy for the record label. Perhaps, the most outstanding achievement of the producer and singer is the unveiling of the record label creative studios. Jazzy chose to make the announcement on his 37th birthday, stating that it was a gift to himself. The Mavin Creative Studios is located in Lekki while the corporate office of the label is in Victoria Island.

Rema:

The steady rise of Rema to stardom started when Don Jazzy signed him to his record label. His star wattage keeps increasing everyday following his ingenious ability to cross genre and appeal to both local and international audiences. Little wonder he made the summer playlist of former president of the United States Barack Obama. His song ‘Iron Man’ was also ranked No 40 on the Rolling Stones ’50 Best Songs of 2019′.

Big Brother Naija:

MultiChoice Nigeria made history this year by building the first Big Brother Naija House in Nigeria for the fourth season. The house was built from scratch to finish and is said to have gulped millions of Naira. The new facility measures about 1800sqm with an additional 250sqm for support building services such as the sick bay, laundry and artiste lounges. It was designed and built to be bigger and better than any of the Big Brother Africa or Mzansi houses.

The reality show achieved quite some feats. This year’s edition made it the first time a female is winning the competition. Mercy Eke, a video vixen emerged winner after spending a total of 99 days in the house. She was rewarded with N60 million worth of prize. The ‘Pepper Dem’ edition marked the first time the reality show is garnering 240 million votes. Riding on the success of Big Brother Naija, the company will be launching another reality show ‘Ultimate Love’ next year.

Tacha:

Against all odds, Tacha, the disqualified housemate of the Big Brother Naija season four somehow continues to gather clout on social media. Hardly a day she is not on the trending lists on social media, even for mundane things. Tacha was among the 21 housemates who entered the newly built Big Brother Naija House on June 30. The social media sensation was at first pilloried for her haughtiness but it was only a matter of time before she stole the spotlight. From her honest opinions on issues to her heated altercations with fellow housemates, Tacha became the real pepper dem housemate in the house. Despite being nominated many times, she was saved by her unrelenting fans whose loyalty to her is still unwavering. She was however disqualified after getting involved in a violent provocation with fellow housemate Mercy Eke who eventually emerged the winner of the show.

Nevertheless, Tacha is the most influential personality to have emerged from a reality show.

2Baba and Blackface Dispute:

After a series of altercation between afro-pop artiste Innocent Idibia popularly known as 2Baba and his former band member of the defunct Plantashun Boiz, Augustine Ahmedu also known as Blackface, the two finally settled their differences amicably in November. The out-of-court settlement brought to end the back and forth accusations between the former band mates. 2Baba had in 2018 dragged Blackface to court for defamation of character, following several claims made by Blackface across various media platforms. Blackface had accused 2Baba and his manager/business partner, Efe Omorogbe of intellectual property theft, claiming that 2Baba stole his songs ‘African Queen’ and ‘Let Somebody Love You’. He also accused the duo of blacklisting him in the industry, and sabotaging his career. Under the new settlement, it was reported that Blackface agreed to tender apology to 2Baba and to desist from making any such defamatory claims in the future. On their part, 2Baba and his manager graciously accepted the apology and agreed not to proceed with the N50m claim in damages against Blackface, bringing to an end the long drawn media drama that has threatened to completely destroy the Plantashun Boiz legacy.

Cardi B:

Cardi B’s visit to Nigeria was one of the highlights of 2019. The American rapper and media personality was the headline of the Livespot X Festival, organised by Livespot 360 Creative Agency. During her visit, Cardi explored Lagos, promoting the city as a tourism destination for hustlers. She also sampled Nigerian Jollof rice as well as visited a strip club and a motherless Baby home where she doled out gifts to the children. Cardi also nicknamed herself Chioma B and Nigerians likewise renamed her daughter Kulture ‘Ayo’. At the concert, she wowed Nigerians with her performances, twerking on stage to the delight of thousands of music fans who had come to watch her perform. Even after her departure, Nigerians couldn’t stop talking about Cardi B and her love for the country.

Ibironke Shileola:

Ibironke Shileola is one of the reckoning forces in the film and TV content distribution landscape. Since she started her own content marketing company, MicroMedia Marketing Limited, the young lady has been shattering high glass ceilings. In 2014, she recorded a major milestone in her career with the launch of the first Nigerian produced telenovela, ‘Taste of Love’. This year, she pushed the envelope further by opening a cinema exhibition hall, Heritage Cinemas at the Alimosho area of Lagos state, making her the first female Nigerian to own a cinema exhibition hall.

Davido:

It was a good year for Davido in the relationship department. He started the year by displaying his love for Chioma, his fiancée and mother of his son to the world. From surprising her with Valentine’s Day goodies to introducing her to his family members in September, he ensured that the world knew he was serious about making her his official wife. Few days later, he officially proposed to her and by October, the duo welcomed their first child together, a baby boy named Adedeji Ifeanyi Adeleke Jnr. On the music side, he scored some high points by collaborating with American singer Chris Brown for the song ‘Blow my Mind’. The song currently has about 35 million views on YouTube. He also released his sophomore album ‘A Good Time’ this year.

