Archive of Our Own (AO3) seems like a site that will literally allow anything, doesn't it? They have works on such legally dubious subject matter as biblical porn, explicit pedophilia (already having over 150,000 results!) and an entire section dedicated to libel (“real person fiction” or “RPF”, as they call it).
But you would be very mistaken to think that they don't censor their website—they absolutely will delete works that the mods don't like regardless of whether it violates their Terms of Service. I've filed complaints about enough works on AO3 and checked weeks later to see if the works were ever removed to know that even when a work explicitly violates the TOS, they're rarely deleted. Instead, they cherry pick the content they censor.
I posted a fic on AO3 recently which I've copied in its entirety below. Warning: Explicit content ahead. If you don't care to read all the generic smut, just skip to the last paragraph. Please also keep in mind that this is not a debate about the quality of the fic, whether you thought what I wrote was “wrong”, etc. Respecting free speech means not restricting an author's words just because you don't agree with them and to give readers the chance to make judgments on the work for him or herself.
Harry loved Draco's sharp mind and fierce competitive instinct. Yet they only made it better when Harry could do this, get to see this: Draco dazed by pleasure, his sharp edges softened, the mind briefly overwhelmed by the body.
And the heart, Harry might have thought, except then Draco would sense it and mock him forever. As if Draco weren't incredibly soppy sometimes. He'd spent a full three hours introducing Harry to the Malfoy portraits and earnestly requesting their approval, hand clutching Harry's nervously tight. When Great-Uncle Septimus had said no, Draco had conjured a bucket of turpentine and waved it until his ancestor got with the program.
Harry smiled besottedly down at Draco and shoved two fingers into his ass.
Draco's eyes widened, a small sound escaping him. He was hot inside, and slick with lube and Harry's come. Harry just kept his fingers there for a few moments, enjoying being inside Draco once more. Even better was holding Draco's eyes while he did it. Draco's body tautened a little from its post-orgasmic lassitude, his breathing speeding a little. Harry grinned, exulting in the slightly nervous anticipation in Draco's face as Harry flexed his fingers.
Harry watched every twitch and change in Draco's face as he fingered him slowly. He held Draco's gaze, refusing to let him hide the prickling, oversensitive pleasure Harry was inflicting. Draco turned his face away, closing his eyes. Harry pumped his fingers harder in retaliation, and Draco tightened round Harry's fingers.
“Merlin, Harry, I can't... I just came, I can't deal with...”
“All right,” Harry told him. “Green, yellow, red?”
It was a sincere question, but there was an undeniable thrill in watching Draco's cheeks turn pink as he was forced to admit he wanted this. “Green,” he muttered.
“Pardon?” said Harry, scissoring his fingers.
“Green,” Draco snarled, glaring. The glare collapsed into a groan as Harry slipped a third finger into him.
“See, there you are,” Harry cooed. “I know you just can't get enough of this, of me fucking you till you can't see straight.”
Draco laughed a little; the sound hitched as Harry nudged his prostate. “I never see straight, haven't you heard? When a hot man walks by I see anything but straight.”
Harry smiled. “But it's just me who gets to drive you out of your fucking mind.” He thrummed his fingers inside Draco. Draco's kiss-bruised mouth opened on a gasp.
“Celebrities,” Draco huffed. “You always say you're not but clearly you're getting big-headed.”
Harry wriggled a little, getting comfortable between Draco's thighs. Draco slung his legs over Harry's shoulders in response, easing Harry's access to his hole. His cock was hardening, looking almost painfully flushed. Draco tried valiantly to ignore this fact and Harry's smirk. Harry stroked him inside, finding the sensitive places he'd learnt through careful study. Draco made a soft sound, like biting back a groan.
“You're delusional,” said Draco. He sounded close to laughing, yet there was undeniable strain in his voice as he tried to keep it even, pretending that Harry's touch wasn't affecting him. “You think you're so sexy and dominant, but you're just getting nutty from all the wizards sending you pornographic fan letters. I always knew it. Helpless in the face of praise, that's you.”
“Funny,” said Harry. “That's how I think of you.” Draco looked outraged, but his retort dissolved into a groan as Harry pumped his fingers in a steady rhythm. “Go on, let yourself,” Harry told him. “I know how much you want this. You can't help yourself.”
