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From: Flickr Support
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2008 5:49 PM
To: dan widrew
Subject: Marked as restricted
Hello kingnixon,
We've changed the safety level of your photostream to "restricted".
As per our Community Guidelines, content like that in your account is not considered "safe" for everyone to view. You may or may not be aware that Flickr has a Safe Search system. When people browse or search on Flickr, they can filter what they see based on a safety level that they are comfortable with - either Safe Search is on, set to moderate, or off. In order for Safe Search to work, we relying on *you* to filter your content appropriately. As you upload stuff to Flickr, you need to make sure that you're applying appropriate filters (safe, moderate or restricted) and telling us what sort of content it is (photos, video, screenshots, art & illustration). If you don't apply filters correctly, there's a very good chance another member will let us know - in fact that's why we've taken action today. (No need to be upset - it's every member's right to let us know if they ever feel uncomfortable. Yours too.)
We want Flickr to be a place that everyone can enjoy. That means making sure that potentially offensive content is filtered from public, safe areas of the site. If you read our Community Guidelines, you'll see the key points are:
play nice, upload things that you have created yourself, and respect the fact that there are millions of people visiting Flickr who may not see the world the same way you do. Use your common sense about whether or not your content is suitable for a global, public audience. If the answer is no, you need to filter it from public view.
You should also know that if we receive another report about your content or conduct, it's very likely we'll terminate your account.
So, please take a moment to find out how to work with safety levels, use 'em, and everybody's happy!
Regards,
Terrence
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From: dan widrew
Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2008 7:19 PM
To: Flickr Support
Subject: RE: Marked as restricted
so are you planning to tell me what the problem with my content is, or am i supposed to guess?
and i agree, it's everyone's right to be uncomfortable and to say so when they are. for example, i am currently extremely uncomfortable that my entire account can be restricted and all i am told about it is a form letter that doesn't tell me what the complaint is, what content people are bothered by, why it bothers them, and whether or not flickr's staff agreed (or even looked for themselves before restricting me). it's just vague boilerplate about the virtues of censoring anything that anyone could conceivably be bothered by, and then a threat of terminating my account if i repeat whatever it is i've been accused of doing wrong.
which, to emphasise, i still have not been informed of. does someone think my photos are offensive? should a photo of a painting or a shirt be called art instead of photo? is it the gay ad from the magazine? the dogs? the dragon? for all i know, maybe someone doesn't like dirty dishes.
~dan, unhappy flickr user
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From: dan widrew
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2008 1:13 PM
To: Flickr Support
Subject: RE: Marked as restricted
nearly 2 weeks later, i am still waiting to hear back about this. i find it very upsetting that flickr feels justified in censoring my account based on unspecified complaints from unspecified people about unspecified content which is offensive for unspecified reasons, and on top of that, you threaten to terminate my account if i repeat whatever it is i am accused of doing.
all i'm asking right now is to be told what content is at issue and why it is a problem. if this is too much to ask, then i have no interest dealing with such a company and i'll simply delete my account.
dan