Nigeria’s Oscar Entry:

2019 marked the first time Nigeria will submit a film to the Academy Awards popularly known as the Oscars. Unfortunately, the feeling of fulfilment was short-lived when the Academy committee for the International Feature Film rejected the selected film, ‘Lionheart’ by Genevieve Nnaji for not meeting the language requirements of the awards. The category recognises films that are mostly done in indigenous languages. Their decision was greeted with mixed reactions. While a few argued that the approved selection committee, Nigeria Oscar Selection Committee (NOSC) chaired by filmmaker and director Chineze Anyaene should have met every requirement, others argued that English was Nigeria’s official language. Out of the 95-minute running time of the film, only 11 minutes featured indigenous language.

Nativeland Concert:

It was a sad edition for organisers of the annual music concert Nativeland this year. The show which was held at Muri Okunola Park on December 19, suffered a major setback when the VIP stage caved in as Fireboy was performing ‘Party Scatter’. The native gods must have been listening to him as the stage chose that particular moment to collapse. Scores of people reportedly sustained various degrees of injuries. The organisers blamed the overwhelming crowd for the mishap and promised to get a better venue next year.

Filmhouse Luxury Cinemas:

The leading cinema chain in Nigeria continued its quest to create innovative cinema experiences for moviegoers this year by launching the Coca-Cola MX4D Motion EFX Theatre at Landmark Retail Boulevard in Victoria Island, Lagos. The theatre is the newest evolution in 4D cinema experience, providing an immersive environment, where one feels the action on the screen from the built-in motion effects in the seats and theatre.

It was in April that Filmhouse sealed the deal with American cine-tech giants, MediaMotion to build the theatre which is also a first in West Africa. The new theatre boasts six cinema screens (one MX4D, four premium screens, and one cube), with over 300 seater, a fully stocked bar, a kids’ party area, and a self-service station. The company which currently boasts of more than 10 cinemas across the country is working towards increasing that number in 2020.

Tonto Dikeh:

Known for courting controversies, this year saw the Nollywood actress delivering different shades of her personality in the public space. From the tell-it-all interview with On-Air Personality Daddy Freeze where she claimed her ex-husband Olakunle Churchill was diabolical and a 40- seconds man, to the social media war between her and popular blogger Stella Dimokorkus who reported that she was arrested in Dubai.

Dikeh, who doesn’t mince words, was again dragged into the public arena when she shared pictures from a conference organised by Modul University in Dubai. It turned out that she didn’t make any speech with an audience rather it was an audio conference. Though she tried to redeem her pride by posting an appreciative message from the message, it did little to clear the conceived perception from that act. Recently, she made her love for plastic surgery known, eliciting backlash and admiration from detractors and fans.

Living in Bondage Sequel:

Charles Okpaleke and Ramsey Nouah made history this year by producing a sequel to the supposedly film that birthed Nollywood ‘Living in Bondage’. The sequel ‘ Living in Bondage: Breaking Free’ which followed the story of Andy’s (the star character of the original story) son Nnamdi received critical praise for the directorial expertise of Nouah and the story angles explored. The film marked the directorial debut of the actor. At the box-office, the film earned a total of N124.5 million, making it the tenth highest-grossing Nigerian film of all time.

Naira Marley:

Hate him or love him, one thing is certain: Naira Marley’s growing influence is yet to wane. His popularity seemed like a daydream. It wasn’t until he was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) on allegations of e-fraud did Marley began to gain a cult following. His arrest followed the release of his viral song ‘Am I a Yahoo Boy’. His fans compared him to the Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti after he was taken into custody, a comparison that the true disciples of Fela didn’t take lightly. Notwithstanding, Marley understood the power of publicity and used his time in prison to rise to stardom. He released a single while in prison and has continued to release more singles such as ‘Soapy’, describing the ordeal of prisoners to his advantage. But the longevity of his fame is a question that lingers on the lips of critics.

source:ThisDay (Nigeria)

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songsforfelurian · 7 years

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What does “queer” mean?

I wrote this piece because an anon asked me what “queer” means. It’s quite long, and the original post contains a “keep reading” cut that made it look cleaner in the feed, but made it impossible to read on mobile. If this clogs your dash, I apologize, but I want it to be accessible, because I think this topic is really important.

WARNING: If you are triggered by slurs that are commonly used against members of the LGBTQ+ community, proceed with caution. I have done my best to use these terms in an informative way, but I know they may be triggering to some, even in this context. If you’re interested in my perspective on slurs and labels within the LGBTQ+ community, read on!

I should start by pointing out that I am by no means an expert historian when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. I identify as a member, have done some basic research, and have degrees in linguistics and philosophy that afford me a basic working knowledge of language, logic, and literature in a historical context. I am not an authority on gender identity or sexual orientation, just a community member doing my best to be helpful and supportive.

