Moral Panics

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Re: Moral Panics

Postby shadylady » Sun Apr 20, 2014 6:51 am

Dad's Life Ruined For Something All Parents Do, But Probably Won't Anymore :smack:
Everyone involved with the persecution of this guy should lose their jobs, be sued for everything they own, and then be placed in prison for the rest of their lives. There is no excuse for such stupidity. It's easy to tell the difference between pornography and pictures that contain images of naked people. There is nothing difficult about that. You can blame it on the law being written in an unclear manner, but ultimately it's still human incapacity that results in situations like this. Apologists will say it was just human error and that it is human to err, but I say that any person who is not a complete moron should know the difference between naked pictures and porn. Here's a random comment someone left on YouTube that shows how easy it is.
Naked pictures of anyone is not porn, naked pictures of children is not child pornography. There has to be PORNOGRAPHIC CONTENT for it to be child pornography. Why do people seem to forget this? Are all parents child predators because they have the change their baby's diaper? Fuck no. I have a friend who kept getting a picture of her son taken off a website because he looked like a girl (long hair) and he didn't have a shirt on. He was ~4 years old at the time! Even if he was a girl, who gives a fuck?

PORNOGRAPHIC CONTENT = Involvement in actual sexual activity (e.g., performing oral sex, masturbation, etc.).
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Re: Moral Panics

Postby deathvalleyjake » Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:52 am

ShadyLady- Here's another comment that was left to the video. It's an explanation for why people do stupid things such as persecuting someone for child porn that isn't actually child porn:
All these cases are probably cases of CYA syndrome. Mostly this is a result of having superiors who are terribly strict and unsympathetic themselves, and that mentality seeps down into all layers below them. If you're a boss, and you're an asshole, you're likely to create employees who are assholes as well, because you're employees will be unlikely to use human judgement for fear of incuring your wrath. If you're an asshole boss who makes irrational, unsympathic judgements, your staff are much less likely to go off script, assuming that it's the safest way to cover their asses from the higher ups. That's why people do stupid shit like this.

I think this explanation is totally inadequate, but sometimes people feel that they simply just can't afford to lose their jobs and are willing to behave in an unethical manner in order to stay gainfully employed. I think your solution of loss of job, sued for everything they've got, and put in prison for life, might just be the remedy to this type of problem. If someone suffers from a case of CYA syndrome, the best treatment is to force that person to realize that their boss isn't their biggest worry!
:stirpot:
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Re: Moral Panics

Postby shadylady » Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:51 am

Virginia Prosecutor Educates Sexting Teens Rather Than Prosecuting Them
My guess is that very little sexting is actually illegal activity. Images of bare breasts, buttocks, or crotches are not actually pornography if we actually understand the letter of the law. It's only when sexual activity is depicted that an image becomes pornographic... which brings up the question as to whether or not even that should be illegal! How about a little freedom of speech in the land of the free?
When a moral panic really gets rolling, it often seems like there isn't enough inertia in the world to slow it down. It sure seemed that way to me when it came to "sexting", the term for people, often young folks who don't fully appreciate the consequences, sending around naked pictures of themselves or their friends.

Best comment left under article:
Though it's good to see a US authority actually talking about sex and sexting and doing what the rest of the Western countries have been doing for the last 10yrs in regards to 'sexting'. Education, personal responsibility, and understanding that 'nakedness' is NOT illegal per se ... is the real message that needs to be sent.

Nude is not lude is the real message that should be sent here. Exposure of genitals does not equal pornography and so the real reform that needs to be done is to stop treating sexting as something that is even illegal since unless sexual activity is depicted it's not illegal content... period!
LINK: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140416/06360826930/virginia-prosecutor-educates-sexting-teens-rather-than-prosecuting-them.shtml
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Re: Moral Panics

Postby shadylady » Sat May 10, 2014 9:03 am

The Glorious History Of Video Game Panics
My theory is that some people are just addicted to the emotional excitement of outrage and fear and just enjoy the melodrama of these moral panics over trivial things. It's actually kind of amusing to watch these moral panics in progress and you just kind of sit back and wonder how it is that these people can be so STUNNINGLY STUPID and actually say the things they say in all seriousness. Whether it's all the squawking over what is misleadingly called bullying, or fears that the world is coming to an end as a result of some video game or nasty book, or even the latest moral panic regarding molesters, or, for that matter, exaggerated fears about sexting or online predators, it seems that some people just enjoy the sensation of having their panties all in a bunch!
The bad news is that the media still enjoys whipping up a panic amongst naive adults who will believe their squawks about the dangers of some of these games. The good news is that, every time they have in the past, it only resulted in higher sales for those games, which will only spur on the eventual decline of the panic. Then we can all move on to the next panic. It'll probably be, I don't know, sex robots or something.

