Wattpad looks likely to ban ABDL content soon

[BabySofia]

14 minutes ago, EroticAvenger said:

That's happened? As in archives of this sort of been tried and notoriously were shut down?

Most notable in recent memory was Patreon kicking off nearly every ABDL author. (There's a couple still somehow that I'm not sure how they survived....?) WattPad is only the next one. Patreon was probably related to investor issues it seemed like. I truly think WattPad is making changes to be in line with some of the 'decency' laws that are being put into place. In the US, Texas is one state that is making it mandatory that adult content be only allowed after checking ID is verified for age. There's a suit that the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay while it runs through the appeals courts today.

Any site that has any US ties is likely to get sued by that State AG with as much of an aggressive stance as he's taken. Case in point: a site like WattPad, if they have adult content, could inevitably end up in the middle. The odd thing for WattPad is they are a Canadian-owned site, though.

I don't think AO3 will initially get caught up in the suits, but this site might draw attention. I don't think many people even consider hosting things like this in a state like Texas, but they'll go after people out of state. They've already tried doing that for medical records of transgender patients that they think are underage and getting treatment. 

The annoying thing to me is I don't ever go into detail on sex in my works so that I consider my novels to be way less steamy than most romance books. That being said, we all know how it goes when ABDL sites get attention.

[Babypants]

9 minutes ago, BabySofia said:

In the US, Texas is one state that is making it mandatory that adult content be only allowed after checking ID is verified for age.

As an admittedly low tech person, I can only ask: is it difficult or expensive to install an ID, age verified firewall on a site like this?  I'm puzzled as to why this hasn't been done proactively.

[BabySofia]

1 minute ago, Babypants said:

I'm puzzled as to why this hasn't been done proactively.

Privacy. Most people do not want their embarrassing secrets out there. Many times sites/databases, even for companies like CapitalOne, AT&T, and others, get hacked, and their names, email addresses, driver's licenses, social security numbers, etc., get out. I know I've got at least two of those breaches that have happened to me recently. Imagine a site like this probably wouldn't have as solid of security as a major corporation like that, which means it's one hack from everyone knowing your real name and what you're into. 

To be fair, I have that same paranoia when I buy diapers and ABDL gear...  Still, I'm sure you can see how that would cause a lot of pause there!

I'm guessing a 3rd party might be able to come up with a solution (and I think there are some out there already). 

[Babypants]

2 minutes ago, BabySofia said:

Privacy. Most people do not want their embarrassing secrets out there. Many times sites/databases, even for companies like CapitalOne, AT&T, and others, get hacked, and their names, email addresses, driver's licenses, social security numbers, etc., get out

Makes sense.  I have also had a couple of accounts breached over the last couple of years.  Close the accounts, set up new ones with new passwords-- it's all a hassle.  It certainly could happen here, and it's easy to see why our AB/DL members would be skittish.  

[Baby Jemma]

Well, at least I have AO3 and here...for now. I live in a red state (Missouri), and I'm also worried about potential Supreme Court decisions; if Texas is enacting laws like this, I can't imagine Missouri will be far behind; we're easily one of the most conservative and anti-LGBTQI+ states in the United States (which, as a transwoman, scares the shit out of me).

I worry about this site more than AO3, honestly. AO3 has been allowing ABDL (and, really, a lot of other stuff) since its inception because they wanted the writers to have freedom in what they wrote. It honestly helps that there's pseudos as well; I've got two: one for regular fanfiction, one for my ABDL fiction).

But this site...well, I don't even post most of my ABDL fiction here because I simply don't want to post something that might get all of my stories banned (there's a lot of heavy stuff in my works). But the main reason for my concern is because of the state I live in. Like Sofia said, I'm worried about someone getting my info, doxing me, revealing what I'm into to people I don't trust. I'm kinda paranoid about that as well; people whom I've revealed to that I trusted have burned me twice before - and there's absolutely no way in hell I want my sperm donor to find out.

[Little Giammy]

On 5/1/2024 at 4:22 AM, LGGrace said:

1) Host the site on a server in a more accepting country for sexual/kink stuff like Germany or the Netherlands.  Members in the US would use a VPN to access the site.

why a VPN? I'm from Italy and I use the site without it

[Brown Owl]

AO3 is unlikely to remove adult content.. They are a nonprofit with lawyers. But still "Get your own forking website applies"

[LGGrace]

2 hours ago, Little Giammy said:

why a VPN? I'm from Italy and I use the site without it

A VPN would apply to people in the states.