I personally love the word ‘queer,’ though I respect and understand that it is triggering to many. The word originally meant “strange, peculiar, or eccentric.” (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=queer) I came across this word often in classic literature. “She was feeling rather queer” would have been a common phrase to describe someone who was slightly ill, or emotionally unsettled. But in the late 1800’s / early 1900’s, people started using it as an offensive term for people in same-sex relationships, or for people who deviated from accepted gender conventions of the time (for example, men who were perceived as “effeminate”). Then, around the 1980’s, members of the LGBTQ+ community “began to deliberately use the word queer in place of gay or homosexual, in an attempt, by using the word positively, to deprive it of its negative power.” (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/queer)

Despite this, the word “queer” absolutely continues to be used as a homophobic slur that many LGBTQ+ people have had to endure, which is why the term remains so controversial. I personally haven’t had a lot of exposure to the term as an offensive slur, which may be why I don’t experience it as particularly triggering, the way “fag” and “faggot” most certainly are to me. I heard those words so often in such a vicious, damaging context growing up, that they became dealbreakers for me: I wouldn’t date men or women who used them, or keep up friendships with people who found them acceptable. I won’t play online video games with a group of people if I hear those terms floating around. I still have an immediate anxiety reaction when I hear those words used, even by someone who identifies as LGBTQ+. So I do understand that slurs can be incredibly triggering to people, even if the community has made an effort to retake them and give them new meaning.

The reason I personally view the word “queer” differently from “fag” or “faggot” is because I think that “queer” performs a semantic and linguistic function that I find pleasing and necessary. In its current definition, as reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community, it means, “Denoting or relating to a sexual or gender identity that does not correspond to established ideas of sexuality and gender, especially heterosexual norms.” (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/queer)

If you’ve read any of my writing or seen previous posts from me, you may have deduced that I find labels to be problematic. Sexual orientation and gender identity can be fluid and difficult to define. While some people feel a sense of relief and community when they finally find a label that suits them, others feel stressed or even further isolated and frustrated, faced with another set of “norms” they still can’t quite conform to. And then there’s the pressure to define every aspect of your sexuality and gender identity to the world – again, something that is comforting and community-affirming to some, but can be stressful, invasive, or downright unsafe for others. I see discourse daily on Tumblr about who should and shouldn’t be “allowed” within the LGBTQ+ community, with many people claiming that certain identities simply aren’t “gay enough” to belong.

I don’t subscribe to this attitude. I don’t think I should have to thoroughly define or explain my gender identity or sexual orientation in order to feel accepted and supported by other LGBTQ+ individuals, and I don’t think people who are difinitively gay or lesbian deserve to be accepted moreso than people who are bixesual, pansexual, questioning, etc. I don’t conform to stereotypical norms and standards, and identifying as “queer” is a way for many people to communicate a similar, vague sense of identity without getting into specifics that make them feel uncomfortable, or confused, or frustrated, or downright unsafe. We don’t owe each other that level of intimacy.

As a teen in the early 2000’s that identified as bisexual only with my closest friends, I had faith that things would progress. I imagined that I would enter adulthood and find that times had changed- that I would feel more free to experience and express my identity, and that I would feel support from a community of people that understand how confusing, and isolating, and painful it can be to be LGBTQ+. And while I have seen glimmers of this, I’ve also seen the horde of the self-righteous, many of them painfully young, immature, and inexperienced, who find it necessary to police the borders of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as the language we use to describe and define ourselves.

As an adult, this is not the kind of community I want to belong to. Yes, I understand that the word “queer” is triggering for some people, and I’ve done my best to be respectful of that in this post. But I am queer, for lack of a better word that encompasses the nebulous nonconformity many of us experience along our journey. And we should allow each other to be nebulous. We should allow each other the use of vague language, and the leeway to evolve, and to change our minds, and to change our looks and our beliefs and our preferences. It was easiest for me to identify as bisexual as a scared fourteen-year-old, because I felt pressure to identify as something.

So can we try to take that pressure off? Can we make it okay to not be sure? Can we be a community that embraces uncertainty and privacy as much as we encourage confidence and conviction? Can we support people in their twenties or thirties or fifties who are exploring their queerness for the first time, just as much as we support our gay and lesbian friends who’ve been certain since they were twelve?

If you follow this blog, these are things I believe, that I want you to know:

It’s okay to not be sure about your gender identity.

It’s okay to not be sure about your sexual orientation.

Embrace the uncertainty. You don’t need a label to be whole. You don’t need to name and categorize everything you think and feel. Give yourself room to breathe and grow. Give others the same room.

It’s okay to change your mind.

It’s okay to express yourself as vaguely or as specifically as you like. You don’t owe anyone any kind of information about your identity or preferences that you’re not comfortable sharing. You shouldn’t have to prove anything to anyone in order to belong to this community.

You can use labels, if you think they fit. You can also change them. You can also reject them. You still belong here, regardless. I still care about and support you, regardless.

You can use the word “queer” to help identify yourself.

You can be respectful of people who use the word “queer,” even if it offends you. Have a conversation before you judge or attack.

