A letter to the AO3
Jun. 17th, 2020 06:40 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labellementeuseI woke up early this morning and wrote a letter to the AO3 that I submitted as feedback. I wanted to do something other than tweet impotently around AO3's continued refusal to deal with racism in fandom and racist abuse of its tools. Here it is for the public record.
Hi there,
I trust that the brave people protesting police violence across the US and the world at the moment are causing everyone, especially white people, who volunteer and works at the AO3 to reflect, as I am, deeply on their lives and the ways they contribute to structural racism. I am writing to urge the AO3, from the top down, to use this moment to reflect also on what AO3 can do to improve the experience of fans of colour. I love the AO3 and consider it one of my fannish homes. But it is becoming increasingly evident that, because the AO3 does not choose to actively address the widespread racism in fandom, it is becoming a tool that supports racism in fandom. The AO3, like the rest of us, is part of a racist society and if it is not actively working against racism, it will be for racism.
I know that there is tremendous concern about creeping problems, that if the AO3 tries to address content at all it will have to make moral judgments on all its content. But in fact the AO3 already makes content judgments, it just doesn't think about racism in doing so. It is important, I think, to start. I know that this will be hard and represent a change. It may mean that people leave the AO3 because of these decisions. But fans of colour are already leaving the AO3 because of the lack of these difficult decisions. So it's not a matter of doing nothing and keeping everything, or doing something and losing people. Doing nothing is losing people - fans of colour - while keeping racists and people comfortable around racism.
Here are some concrete suggestions that I would like to ask the AO3 to seriously consider. I know many of these are fundamental. They will involve huge amounts of work. They may involve spending money. I would be happy to spend money on the AO3 to support these projects, especially if they come with specific and transparent promises for what the money is spent on. I know I'm not alone.
Firstly, I would like the AO3 to seriously reassess the Big 4 warnings and consider adding more warnings. The Big 4 warnings to me say two things: they say we understand that this is content that has a high likelihood of harming unsuspecting people, and we as a community think that people deserve to know going in whether there may be such content; *and* it says this content has a place here *when people are thinking consciously about it*. It doesn't ban the content. I would say that in some ways it welcomes the content. It just asks writers to think seriously about their own work.
The current big 4 are character death, noncon, underage, and graphic violence. What these four tags reflect to me is fannish discussion when the AO3 was created and the idea of what was and what was not acceptable in fandom. Fandom discussion now recognises an established and long-lasting problem of fannish racism - this was not new even when the AO3 was founded, of course, but many white fans, myself included, did not really grapple with racism in fandom until Racefail 09 and as a consequence I don't think these were front of mind when developing the Big 4. That does not mean the Big 4 need be set in stone to just what fandom thought was content that demanded a high degree of conscientiousness in 2008. I think there is potential here for quite a bit of expansion - maybe a Big 10, developed under community consultation - but specifically I think the AO3 should add warnings for slavery and warnings for racist ideology. Of course, this won't catch everyone, just as the current non-con warning doesn't catch everyone. But it makes a statement about what kind of community the AO3 wants to be and what kind of content we as a community feel demands thought and conscientious relationships with the rest of fandom. (I would note it would not be the first time the big 4 have changed - choose not to warn for some content was removed in 2009.)
Secondly, I would like the AO3 to improve its abuse systems. I am extremely aware that there are people in the community right now who are prone to abuse abuse systems and use them to harass others. The Ao3 cannot give in to those people. However, *those people are also abusing AO3's lack of abuse tools*. Lack of ability to block means people abuse the gift-giving system, they post bad-faith fic in tags specifically designed to make tags unpleasant for other people (this is *not* the same thing as posting good-faith fic that some people don't like), they comment endlessly on other people's work, they use comments on their own work to harass others and make racist statements. There are many many more examples of this. I know that the AO3 doesn't feel it is a social network. But in fact the AO3 has many social tools, such as commenting and subscribing and gift-giving, and it therefore needs a suite of tools to deal with the abuse of those social tools, just like every other social network. It *must* start with the ability to block other users. It could also consider directly supporting and promoting AO3 filter add-ins like AO3 saviour so that they're obvious and easy for people to use.