Draco made an outraged noise, but his back arched uncontrollably as Harry worked his prostate. “You don't know what you're t-talking about,” Draco said, voice wobbling as his thighs went tight over Harry, his body curling in round Harry's fingers. Desire tightened Harry's throat as he watched. “I don't need this. I would do just fine with your molesting hands all over me on a regular basis.”
“Oh, it's okay,” Harry soothed. “I know what you need. You're mine, don't worry, so I'll give you what you need. You don't have to hide it.” Draco writhed on Harry's hand, twitching with every movement of Harry's fingers inside him. “I can feel your hot little hole all tight around me, you just want more, don't you?” he crooned. “Want to fuck me and get fucked, feel me all over you.” Draco was huffing for breath, straining not to react; Harry's own breath caught that rhythm as he felt Draco squirm. Draco's cheeks were stained red with embarrassment that just wound them both up more.
“I love doing this to you, you know? Especially after sex. You're all sensitive and open and hot for me, it's so...” Harry trailed off in the face of Draco's groans, how he quivered with Harry's words. He hadn't been lying; Draco so vulnerable to pleasure was a thing to be savored, and watching him get wrecked by this sent lust thumping through Harry's blood. He finally took hold of Draco's cock, stroking it in counterpoint to his fingers inside.
Draco tossed his head, thighs quivering round Harry. Recognizing the signs, Harry eased things down again; slowing his hand on Draco's cock, stilling his fingers inside him. He wasn't ready for Draco to come again, wasn't ready to give this up; watching Draco squirm desperately, helpless in the face of Harry's hands working him up or soothing him down, putting him through his paces with relentless pleasure.
Draco growled at him faintly, thumping his head back against the mattress, but didn't push. Harry's body felt overheated, his hair sticking to his temples from sweat though he'd barely moved in a while. He tried to distract both himself and Draco.
“So, d'you think the Tornadoes'll win their game this week?”
“Potter, what on earth are you wittering about?”
“Sorry,” said Harry with badly-faked innocence, “did you need me to be doing something else?”
Draco scowled at him murderously then flopped down. “Of course the Tornadoes won't win their game this week. All these years of Quidditch and you're – you're – still an idiot, d-did you forget their Keeper's still injured and the r-reserve is – ” He broke off on a groan. “God, Potter, you know that drives me mad.”
“What, you mean this?”
Draco gave a long moan that made Harry's mouth go dry. He kept rubbing at Draco's prostate steadily, other hand on Draco's cock. He couldn't have made himself stop, feeling Draco come apart under his hands, nonsense spilling from that kiss-reddened mouth.
He managed to leave off before Draco came, which was apparently the last straw.
“Potter, you bastard!”
“Ready to admit you fucking love it when I – ”
“Yes, but that's not – I can't take it any more.”
“What?”
“I can't take it any more!”
Positioning his ass over Harry's face, Draco shot the largest turd he's ever shat directly into his lover's mouth which Harry hungrily ate up. They then lay together, panting and sweaty, completely incapable of higher brain function...just like the people reading this trollfic!
Author's Note:
As much as you might rush to label me a homophobe for this, you're the one that's reading yaoi fics that completely contradict canon. If you think these types of fics are actually improving canon or if you avoid reading any straight fics, that actually makes you a heterophobe.
If you go to a fandom with canonical same-sex relationships, isn't it funny how you'll find a serious lack of fics featuring noncanonical straight pairings? That's simply because we don't make those types of fics since we actually have more than two brain cells to rub together. We don't just see hot people on screen and immediately think “OMG I want them rubbing their genitals together right now!!!!1” #truthhurts
Thank god for the M/M exclusion filter, or as I like to call it (when applied to fandoms with only straight 'ships), “the quickest way to remove 95% of idiocy” filter.
Flames are welcome and will be used to make myself a nice steak dinner. Enjoy your day!
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AO3 sent the following email to me:
I sent the below reply/appeal:
And here's their reply several days later:
There's so much to unpack here that I'll need to go through it section by section. But one thing that stands out like a sore thumb is that there's absolutely no reference to their TOS in their reply, as if they're pulling this pitiful attempt at justification for their censorship straight out of their ass.
In your example, some artists 1) use the melodies of other artists but 2) change the lyrics. The second point is critical here. By coming up with new lyrics for the song, they have added a transformative element: they have added something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the source with new expression, meaning, or message. If they did not change the lyrics substantially, then they would simply be copying the original artist's work.