As a final note, I’ve seen a term floating around that I would love to see gain more traction: SAGA, which stands for Sexuality and Gender Acceptance. It occurs to me that it could also stand for Sexuality and Gender Alternative, which could be used as an actual identity term (“I’m SAGA”). Regardless, I can see how this could be a nonspecific umbrella term, much like the word “queer,” but without all the controversial connotations. I’m all for this- as I stated before, I think a lot of people use the word “queer” because it’s useful and meaningful to them, and because they lack a synonymous alternative. If a term like SAGA started to catch on, I would be happy to make the switch. However, I’ve found very little literature on it, and have very rarely seen it used in LGBTQ+ spaces. If you have more information, or have seen it being used more widely, please comment with your perspective! I would love to give credit where credit is due. And if this term resonates with you, use it! Spread the word!

I can’t emphasize this enough- I’m not an authority here, but I see plenty of people speaking on this subject with much more conviction than they ought to have, so I decided to give it a go. If anything, I hope some of you might read this and feel validated in your uncertainty, and encouraged to reach out, and maybe to be more flexible and accepting of the diversity in this community.

Diversity. Isn’t that supposed to be the point?

#queer #lgbtq #gay #lesbian #bisexual #pansexual #questioning #trans #gender nonconforming #saga

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brajeshupadhyay · 4 years

Quote

You may not have noticed, what with America’s COVID-19 deaths passing the 100,000 mark and cities in an uproar coast-to-coast over police tactics against black residents, but President Trump last week staged a completely fictional attack on Twitter and other online services. The fiction was embodied in an executive order Trump signed on May 28, purportedly aimed at “preventing online censorship.” The order targets Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which dramatically changed the environment for online services hosting user-provided content. Section 230, which has been consistently misunderstood by its critics across the political spectrum, allows online services to host potentially objectionable, even defamatory user-posted content without becoming liable to legal action themselves, while also giving them the discretion to moderate that content as they wish. We have to let go of some Platonic ideal of content moderation…. You’re always going to cheese off somebody. Eric Goldman, Santa Clara University “The section’s most fundamental concept is that we want internet companies to manage user content, and not be liable for whatever they miss,” says Eric Goldman, an expert in the law at Santa Clara University Law School. “The fear was that if they were liable for whatever they missed, they wouldn’t even try.” The tech community has long treated Section 230 as “the most important law on the Internet.” As my colleague Sam Dean reports, the title of a book on the section by Jeff Kosseff, a cyberlaw expert at the U.S. Naval Academy, labels its text “the twenty-six words that created the internet.” But the law also has come under concerted attack by plaintiffs who keep looking for loopholes and judges who open them, all aimed at scrubbing distasteful material from the Web. Trump’s executive order is a typical attack on Section 230, launched by someone acting out a personal grievance. It’s so sloppily drafted that it would accomplish nothing resembling the prevention of “online censorship,” would be almost certainly unconstitutional if it did, and was basically a reflexive reaction to one offense: Twitter’s unprecedented designation of Trump tweets as the embodiment of lies requiring corrections. Twitter tagged the May 27 tweets, which asserted that mail-in ballots would lead to a “rigged election,” with a note directing users to fact-checked information refuting the assertion. Trump issued his executive order the very next day. Twitter went even further a day later, when it placed a blocking message over a Trump tweet implying that participants in protests over the killing of George Floyd, a black man who apparently died in the custody of Minneapolis police, should be shot if they were looting. The message required users to click separately to view the tweet. The executive order bears all the hallmarks of a Trump tantrum, including the lack of a mechanism to turn it into action. It begins with a Frank Costanza-like litany of personal grievances. “Online platforms are engaging in selective censorship that is harming our national discourse,” the order reads, specifically calling out Twitter: “Twitter now selectively decides to place a warning label on certain tweets in a manner that clearly reflects political bias… Twitter seems never to have placed such a label on another politician’s tweet.” (Trump means any politician other than himself.) We added a label to two @realDonaldTrump Tweets about California’s vote-by-mail plans as part of our efforts to enforce our civic integrity policy. We believe those Tweets could confuse voters about what they need to do to receive a ballot and participate in the election process. — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) May 28, 2020 The order calls on the Federal Communications Commission to “clarify” the scope of 230’s immunity from liability, even though that latitude is quite clear in the language of the law. The text makes it clear that the immunity is very broad indeed. It allows online services to restrict access to content that they consider to be “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable.” The catchall language of “otherwise objectionable,” Goldman says, “makes you wonder exactly what wouldn’t have been included in Congress’s expectations, since they gave such a broad-based mandate to services.” The 230 exemption has been relied on by countless services that allow users to post statements or other content on their sites — newspapers hosting reader comments, merchants posting consumer reviews, expert and amateur forums of every description. Nevertheless, efforts to place limits of the 230 exemption are legion. In one closely followed California case, a San Francisco personal injury lawyer persuaded a state judge to order the consumer review site Yelp to remove an ex-client’s criticism of her performance after the lawyer won a defamation lawsuit against the client. Yelp refused, noting that it hadn’t been named as a defendant in the defamation lawsuit and arguing that it was immune from liability for the client’s posts under Section 230. The California Supreme Court found in Yelp’s favor, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up the issue, ending the case against Yelp. (The