The AO3 also must develop a community code of conduct and adhere to it. It must be prepared sometimes to ban people, sometimes to ask people to change their tags or warnings or even after repeated warnings do it for them, and sometimes to remove comments. Again, this is something I know will not be comfortable or easy. But there are endless examples of cases where clearly abusive comments and stories - comments containing racist slurs, threatening comments, stories that target others (again, I am *not* talking about stories that reflect seriously on other people's work in ways they don't like), etc - have been let stand on the AO3. Those comments and stories make it appear that AO3 is more comfortable being a home for racists than it is for fans of colour. Meanwhile, the abuse team is willing to act over plagiarism. I know plagiarism is much less of an "I know it when I see it" situation and I know that this will make life more difficult for the abuse team. I know also that the abuse team will sometimes make mistakes and that will be tremendously difficult (so I would also like a solid appeals process and a willingness to say 'We made a mistake'. People respect that more than they respect endless doubling down.) But, again, life is already difficult for some users and easier for others and I think the AO3 must reflect on who it wants to welcome.
I would also like to see the AO3 make public and direct statements in support of Black Lives Matter and fans of colour. I would like it to acknowledge that it is not always an easy place for fans of colour to exist and promise to do better, *with specifics*: specific things the AO3 is planning to do or explore, and then regular reporting against these targets. If the AO3 is currently taking time to think about those issues, I'd like to see a public statement about that, too. Again, I think these are important signals. I would compare the AO3 to another website a lot of fans use, Ravelry. Ravelry has demonstrated its willingness to lose users over its commitment to social justice. I am actively proud to use Ravelry and think it is a model for social networks. The AO3 could do a lot to learn from it.
Finally, the AO3 should consider hiring a professional, for actual dollars, to do some further work and reflection on what could make the AO3 better for fans of colour. That might include getting professionals to help survey AO3 and develop a code of conduct. Just as with coding there are limits on what volunteers can do, so there are limits on what volunteer fans of colour can do to get AO3 to change, particularly given the same structural and cultural racism that the AO3 surely has not escaped as it has developed from structurally racist cultures.
Thanks for taking the time to read this feedback. It's not complete and picks out only what I consider the highlights of extensive discussion about changes the AO3 could make to become a less welcoming home for racism. I know that some of these ideas appear to challenge fundamental principles of the AO3 but I urge you to consider them seriously along with other ideas that are being presented. Because, again, if the AO3 is not actively for fans of colour, it will be for racism, and that is not the AO3 I want to spend time on.
Best wishes,
labellementeuse
Hi there,
I trust that the brave people protesting police violence across the US and the world at the moment are causing everyone, especially white people, who volunteer and works at the AO3 to reflect, as I am, deeply on their lives and the ways they contribute to structural racism. I am writing to urge the AO3, from the top down, to use this moment to reflect also on what AO3 can do to improve the experience of fans of colour. I love the AO3 and consider it one of my fannish homes. But it is becoming increasingly evident that, because the AO3 does not choose to actively address the widespread racism in fandom, it is becoming a tool that supports racism in fandom. The AO3, like the rest of us, is part of a racist society and if it is not actively working against racism, it will be for racism.
I know that there is tremendous concern about creeping problems, that if the AO3 tries to address content at all it will have to make moral judgments on all its content. But in fact the AO3 already makes content judgments, it just doesn't think about racism in doing so. It is important, I think, to start. I know that this will be hard and represent a change. It may mean that people leave the AO3 because of these decisions. But fans of colour are already leaving the AO3 because of the lack of these difficult decisions. So it's not a matter of doing nothing and keeping everything, or doing something and losing people. Doing nothing is losing people - fans of colour - while keeping racists and people comfortable around racism.
Here are some concrete suggestions that I would like to ask the AO3 to seriously consider. I know many of these are fundamental. They will involve huge amounts of work. They may involve spending money. I would be happy to spend money on the AO3 to support these projects, especially if they come with specific and transparent promises for what the money is spent on. I know I'm not alone.
Firstly, I would like the AO3 to seriously reassess the Big 4 warnings and consider adding more warnings. The Big 4 warnings to me say two things: they say we understand that this is content that has a high likelihood of harming unsuspecting people, and we as a community think that people deserve to know going in whether there may be such content; *and* it says this content has a place here *when people are thinking consciously about it*. It doesn't ban the content. I would say that in some ways it welcomes the content. It just asks writers to think seriously about their own work.
