I posted this in the other (now locked) thread, but this is my stance on it:
The argument the mods put forth is that by allowing allowing Aryanne to be posted, they are enabling the spread of real, hateful Nazi ideology.
The problem with this stance is just how easy it is to prove that, yes, actually believing in the Nazi ideology is illogical and resorting to violence is wrong. Yet when you ban characters like Aryanne who are largely made in jest and not to be taken seriously at all you are the one legitimizing them. You are the ones who are making it seem like pictures of a cartoon horse somehow present an actual argument powerful enough to sway people to support white nationalism. It’s absolutely ridiculous, but that is what you are implying that you believe when you censor her.
If you think that somehow yes, in fact, her continued existence is contributing to the spread of Nazi ideology regardless of how easy Nazi ideology is to disprove, then you are insinuating that your entire userbase is too idiotic to be able to make logical and rational decisions based on the information presented. But of course you seem to think you know better and as people in a position of power you believe it is your responsibility to shelter these sheep from ideas which will lead them to hate, otherwise gasp you’re as bad as a Nazi.
Can you not see how insulting this is? Not only are you implying that simple pictures in memes are somehow powerful enough to convince people to support Nazi ideology, but your actions imply that you believe that your userbase as a whole isn’t rational enough to be able to see just how illogical Nazi-ism actually is.
You know what a better solution would be?
Post links to information regarding the horrors of the holocaust in a box below the images of Aryanne and other images you believe are ‘supporting Nazis’, but keep the images up. This shows that you believe that things like what Aryanne is portrayed as believing have no power in the face of actual facts.
You could post links to information regarding the atrocities of the gulags and communism below images supporting communism as well.
By censoring art, you appear to be legitimizing the point it is making by implying that logic is not strong enough to stand against it. And that you don’t believe enough in the strength of your own arguments to win people over without resorting to forceful tactics.
I am personally in support of the policy of blocking the tags you don’t like. But if the moderators really believe (without any solid evidence, if there is evidence I’d like to see it, ‘it’s obvious’ isn’t evidence) that portraying characters like Aryanne as cute somehow spreads hateful or white supremacist ideologies, and if they really believe that they are somehow responsible for this alleged spread and must go beyond their original responsibilities of simply stopping ad-hominem attacks, spam, and whatnot, then I propose looking into solutions that would actually be effective at stopping the spread of hate.
You stop the spread of ignorance and hate with education and understanding. Not censorship and fear.
Censorship only serves to ingrain the hate you seek to fight even further into this community.