defamation judgment against the client remained in effect.) Congress tried to carve out an exception to Section 230 protection aimed at online sites that purportedly facilitated sex trafficking. The so-called Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, or FOSTA, which passed overwhelmingly and was signed into law by Trump in 2018, made online services liable for ads ostensibly promoting prostitution, consensual or otherwise. But FOSTA has failed to achieve its goals. Law enforcement officials have said it has made it harder for them to root out sex trafficking, because it drove perpetrators further underground, and interfered with posts aimed at warning consensual sex workers away from dangerous situations or clients. This Tweet violates our policies regarding the glorification of violence based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today. https://t.co/sl4wupRfNH — Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020 In Congress, attacks on Section 230 or services that rely on its terms are bipartisan. For years, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has been asserting that under Section 230, online services that remove conservative-leaning contents lose their status as “neutral public forums” and therefore their immunity. Those services “should be considered to be a ‘publisher or speaker’ of user content if they pick and choose what gets published or spoken,” Cruz wrote in 2018. (His target then was Facebook, which he complained had been “censoring or suppressing conservative speech for years.”) Cruz’s take was wrong and in any event unenforceable, since any content moderation whatsoever entails picking and choosing what to allow online. Cruz is a graduate of Harvard Law School, so it’s reasonable to assume that he knows he’s wrong, and just as reasonable to conclude that he’s merely preaching to an ideologically conservative choir . But an attack on 230 has also come from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who in 2018 proposed a sheaf of regulations on social media aimed at stemming the tide of disinformation, including faked photos and videos, posted online. Warner advocated making online services liable for defamation and other civil torts if they posted “deep fake” or other manipulated audio or visual content. But he acknowledged in his position paper that distinguishing between “true disinformation and legitimate satire.” He also recognized that “reforms to Section 230 are bound to elicit vigorous opposition, including from digital liberties groups and online technology providers.” The best approach to Section 230 is to leave it alone, but manage our expectations of what it can achieve. For the most part, legitimate online services find it in their best interest to combat material widely judged to be socially unacceptable —hate speech, racism and sexism, and trolling. But the debate on the margins is always going to be contentious. “We’re never going to be happy with internet companies’ content moderation efforts,” says Goldman. “You can’t ask whether one company’s doing it right and another’s doing it wrong. They’re all ‘doing it wrong,’ because none of them are doing it the way I personally want them to do it. Your standards may differ from mine, at which point there’s no pleasing everybody.” Online services will always be vulnerable to attacks like Cruz’s or, indeed, Trump’s. The goal of his executive order was to pump up the image of online services into behemoths that have taken over the public debate space for their own purposes, assuming “unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter virtually any form of communication between private citizens and large public audiences,” as he put it in remarks during the executive order signing ceremony. In his mind, that made them legitimate targets for regulation. Trump’s audience, of course, wasn’t ordinary citizens who feel their access to information or right to post their content online was being trampled, but his political base, which imagines that its megaphone is being taken away. The biggest joke during the signing ceremony was Trump’s assertion that “if [Twitter] were able to be legally shut down, I would do it. I think I’d be hurting it very badly if we didn’t use it anymore.” As the prominent internet rights lawyer Mike Godwin observed in response, “Seriously? Who on earth believes that Donald J. Trump could make himself live another week in the White House — much less serve another term — without his daily dose of Twitter psychodrama?” In truth, Trump was just trying to work the referees — hoping that his rhetoric alone will discourage Twitter from further interfering with his tweets. That seems to be working with Facebook, which thus far has announced a hands-off policy on political posting, no matter how noxious or mendacious. Even Facebook executives, as it happens, have been discontented by the hands-off policy adopted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Arguments that private companies such as Twitter or Facebook are infringing on constitutional free speech rights are misguided, since constitutional protections for free speech apply to official government infringements, not those of private actors. In the private sphere, the diversity of approaches to content moderation may be society’s safety valve. “We have to let go of some Platonic ideal of content moderation, that if internet companies just invested enough time and money, they’d come up with something that would make everyone happy,” Goldman told me. “That outcome does not exist. You’re always going to cheese off somebody.” window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId : '119932621434123', xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' }); }; (function(d, s, id){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://ift.tt/1sGOfhN"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); The post Hiltzik: Trump’s fake attack on Twitter appeared first on Sansaar Times.

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songsforfelurian · 7 years

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I'm laughing so hard. I made a goddamn typo. Queer! I didn't think this possible, but I feel even more stupid now XD

I apologize for the delay inresponding to this, but I really wanted to give the question the considerationit deserves. It’s a complicated issue, and I’ll try my best to do it justice. For those of you who missed the previous ask, this anon is wondering what the word “queer” means.

WARNING: If you are triggered by slursthat are commonly used against members of the LGBTQ+ community, proceed withcaution. I have done my best to use these terms in an informative way, but Iknow they may be triggering to some, even in this context. If you’re interestedin my perspective on slurs and labels within the LGBTQ+ community, read on!