This is clearly just their opinion on when something is different enough from a copyrighted work to be deemed transformative. I still disagree with their interpretation, especially since they had no counterargument for my assertion that, unlike many parody musicians, I was not motivated by profit and was not attempting to make money off my parody/satirical fic which are two of the main factors to be weighed when deciding if a work is infringing or not.
96% of your work is you copying 77% of Lokifan's work. The only original material you contributed to the work you posted was 43 words (4%) at the end. Simply adding 43 words onto the end of 1,135 words written by someone else does not meaningfully transform the other person's words in any way. You have simply copied their words, and then added a brief remark of your own. Unlike "Weird Al" Yankovic or other parody songwriters who create their own lyrics, you have not made any substantive change to the work you posted. Although you claim that your 4% contribution changes the 'tone' of the work, you have only changed the tone of 4% of the work. The other 96% of the words are the same as if they had been read in the original context.
Adding insults or a brief joke does not, by itself, make something satire or parody. You have to also create your own transformative work, or else you're just reposting someone else's work and then making a joke about it. That is what you have done here.
Your work is very clearly copyright infringement. Moreover, it is plagiarism, as you did not credit the original author of 96% of your work, and instead presented it as your own words.
A formal warning and the removal of the work is the standard penalty for engaging in copyright infringement and plagiarism of this scale. At the Policy & Abuse committee's discretion, we may offer a user the chance to edit their work instead, but this is not required by the Terms of Service. Our standard practice is to offer a user a chance to edit when they have quoted too much material from someone else's work (thereby committing copyright infringement), but have also included a substantial amount of their own original content. A work that consists of more than 90% plagiarism and contains less than 100 original words is well below qualification for such consideration.
We apologize for the lack of clarity in our prior email regarding why you are in violation of our harassment policies (Section IV.G. of our Terms of Service). It is not because you wrote content that is negative about characters or a specific pairing. If you had simply written your own scatological joke fic about this pairing instead of committing copyright infringement and plagiarism, and posted it without any additional notes, then we would not have contacted you.
And all of the above is also solely this mod's opinion of when a work has enough original content to qualify as non-infringing under their own made-up standards which are strangely just so very particular and demanding when it comes to this type of fic that so many fanfic readers find offensive. Notice how the mod didn't cite to anything (not their TOS, the law of any country, nothing!) to support their claims. Since AO3's TOS doesn't state anything about how much of a work can be borrowed from another work before it's considered plagiarism/copyright infringement by their standards, how much do you want to bet that the standard they use is based entirely on how badly they want to delete the fic and not at all on a consistent, fair standard?
And despite the wordiness of the mod's response in relation to the plagiarism allegation, I'm still left without any concrete guidance of what their standard is because all they told me is that “a work that consists of more than 90% plagiarism and contains less than 100 original words is well below qualification” and their TOS only seems to indicate that their standard for determining that a work is infringing is very low: “Simply finding and replacing names, substituting synonyms, or rearranging a few words is not enough to make the work original to you.”
Furthermore, there are over 58,000 works tagged as “songfics” which are fics that use copyrighted song lyrics either in part or in full within the fic. So clearly, their commitment to defending the Internet against plagiarism/copyright infringement is very minimal, especially considering that most songs, unlike fanworks, are very frequently monetized and thus a musician's livelihood is actually threatened when their copyrighted work is infringed, unlike a fanfic writer who could not have profited from their derivative work.
In reference to the length of the original part of my fic, there are currently over 254,000 works that have under 100 words on AO3 and several hundred fics using the “1 sentence fiction” tag (and yes, they're fics that are literally just one sentence long). The mod even stated that, simply by removing all the “plagiarized” portions and not including my author note, they wouldn't have deleted my fic. Considering that it would have been so quick and easy for me to simply remove something from the fic, I wonder why they didn't give me the chance to? Geez, it's almost as if they just wanted any excuse they could find to delete my fic and give me a strike for failing to abide by these nonexistent parts of their TOS! And their TOS threatens (harasses?) to permanently “suspend” users (not just accounts) for enough violations of their TOS.
However, you did not post your own work. Instead you infringed upon someone else's work, used tags and a summary designed to attract readers who like a specific pairing, and then used the notes of your work to berate and insult those readers that you deliberately attracted. You stated that anyone who creates or enjoys works about non-canonical same-sex pairings doesn't have "more than two brain cells to rub together" and accused them of "heterophobia" based on their preferences in fanfiction. This is harassment and is not acceptable behavior on the Archive.
