AO3 also gives authors the ability to delete any comments from their own fics. So if you've ever wondered why the comments on AO3 are so overwhelmingly positive everywhere, now you know.
AO3 has deleted not just one but two more of my fanfics. I reproduced them in their entirety below (Warning: Explicit content ahead) but you won't miss much if you skip past them. Please note that this is not a debate about the quality of the fics, 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 empowering readers to make judgments about the work for him or herself (which they obviously can't do once the fic has been deleted).
Supernatural (TV series):
“Mm, what a spread. You look delicious. I need you inside me right this second,” Sam purrs in a low, sultry tone, his eyes reflecting an insatiable hunger.
“Oh, is that so? You think you can handle all of me?” replies Dean cheekily.
“You know how long I've been wanting this, ever since the day I first met you.”
“Well, I certainly wouldn't mind hearing it from those luscious lips of yours again and again as you take all of me in.”
Sam quivers in ecstasy. The mere thought of this sends a jolt of excitement coursing through his slender form. “I would come for you all day and all night. Just tell me when you're ready and I'll be there.”
“Mm...If you don't stop talking like that, I might have to fill that tight little hole of yours,” Dean retorts in a sexy tone.
“Is that really all you'll do? There is so, so much more that I would like to do to you.”
“Oh? Well, don't keep me in suspense!”
“Welllll...” Sam licks his lips before flashing a mischievous grin. He pulls down his pants and rips out a massive, throbbing cock. “But hey, before we fuck, I want to talk about a topic very important to me. It's about the heterophobic comments I've seen M/M shippers writing on social media. A lot of them don't realize that reverse discrimination is still discrimination, I guess because they've never read an equal opportunity law before. They call anyone who criticizes them homophobes and believe in the existence of a 'hetero agenda' that 'needs to be stopped'. That's an exact quote I saw on Reddit recently with over 10 upvotes! They also tend to just ship whatever two random hot guys they see regardless of how little sense it makes or if it contradicts any canonical relationships. They even think they're improving canon by making these fics, as if there was something wrong with the canonical relationships! I saw that one author even took the attempted justification of a recent decision to delete one of their fanfics for violating nonexistent provisions of AO3's Terms of Service and used it to make an exposé which you can read at the noncommercial website freespeechhub.blogspot.com. AO3 even has some made-up rule not mentioned in their TOS that allows them to delete someone's entire fic just because the writer made a 'nonfictional' comment that the mod didn't like! Can you believe that a website that has an entire section dedicated to libel, or 'real person fiction' as they call it, would be so hostile toward true statements?”
“Really? That's awful! How could people do such terrible things?! Especially since there's such a fine line between truth and fiction ever since Donald Trump started not ever shutting up and an author could just so easily write their nonfictional commentary into the fic itself,” Dean replies with an odd level of insight into the topic.
They then commence fucking each other with a level of passion greater than has ever been seen in any fanwork ever before. Unfortunately, mere words could not possibly describe such an immense level of passion adequately. Therefore, this is...
The end!
Sherlock (TV series):
“Mm, what a spread. You look delicious. I need you inside me right this second,” Sherlock purrs in a low, sultry tone, his eyes reflecting an insatiable hunger.
“Oh, is that so? You think you can handle all of me?” replies John cheekily.
“You know how long I've been wanting this, ever since the day I first met you.”
“Well, I certainly wouldn't mind hearing it from those luscious lips of yours again and again as you take all of me in.”
Sherlock quivers in ecstasy. The mere thought of this sends a jolt of excitement coursing through his slender form. “I would come for you all day and all night. Just tell me when you're ready and I'll be there.”
“Mm...If you don't stop talking like that, I might have to fill that tight little hole of yours,” John retorts in a sexy tone.
“Is that really all you'll do? There is so, so much more that I would like to do to you.”
“Oh? Well, don't keep me in suspense!”