I should start by pointing out that I am by nomeans an expert historian when it comes to the LGBTQ+ community. I identify asa member, have done some basic research, and have degrees in linguistics andphilosophy that afford me a basic working knowledge of language, logic, andliterature in a historical context. I am not an authority on gender identity orsexual orientation, just a community member doing my best to be helpful andsupportive.

I personally love the word ‘queer,’though I respect and understand that it is triggering to many. The wordoriginally meant “strange, peculiar, or eccentric.” (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=queer)I came across this word often in classic literature. “She was feeling ratherqueer” would have been a common phrase to describe someone who was slightlyill, or emotionally unsettled. But in the late 1800’s / early 1900’s, peoplestarted using it as an offensive term for people in same-sex relationships, or forpeople who deviated from accepted gender conventions of the time (for example,men who were perceived as “effeminate”). Then, around the 1980’s, members ofthe LGBTQ+ community “began todeliberately use the word queer in place of gay or homosexual, in an attempt,by using the word positively, to deprive it of its negative power.” (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/queer)

Despite this, the word “queer” absolutelycontinues to be used as a homophobic slur that many LGBTQ+ people have had toendure, which is why the term remains so controversial. I personally haven’thad a lot of exposure to the term as an offensive slur, which may be why I don’texperience it as particularly triggering, the way “fag” and “faggot” mostcertainly are to me. I heard those words so often in such a vicious, damagingcontext growing up, that they became dealbreakers for me: I wouldn’t date men orwomen who used them, or keep up friendships with people who found themacceptable. I won’t play online video games with a group of people if I hearthose terms floating around. I still have an immediate anxiety reaction when Ihear those words used, even by someone who identifies as LGBTQ+. So I do understand that slurs can beincredibly triggering to people, even if the community has made an effort toretake them and give them new meaning.

The reason I personally view the word “queer”differently from “fag” or “faggot” is because I think that “queer” performs asemantic and linguistic function that I find pleasing and necessary. In itscurrent definition, as reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community, it means, “Denoting orrelating to a sexual or gender identity that does not correspond to establishedideas of sexuality and gender, especially heterosexual norms.” (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/queer)

If you’veread any of my writing or seen previous posts from me, you may have deducedthat I find labels to be problematic. Sexual orientation and gender identitycan be fluid and difficult to define. While some people feel a sense of reliefand community when they finally find a label that suits them, others feelstressed or even further isolated and frustrated, faced with another set of “norms”they still can’t quite conform to. And then there’s the pressure to defineevery aspect of your sexuality and gender identity to the world – again, somethingthat is comforting and community-affirming to some, but can be stressful,invasive, or downright unsafe for others. I see discourse daily on Tumblr aboutwho should and shouldn’t be “allowed” within the LGBTQ+ community, with manypeople claiming that certain identities simply aren’t “gay enough” to belong.

I don’tsubscribe to this attitude. I don’t think I should have to thoroughly define orexplain my gender identity or sexual orientation in order to feel accepted andsupported by other LGBTQ+ individuals, and I don’t think people who are difinitively gay or lesbian deserve to be accepted moreso than people who are bixesual, pansexual, questioning, etc. I don’t conform to stereotypical normsand standards, and identifying as “queer” is a way for many people tocommunicate a similar, vague sense of identity without getting into specifics thatmake them feel uncomfortable, or confused, or frustrated, or downright unsafe.We don’t owe each other that level of intimacy.

As ateen in the early 2000’s that identified as bisexual only with my closestfriends, I had faith that things would progress. I imagined that I would enteradulthood and find that times had changed- that I would feel more free toexperience and express my identity, and that I would feel support from acommunity of people that understand how confusing, and isolating, and painfulit can be to be LGBTQ+. And while I have seen glimmers of this, I’ve also seen thehorde of the self-righteous, many of them painfully young, immature, andinexperienced, who find it necessary to police the borders of the LGBTQ+community, as well as the language we use to describe and define ourselves.

As anadult, this is not the kind of community I want to belong to. Yes, I understandthat the word “queer” is triggering for some people, and I’ve done my best tobe respectful of that in this post. But I amqueer, for lack of a better word that encompasses the nebulousnonconformity many of us experience along our journey. And we should allow eachother to be nebulous. We should allow each other the use of vague language, andthe leeway to evolve, and to change our minds, and to change our looks and our beliefsand our preferences. It was easiest for me to identify as bisexual as a scaredfourteen-year-old, because I felt pressure to identify as something.

So canwe try to take that pressure off? Can we make it okay to not be sure? Can we bea community that embraces uncertainty and privacy as much as we encourageconfidence and conviction? Can we support people in their twenties or thirties or fifties who areexploring their queerness for the first time, just as much as we support ourgay and lesbian friends who’ve been certain since they were twelve?

If you followthis blog, these are things I believe, that I want you to know:

It’s okayto not be sure about your gender identity.

It’sokay to not be sure about your sexual orientation.

Embracethe uncertainty. You don’t need a label to be whole. You don’t need to name andcategorize everything you think and feel. Give yourself room to breathe andgrow. Give others the same room.

