Yeah, I vehemently disagree with some of the opinions expressed in that thread once it started going in a different direction. But I still think there is some value in sparking a good faith debate on such difficult subjects. I hope that this place can still respectfully discuss unpopular opinions like that in the future without being too heavy handed moderation-wise.
Might be overthinking this. The instance rules already don’t allow most IRL content and anything that looks underage, so that more controversial stuff is not even an issue here and it might be a little redundant to make another rule about it. Probably the most edgy thing that’s left to worry about are drawings of zoo/beast stuff, which you could probably exclude just on the basis that it’s off-topic or no longer considered “furry”.
Edit: If things ever get too confusing, I always bring it back to the fantasy vs. reality standard. It’s one of the few principles I’ve found that holds up to scrutiny and helps moderators maintain their sanity. Otherwise it’s way too easy to justify or rationalize any number of reasons why a particular kink is right or wrong, and it usually devolves into how the individual feels in the moment.
While I’m still of the opinion that most fictional content is pretty much harmless and I’d prefer to include more content rather than exclude, after some of the wild takes and tangents I was seeing the other day, maybe it is wise to pump the brakes a little bit. Seems sensible for this community for now at least.
I get that a lot of furry stuff isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Yeah, I’ve seen some pretty weird fetishes over the years that I don’t really understand the appeal of. But I’m actually kind of surprised this is even an issue that people are worried about, at least to a degree that is worth mentioning. This stuff seems quite tame in comparison to some of the early internet forums of old. And at the end of the day, this is all fictional. If the ones viewing it are mature adults, it hurts literally no one. The drawings don’t have feelings.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Lemmy is a fantastic Reddit clone, and federation is great for persistence, but it completely lacks nuance in how content is delivered. Defederation is only going to further fragment the platform. No one is going to be totally happy with it until the onus is primarily on the individual, rather than the community or instance.
As a user, I want choice. Give me settings. Give me more control. Then if I see something I don’t like, or something I’d rather change, that’s on me. That sounds much better than hoping and waiting for a level-headed admin to figure it out for me, or making yet another account when they get it wrong.
We’ll never get anywhere if all the admins are afraid of getting on everyone else’s “bad side” for content they can barely control themselves.