“Welllll...” Sherlock licks his lips before flashing a mischievous grin. He pulls down his pants and rips out a massive, throbbing cock. “But hey, before we fuck, I want to talk about a topic very important to me. It's about the heterophobic comments I've seen M/M shippers writing on social media. A lot of them don't realize that reverse discrimination is still discrimination, I guess because they've never read an equal opportunity law before. They call anyone who criticizes them homophobes and believe in the existence of a 'hetero agenda' that 'needs to be stopped'. That's an exact quote I saw on Reddit recently with over 10 upvotes! They also tend to just ship whatever two random hot guys they see regardless of how little sense it makes or if it contradicts any canonical relationships. They even think they're improving canon by making these fics, as if there was something wrong with the canonical relationships! I saw that one author even took the attempted justification of a recent decision to delete one of their fanfics for violating nonexistent provisions of AO3's Terms of Service and used it to make an exposé which you can read at the noncommercial website freespeechhub.blogspot.com. AO3 even has some made-up rule not mentioned in their TOS that allows them to delete someone's entire fic just because the writer made a 'nonfictional' comment that the mod didn't like! Can you believe that a website that has an entire section dedicated to libel, or 'real person fiction' as they call it, would be so hostile toward true statements?”
“Really? That's awful! Those fans of noncanonical M/M ships really sound like a bunch of retards! How could people do such terrible things?! Especially since there's such a fine line between truth and fiction ever since Donald Trump started not ever shutting up and an author could just so easily write their nonfictional commentary into the fic itself,” John replies with an odd level of insight into the topic.
They then commence fucking each other with a level of passion greater than has ever been seen in any fanwork ever before. Unfortunately, mere words could not possibly describe such an immense level of passion adequately. Therefore, this is...
The end!
AO3 sent the following email to me on January 14, 2024:
I sent the following reply/appeal the same day:
And they sent this email a week later:
Although the normal timeframe for a work to be reviewed by a mod from the time it's reported is ~5 days, I got the first email just two days after posting the Sherlock fic which alleges that it and my Supernatural fic (which I had posted 3 weeks prior) were suddenly caught in a “spam filter” that, for some reason, didn't check my fics at the time I posted them (you know, when it would have made the most sense to do so).
I've received comments on fics I've posted to AO3 which are clearly spam (ie, generic comments that solely serve the purpose of offering an outside link to questionable content) and guess what? They're still there months later! Wow, what a spam filter! How funny that it seems to only catch the things the mods don't like! Almost as if the mods themselves run this alleged “filter”!
“Non-fanworks may not be uploaded to the Archive. Examples of non-fanworks include social media posts, fic searches, ads, prompts or requests, lists of other works, personal messages, empty works, and any other non-transformative content....Your works therefore do not count as fanwork content.”
Literally nothing of what they wrote was justification of any kind for this bogus conclusion. Furthermore, AO3 hosts hundreds of thousands of original works so this is clearly a lame excuse for deleting my fics. I have personally reported multiple works as being “empty works” (which are explicitly listed in the TOS as being a type of prohibited “work”) and yet AO3 has not deleted them and they're still accessible to the public even weeks later (and yes, they're still just empty works).
“Repeated identical or nearly identical posts in multiple places, e.g., a large number of identical comments promoting a website, will also be considered spam regardless of commercial content.”
The mod clearly went through the TOS with a fine-tooth comb after they realized that their original reasons for deleting my fics were ridiculous. It's unfair to me that they cited a totally new attempted justification for deleting my fics in a reply which I have no opportunity to counter now that their decision is final. It's also incredibly vindictive of them to delete two fics that simply mention a website which contains an exposé on AO3 censorship (and after they unsuccessfully tried to have it permanently deleted, to boot!), especially since they didn't even give me the chance to simply remove the reference to the website which would have constituted only an incredibly minor change to the fics.
Their TOS gives an example of spam as “a large number” of comments promoting a website. In whose mind does two qualify as a large number?! Their TOS even threatens (harasses?) to immediately and permanently ban a user (not merely an account) for spam. It should be abundantly clear that banning a user due to a mere two minor references to a noncommercial website within a much larger “post” is the definition of tyrannical.
Neither of the other fics on my AO3 account (the two that AO3 didn't actually delete simply because those fics didn't tick off the mods enough) make reference to this website. Yet a whooping two references to the site suddenly made both fics with said reference qualify as spam? And despite the fact that authors routinely reference various social media (commercial!) sites in their fics, profiles and comments? Gosh, this spam filter really seems particular to a certain type of content if it considers links to noncommercial websites to be a bigger threat than the commercial ones, especially since the TOS explicitly states that “promotion of commercial products or activities is not allowed.” If they actually bothered to enforce this provision, this would involve the deletion of a sizable percentage of the works on the site! Luckily, they only target the fics they personally don't like instead of enforcing the TOS fairly and consistently because otherwise, people visiting AO3 wouldn't have much to read, now would they?