The current big 4 are character death, noncon, underage, and graphic violence. What these four tags reflect to me is fannish discussion when the AO3 was created and the idea of what was and what was not acceptable in fandom. Fandom discussion now recognises an established and long-lasting problem of fannish racism - this was not new even when the AO3 was founded, of course, but many white fans, myself included, did not really grapple with racism in fandom until Racefail 09 and as a consequence I don't think these were front of mind when developing the Big 4. That does not mean the Big 4 need be set in stone to just what fandom thought was content that demanded a high degree of conscientiousness in 2008. I think there is potential here for quite a bit of expansion - maybe a Big 10, developed under community consultation - but specifically I think the AO3 should add warnings for slavery and warnings for racist ideology. Of course, this won't catch everyone, just as the current non-con warning doesn't catch everyone. But it makes a statement about what kind of community the AO3 wants to be and what kind of content we as a community feel demands thought and conscientious relationships with the rest of fandom. (I would note it would not be the first time the big 4 have changed - choose not to warn for some content was removed in 2009.)
Secondly, I would like the AO3 to improve its abuse systems. I am extremely aware that there are people in the community right now who are prone to abuse abuse systems and use them to harass others. The Ao3 cannot give in to those people. However, *those people are also abusing AO3's lack of abuse tools*. Lack of ability to block means people abuse the gift-giving system, they post bad-faith fic in tags specifically designed to make tags unpleasant for other people (this is *not* the same thing as posting good-faith fic that some people don't like), they comment endlessly on other people's work, they use comments on their own work to harass others and make racist statements. There are many many more examples of this. I know that the AO3 doesn't feel it is a social network. But in fact the AO3 has many social tools, such as commenting and subscribing and gift-giving, and it therefore needs a suite of tools to deal with the abuse of those social tools, just like every other social network. It *must* start with the ability to block other users. It could also consider directly supporting and promoting AO3 filter add-ins like AO3 saviour so that they're obvious and easy for people to use.
The AO3 also must develop a community code of conduct and adhere to it. It must be prepared sometimes to ban people, sometimes to ask people to change their tags or warnings or even after repeated warnings do it for them, and sometimes to remove comments. Again, this is something I know will not be comfortable or easy. But there are endless examples of cases where clearly abusive comments and stories - comments containing racist slurs, threatening comments, stories that target others (again, I am *not* talking about stories that reflect seriously on other people's work in ways they don't like), etc - have been let stand on the AO3. Those comments and stories make it appear that AO3 is more comfortable being a home for racists than it is for fans of colour. Meanwhile, the abuse team is willing to act over plagiarism. I know plagiarism is much less of an "I know it when I see it" situation and I know that this will make life more difficult for the abuse team. I know also that the abuse team will sometimes make mistakes and that will be tremendously difficult (so I would also like a solid appeals process and a willingness to say 'We made a mistake'. People respect that more than they respect endless doubling down.) But, again, life is already difficult for some users and easier for others and I think the AO3 must reflect on who it wants to welcome.
I would also like to see the AO3 make public and direct statements in support of Black Lives Matter and fans of colour. I would like it to acknowledge that it is not always an easy place for fans of colour to exist and promise to do better, *with specifics*: specific things the AO3 is planning to do or explore, and then regular reporting against these targets. If the AO3 is currently taking time to think about those issues, I'd like to see a public statement about that, too. Again, I think these are important signals. I would compare the AO3 to another website a lot of fans use, Ravelry. Ravelry has demonstrated its willingness to lose users over its commitment to social justice. I am actively proud to use Ravelry and think it is a model for social networks. The AO3 could do a lot to learn from it.
Finally, the AO3 should consider hiring a professional, for actual dollars, to do some further work and reflection on what could make the AO3 better for fans of colour. That might include getting professionals to help survey AO3 and develop a code of conduct. Just as with coding there are limits on what volunteers can do, so there are limits on what volunteer fans of colour can do to get AO3 to change, particularly given the same structural and cultural racism that the AO3 surely has not escaped as it has developed from structurally racist cultures.
Thanks for taking the time to read this feedback. It's not complete and picks out only what I consider the highlights of extensive discussion about changes the AO3 could make to become a less welcoming home for racism. I know that some of these ideas appear to challenge fundamental principles of the AO3 but I urge you to consider them seriously along with other ideas that are being presented. Because, again, if the AO3 is not actively for fans of colour, it will be for racism, and that is not the AO3 I want to spend time on.
Best wishes,
labellementeuse
no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 12:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-17 11:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-20 05:59 am (UTC)(Q. Who did you send it to? I've written one, and I'm like, does it go to the OTW Board of Directors, or to the AO3 directly, or...?)
no subject
Date: 2020-06-20 07:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-20 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-06-20 05:54 pm (UTC)