It’s okayto change your mind.

It’sokay to express yourself as vaguely or as specifically as you like. You don’towe anyone any kind of information about your identity or preferences that you’renot comfortable sharing. You shouldn’t have to prove anything to anyone inorder to belong to this community.

You canuse labels, if you think they fit. You can also change them. You can alsoreject them. You still belong here, regardless. I still care about and supportyou, regardless.

You canuse the word “queer” to help identify yourself.

You canbe respectful of people who use the word “queer,” even if it offends you. Have a conversation before you judge or attack.

As afinal note, I’ve seen a term floating around that I would love to see gain moretraction: SAGA, which stands for Sexuality and Gender Acceptance. It occurs tome that it could also stand for Sexuality and Gender Alternative, which couldbe used as an actual identity term (“I’m SAGA”). Regardless, I can see how thiscould be a nonspecific umbrella term, much like the word “queer,” but withoutall the controversial connotations. I’m all for this- as I stated before, Ithink a lot of people use the word “queer” because it’s useful and meaningfulto them, and because they lack a synonymous alternative. If a term like SAGAstarted to catch on, I would be happy to make the switch. However, I’ve foundvery little literature on it, and have very rarely seen it used in LGBTQ+ spaces.If you have more information, or have seen it being used more widely, pleasecomment with your perspective! I would love to give credit where credit is due.And if this term resonates with you, use it! Spread the word!

I can’temphasize this enough- I’m not anauthority here, but I see plenty of people speaking on this subject with muchmore conviction than they ought to have, so I decided to give it a go. Ifanything, I hope some of you might read this and feel validated in your uncertainty,and encouraged to reach out, and maybe to be more flexible and accepting of thediversity in this community.

Diversity. Isn’t thatsupposed to be the point?

#lgbtq #queer #gay #lesbian #bisexual #pansexual #transgender #questioning #gender nonconforming #asks #saga

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brajeshupadhyay · 4 years

Text

Hiltzik: Trump’s fake attack on Twitter

The fiction was embodied in an executive order Trump signed on May 28, purportedly aimed at “preventing online censorship.” The order targets Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which dramatically changed the environment for online services hosting user-provided content.

Section 230, which has been consistently misunderstood by its critics across the political spectrum, allows online services to host potentially objectionable, even defamatory user-posted content without becoming liable to legal action themselves, while also giving them the discretion to moderate that content as they wish.

We have to let go of some Platonic ideal of content moderation…. You’re always going to cheese off somebody.

Eric Goldman, Santa Clara University

“The section’s most fundamental concept is that we want internet companies to manage user content, and not be liable for whatever they miss,” says Eric Goldman, an expert in the law at Santa Clara University Law School. “The fear was that if they were liable for whatever they missed, they wouldn’t even try.”

The tech community has long treated Section 230 as “the most important law on the Internet.” As my colleague Sam Dean reports, the title of a book on the section by Jeff Kosseff, a cyberlaw expert at the U.S. Naval Academy, labels its text “the twenty-six words that created the internet.”

But the law also has come under concerted attack by plaintiffs who keep looking for loopholes and judges who open them, all aimed at scrubbing distasteful material from the Web.

Trump’s executive order is a typical attack on Section 230, launched by someone acting out a personal grievance.

It’s so sloppily drafted that it would accomplish nothing resembling the prevention of “online censorship,” would be almost certainly unconstitutional if it did, and was basically a reflexive reaction to one offense: Twitter’s unprecedented designation of Trump tweets as the embodiment of lies requiring corrections.

Twitter tagged the May 27 tweets, which asserted that mail-in ballots would lead to a “rigged election,” with a note directing users to fact-checked information refuting the assertion.

Trump issued his executive order the very next day.

Twitter went even further a day later, when it placed a blocking message over a Trump tweet implying that participants in protests over the killing of George Floyd, a black man who apparently died in the custody of Minneapolis police, should be shot if they were looting. The message required users to click separately to view the tweet.

The executive order bears all the hallmarks of a Trump tantrum, including the lack of a mechanism to turn it into action. It begins with a Frank Costanza-like litany of personal grievances.

“Online platforms are engaging in selective censorship that is harming our national discourse,” the order reads, specifically calling out Twitter: “Twitter now selectively decides to place a warning label on certain tweets in a manner that clearly reflects political bias… Twitter seems never to have placed such a label on another politician’s tweet.” (Trump means any politician other than himself.)

We added a label to two @realDonaldTrump Tweets about California’s vote-by-mail plans as part of our efforts to enforce our civic integrity policy. We believe those Tweets could confuse voters about what they need to do to receive a ballot and participate in the election process.

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) May 28, 2020

The order calls on the Federal Communications Commission to “clarify” the scope of 230’s immunity from liability, even though that latitude is quite clear in the language of the law.

The text makes it clear that the immunity is very broad indeed. It allows online services to restrict access to content that they consider to be “obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable.”

The catchall language of “otherwise objectionable,” Goldman says, “makes you wonder exactly what wouldn’t have been included in Congress’s expectations, since they gave such a broad-based mandate to services.”