[LittleAcorn]

2 hours ago, Brown Owl said:

AO3 is unlikely to remove adult content.. They are a nonprofit with lawyers. But still "Get your own forking website applies"

I've thought about this a little, and think the problem with patreon and possibly wattpad are the payment card networks.  Pornhub had problems a couple years ago.  Here's an article from the FT about it (paywalled, so linked via an archive):

https://archive.ph/ZiHnu

AO3 seems pretty strict about staying away from payments (i.e. you can't even link to patreon), so they seem unlikely to run afoul of those issues.

Not sure this applies to the more recent legislative attempts, but in the US I'm hopeful those won't succeed - I don't have enough knowledge of international issues to comment on that.

[Elfy]

It isn't as easy as just making a website. Many have tried that and it's very hard to get it to take off. Most recently I look at LegitFic and ARArchive as two that have been set up specifically for ABDLs but getting people to visit and use the sites is harder than making them.

Wattpad isn't very good and I think part of the problems ABDLs are having with them is that they are very trigger happy with removals. I had stories taken down a year or so ago and when I asked why certain stories were a problem whilst others weren't they never got back to me. It's very strange considering some of the slop on there...

There were rumours recently that DA was starting to cause trouble for ABDLs. A couple of stories disappeared around the same time but as far as I know that might've been a coincidence since there hasn't been a problem since (as far as I'm aware).

AO3 is both good and bad. I really like their free-for-all approach to rules. Pretty much nothing is banned. It does mean you get some reprehensible stuff on there but it also means you can find a lot of niches that aren't available elsewhere. It's easy to post on, easy to comment, easy to save stories to a library, just generally very easy to use from both a writer and a reader's standpoint.

My one complaint about AO3, and it is a selfish one, is that you aren't allowed to link to any pay site (or link to something that then links to a pay site.) I understand where they are coming from, they want it to be non-profit and that is a noble goal, but for people like me it doesn't help beyond getting more eyes on my stories and hoping they find me elsewhere. It's a shame because they have a bit at the start and end of each chapter where you can leave author notes which would be the perfect place to put the links in a non-obtrusive way!

Still, I hate, hate, hate seeing sites crack down on ABDL content. We're increasingly struggling to find places where we can just not worry about waking and finding all our work has disappeared. If it isn't puritanical subscription sites kicking us off for vaguely defined reasons such as "I don't like that! Icky!" it's websites like Wattpad and DA using AI and increasingly tightening rules to satisfy advertisers.

On 5/2/2024 at 12:36 AM, Baby Jemma said:

But this site...well, I don't even post most of my ABDL fiction here because I simply don't want to post something that might get all of my stories banned

I'll say, we only very, very rarely outright remove stories. Normally if a story gets reported and we decide something needs to be done we'll contact the author to see if we can work something out. Really, the only hard no-no is sexual stuff with minors in it.

[messyman]

On 4/1/2024 at 6:01 PM, BabySofia said:

So I just followed the Rabbit Hole and saw they updated content guidelines on March 20th. I also note it's Canadian laws they're finding applicable, and I vaguely remember them being Canada based? If I remember correctly Canada had some other laws that may be in play here too. Maybe some Canadians might be able to comment? The good news is that means they shouldn't be affected by crazy US state laws?

By the letter of the law written and drawn stuff can be considered CP in most Commonwealth countries. I don't know if anyone has been arrested or charged but it is possible.

[littlebopeeper]

 

3 hours ago, messyman said:

By the letter of the law written and drawn stuff can be considered CP in most Commonwealth countries

CP?

[ValentinesStuff]

2 hours ago, littlebopeeper said:

 

CP?

Below consent age nasty stuff.

 

If I'm understanding German law correctly simply writing about consenting adults with an infant in an one room apartment having sex is CP.

[DLClayMongoose]

On 4/28/2024 at 7:52 PM, LittleAcorn said:

You mean like an archive? Of our own?

😆

I mean make a site dedicated to diaper fics!