LINK: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140508/08394927165/glorious-history-video-game-panics.shtml
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Re: Moral Panics

Postby desertrat » Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:31 am

The Secret Service Wants Sarcasm Detection Software
Earlier in this thread wildrose posted about a teenager who was arrested for making a sarcastic comment while playing an online video game. (I include wildrose's post below since it was a while ago that the post was posted.) It would seem that the Secret Service is at least making an attempt to detect sarcasm. Apparently their agents aren't intelligent enough to figure it out and so they're working on computer software that can detect such statements!
:smack:

wildrose wrote:Teen Arrested for Sarcastic League of Legends Comment :mad2:
This is so disgustingly stupid that it's hard to believe that it's even possible. Legal authorities are supposed to be educated which means that they should understand things like sarcasm, figurative language, exaggeration, and other forms of non-literal expression. To pretend that this kid was serious and to charge him accordingly is the epitome of idiocy. It's this kind of idiocy that erodes the public's confidence in our legal system and which undermines the very foundation of our civilization. When people get into moral panic mode and start behaving like mindless zombies problems only get worse. I don't care what the issue is, moral panic mode is counter-productive! Quite frankly, I'd like to see legal authorities held accountable for this kind of action. They should lose their jobs and serve the sentence that they gave to the victim of their idiotic judgement.
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Re: Moral Panics

Postby panamint_patty » Tue Jul 01, 2014 1:15 pm

INTERNET HOAXES!
Most Moral Panics have a lot in common with Internet Hoaxes. Both appeal to people's sense of outrage or other hysterical emotional reactions. The main difference seems to be that Moral Panics last longer and may actually have a long-lasting impact, whereas hoaxes just cause a fleeting reaction that lasts long enough for someone to share the story with someone else who does the same.
:roll2:
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Re: Moral Panics

Postby shadylady » Wed Jul 16, 2014 10:50 am

Daddy-Daughter Date Goes Viral :thumb:
The video they're talking about has almost 8 million views in three days and most people really like the video, but there are critics who think it's creepy. If you think it's creepy, then you're probably stuck in moral panic mode and you really need to GET HELP!!!
:smack:
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Re: Moral Panics

Postby shadylady » Wed Jul 16, 2014 10:57 am

The Best First Date
Here's the actual video and like I said most people really like the video. There are over 18 thousand thumbs up and only 500 thumbs down. Also most of the comments are positive, but then there are the trolls who just have to say something negative:
This is absolutely disgusting! A grown man should not be dating a child! Pedophilia is wrong, the FBI are going to raid your ass and put you in jail.


Yeah, it's creepy and there are way to many fathers out there who have sick, perverted feelings towards their own daughters. Just the whole way it's presented is weird, he isn't the one to teach her how a man should treat her unless your talking about the whole grooming process that pedophiles practice. What else is he going to teach her that men do? How many more "dates" will they have. It's just perversion disguised as an innocent act but you can't expect these sick people to understand that. Child molesters and pedophiles have been in control for too long. Take your shit to hell with you and all the future pedos on here who defend you.

It's hard to say if these people are just trolling to get attention or if they really believe what they say. If they are serious, then they have issues that they need to deal with, but the best response I saw was this one:
Holy fuck! A parent spending time with his kid! The world is ending! Take your issues to a shrink and leave everyone else alone you sad sack of shit.

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Re: Moral Panics

Postby panamint_patty » Sat Aug 09, 2014 6:40 am

Cock Or Penis? This ‘Dirty Bird’ Logo Drums Up Controversy
Although this doesn't actually rise to the level of a moral panic, it does show how some people are way too prudish about some of the most insignificant things. The TYT gang does a good job with this one and ultimately they conclude that this is actually pretty funny and that young children won't even realize that some kind of sexual joke is embedded in the logo of this company. IMHO, people who are critical of this kind of humor have issues that they need to deal with.
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Re: Moral Panics

Postby shadylady » Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:49 am

panamint_patty: Got to agree! People who are so picky that they complain about something as insignificant as this really do have issues. Such pettiness is simply annoying!
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