The 230 exemption has been relied on by countless services that allow users to post statements or other content on their sites — newspapers hosting reader comments, merchants posting consumer reviews, expert and amateur forums of every description.

Nevertheless, efforts to place limits of the 230 exemption are legion. In one closely followed California case, a San Francisco personal injury lawyer persuaded a state judge to order the consumer review site Yelp to remove an ex-client’s criticism of her performance after the lawyer won a defamation lawsuit against the client.

Yelp refused, noting that it hadn’t been named as a defendant in the defamation lawsuit and arguing that it was immune from liability for the client’s posts under Section 230. The California Supreme Court found in Yelp’s favor, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up the issue, ending the case against Yelp. (The defamation judgment against the client remained in effect.)

Congress tried to carve out an exception to Section 230 protection aimed at online sites that purportedly facilitated sex trafficking. The so-called Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, or FOSTA, which passed overwhelmingly and was signed into law by Trump in 2018, made online services liable for ads ostensibly promoting prostitution, consensual or otherwise.

But FOSTA has failed to achieve its goals. Law enforcement officials have said it has made it harder for them to root out sex trafficking, because it drove perpetrators further underground, and interfered with posts aimed at warning consensual sex workers away from dangerous situations or clients.

This Tweet violates our policies regarding the glorification of violence based on the historical context of the last line, its connection to violence, and the risk it could inspire similar actions today. https://t.co/sl4wupRfNH

— Twitter Comms (@TwitterComms) May 29, 2020

In Congress, attacks on Section 230 or services that rely on its terms are bipartisan. For years, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has been asserting that under Section 230, online services that remove conservative-leaning contents lose their status as “neutral public forums” and therefore their immunity.

Those services “should be considered to be a ‘publisher or speaker’ of user content if they pick and choose what gets published or spoken,” Cruz wrote in 2018. (His target then was Facebook, which he complained had been “censoring or suppressing conservative speech for years.”)

Cruz’s take was wrong and in any event unenforceable, since any content moderation whatsoever entails picking and choosing what to allow online. Cruz is a graduate of Harvard Law School, so it’s reasonable to assume that he knows he’s wrong, and just as reasonable to conclude that he’s merely preaching to an ideologically conservative choir .

But an attack on 230 has also come from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), who in 2018 proposed a sheaf of regulations on social media aimed at stemming the tide of disinformation, including faked photos and videos, posted online.

Warner advocated making online services liable for defamation and other civil torts if they posted “deep fake” or other manipulated audio or visual content. But he acknowledged in his position paper that distinguishing between “true disinformation and legitimate satire.”

He also recognized that “reforms to Section 230 are bound to elicit vigorous opposition, including from digital liberties groups and online technology providers.”

The best approach to Section 230 is to leave it alone, but manage our expectations of what it can achieve. For the most part, legitimate online services find it in their best interest to combat material widely judged to be socially unacceptable —hate speech, racism and sexism, and trolling. But the debate on the margins is always going to be contentious.

“We’re never going to be happy with internet companies’ content moderation efforts,” says Goldman. “You can’t ask whether one company’s doing it right and another’s doing it wrong. They’re all ‘doing it wrong,’ because none of them are doing it the way I personally want them to do it. Your standards may differ from mine, at which point there’s no pleasing everybody.”

Online services will always be vulnerable to attacks like Cruz’s or, indeed, Trump’s.

The goal of his executive order was to pump up the image of online services into behemoths that have taken over the public debate space for their own purposes, assuming “unchecked power to censor, restrict, edit, shape, hide, alter virtually any form of communication between private citizens and large public audiences,” as he put it in remarks during the executive order signing ceremony. In his mind, that made them legitimate targets for regulation.

Trump’s audience, of course, wasn’t ordinary citizens who feel their access to information or right to post their content online was being trampled, but his political base, which imagines that its megaphone is being taken away. The biggest joke during the signing ceremony was Trump’s assertion that “if [Twitter] were able to be legally shut down, I would do it. I think I’d be hurting it very badly if we didn’t use it anymore.”

As the prominent internet rights lawyer Mike Godwin observed in response, “Seriously? Who on earth believes that Donald J. Trump could make himself live another week in the White House — much less serve another term — without his daily dose of Twitter psychodrama?”

In truth, Trump was just trying to work the referees — hoping that his rhetoric alone will discourage Twitter from further interfering with his tweets.

That seems to be working with Facebook, which thus far has announced a hands-off policy on political posting, no matter how noxious or mendacious. Even Facebook executives, as it happens, have been discontented by the hands-off policy adopted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Arguments that private companies such as Twitter or Facebook are infringing on constitutional free speech rights are misguided, since constitutional protections for free speech apply to official government infringements, not those of private actors.

In the private sphere, the diversity of approaches to content moderation may be society’s safety valve. “We have to let go of some Platonic ideal of content moderation, that if internet companies just invested enough time and money, they’d come up with something that would make everyone happy,” Goldman told me. “That outcome does not exist. You’re always going to cheese off somebody.”

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