You know what would be fair? If AO3 just used the dictionary definition of the term spam: “irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the internet to a large number of recipients.” Needless to say, there was nothing inappropriate about linking to a noncommercial website that exposes AO3 censorship (unless you're a truth/free speech hater). Nor was it irrelevant for characters having a conversation about fanfiction to reference a website that tackles the topic of censorship on what is currently (and unfortunately) the biggest fanfiction database on the Internet.
Note how the mod didn't answer my question of what percentage a fic needs to be different from any other work so that it isn't considered “nearly identical” to another “post.” This definitely does nothing to increase my confidence that they aren't just using some arbitrary standard based solely on how badly the mods want to delete a fic.
“Section IV.G. of our Terms of Service states, 'Harassment is any behavior that produces a generally hostile environment for its target. This includes activities such as bullying and hazing by groups of people as well as personal attacks by individuals.' Calling other users a slur is considered a personal attack. Your works are therefore in violation of Section IV.G.”
Everyone has their own definition of what constitutes harassment that just so happens to coincide with whatever their biases are (as people tend to view anything that feels like a personal attack on their own self more harshly). It's clearly deceptive to cite a generic line about harassment from their TOS when there's a more specific one AO3 should have cited to instead (“threatening Content will be considered harassment, while Content that is merely annoying will be allowed”). Notice how they used this as justification to delete both fics despite only one of them containing an alleged “slur.” Furthermore, their TOS threatens (harasses?) to “permanently suspend” a user for engaging in whatever they deem to be harassment pursuant to only the generic description of the term (which is open to so, so much bias).
“We recommend that you review your account and ensure your other works are in compliance, and that you do not violate the Terms of Service again.”
Sure, let me go edit my other works to make them compliant with the nonexistent parts of the TOS that I violated...oh, wait, that's right, they banned me for 30 days so I couldn't do that even if I wanted to! Because when AO3 suspends an account, you can't even edit, delete or post comments and they threaten (harass?) you with a permanent ban if you even merely use another account during this time.
“The nature of the Archive and the limitations of our resources mean that, while we will endeavor to host as much fannish content as possible, we need to put some limits on allowable works...We understand that, as with many things, there are hard cases at the edges of categories, but nonetheless need some limits in order to keep the Archive manageable for our hard-working volunteers as well as for other users.”
Just the fact that they wrote this implies that they know the logic of their reasoning for deleting my fics is razor-thin, so again, why didn't they just ask me to edit the fic to make it “compliant” instead of deleting it altogether? They waste their time coming up with ridiculous attempts to justify deleting my fics (which makes the line “while we will endeavor to host as much fannish content as possible” blatantly false) and I likewise waste my time writing appeals and blog posts exposing their practices when respecting free speech would have saved everyone so much time and effort. Therefore, complaining about all the work it takes your volunteers to censor your website is yet another pitiful justification.
You know what would be easier for everyone, AO3? If you'd just use those “archive warnings” to mark controversial fics. That would more or less satisfy everyone, readers included, who could then just skip fics that have controversial content. Or you could at least be more transparent about your censorship practices by merely updating your TOS to state “we reserve the right to delete any work/comment/etc for any reason whatsoever”, but I'm about positive that they'll never do this simply because they want people to keep believing that AO3 is a safe haven for all sorts of fanworks (spoiler alert: it's not). The closest they get to alluding to this in their TOS is found in this line (emphasis added): “Anything we determine is spam will be removed immediately.” So just by calling a fic spam (according to their own biased application of the term), they have “justified” their right to delete anything they want from AO3 and to unilaterally and immediately ban anyone who posts works that the mods don't like.
I will now exclusively be posting on fanfiction.net (which has not deleted a single one of my 20+ fics yet) because I'd rather post on an ad-supported site than on AO3. This will also probably be the last blog post I make on the topic, not because AO3 is no longer censoring works from it's site (that'll be the day!) but because I'm just tired of beating a dead horse. AO3 censors. The end.
I will now exclusively be posting on fanfiction.net (which has not deleted a single one of my 20+ fics yet) because I'd rather post on an ad-supported site than on AO3. This will also probably be the last blog post I make on the topic, not because AO3 is no longer censoring works from it's site (that'll be the day!) but because I'm just tired of beating a dead horse. AO3 censors. The end.
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