The Archive was founded to be a home for transformative fiction. We allow all types of transformative fiction that is legal in the United States. However, we are not a social media site and we do not provide equal protection to all other types of speech, including nonfictional commentary. In particular, we are not obliged to provide a platform for commentary that is designed to harass other users into not creating certain types of transformative works.
Your appeal is denied, and the warning on your account stands.
The amount of effort this mod went to to defend their bias is pitiful. Once again, they stick to their prejudiced definition of harassment which is not reflected in the actual definition of this word (“aggressive pressure or intimidation”) nor the explanations of what constitutes harassment from AO3's own TOS: “threatening Content will be considered harassment, while Content that is merely annoying will be allowed” and “we will not remove Content for offensiveness, no matter how awful, repugnant, or badly spelled we may personally find that Content to be.” Needless to say, I'm glad I didn't waste my time making this fic from scratch since they were clearly going to shoehorn in some reason for deleting it no matter what (as this proves).
They also complain that, by tagging the fic appropriately with the pairing contained throughout the entire fic, I've done something wrong by “attracting” readers who are fans of that pairing (that's literally the whole point of using a pairing tag) even though their TOS states that “failure to use an appropriate rating or Archive warning is not a violation of the abuse policy” and “it is our policy to defer to creators' categorizations.”
Also, note how the mod didn't respond at all to many of my very valid arguments, such as how my fic actually created renewed interest in Lokifan's 7-year-old fic and thus served as promotion for the complete and un-satirized version of it or how my fic had an important social purpose by bringing attention to the heterophobic attitudes of many yaoi fans that I've observed on social media. It's like the mod didn't have any counterargument for them because they knew I was right and yet they didn't care because they just wanted my fic gone that badly.
This line, however, takes the cake: “...we do not provide equal protection to all other types of speech, including nonfictional commentary.” By “equal protection”, they specifically mean “the right to not have your entire fic deleted because we didn't like something you wrote.” This is even in spite of AO3 hosting thousands of nonfictional works, such as “essays” and “nonfiction”. It's also ridiculous to make such a statement considering AO3 allows fiction based on real people and even has an entire section of the site dedicated to it. Nonsensically, this mod's statement means that they only openly invite libelous content and don't welcome anything that isn't libel (in other words, anything that's true). So AO3 expressly condones telling lies about real people. But telling the truth? Oh, now that's going too far!
RPF isn't limited to celebrities either as nothing in their TOS says you can't post a real person fic about, for instance, a fanfic writer you hate, and they even helpfully have an all-inclusive “fandom” you can post such a fic to. And AO3's definition of celebrity is clearly very loose since many minor Youtubers are included in their RPF “fandom” list.
Why would AO3 even provide the option to add an author note if they're so hostile toward nonfictional statements? This is the space where authors routinely discuss the creation of the fic, their own life, their reactions to people's comments and other “nonfictional” topics. Just the fact that there's a clickable box to add such a note to a fanwork is clearly AO3's implied consent for you to do so. As such, it behooves them to add particular language to their TOS which sets forth their policy on nonfictional comments added to works posted to AO3 if said comments are going to have higher standards for what's considered acceptable than fictional statements have. Again, this is simply another TOS addendum they're pulling out of their ass.
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So you heard it straight from the horse's mouth: AO3 doesn't care about protecting your right to free speech even when it doesn't violate their TOS or the law in any way, shape or form and you're only allowed to view the version of their website they want you to see, one which certainly seems like it's pushing a certain agenda.
AO3, your bias is showing. Big time. Might wanna scale that back a notch. I know I'll be linking to this blog post anytime I post a work or comment on AO3 from now on and I would encourage everyone else to get the word out about this as well.
I realize the organization behind AO3 is a nonprofit and the fact that their filters allow you to avoid seeing a lot of content you don't like is nice, but they clearly need to be more transparent (in the form of detailed reports about works deleted from the site, for instance) and to think a lot harder before force-deleting someone's fic for any reason and especially when the justification for the deletion has to be shoehorned in. They have this handy “Archive warning” system that's supposed to allow even the controversial content to have a place on the Archive so maybe they should learn how to make better use of it in lieu of censoring their site.
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