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![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
thoughtfulAside from any fandom concerns, I would like to point out another ongoing issue that came up in the lj_biz thread.
Took me awhile to find the relevant links in that enormous tangle of threads and sub-threads, but luckily I was saving some links as I was reading.
Thevelvetsun asked why LJ allows pro-self-harm communities to thrive, when encouraging self-harm is against LJ's ToS.
Others agree. Throughout the thread, several communities are mentioned, but the focus is on LJ's enormous (the largest on the Internet, with nearly 11,800 members ... and only two moderators) pro-anorexia community. Many examples are given of this community offering starvation tips and other blatantly self-harming tips to others; it seems clear it is not a community that supports recovery, but one that encourages anorexia.
LJ staffer Coffeechica justifies and excuses the community in comments. And further ...
After chirpily assuring that she's speaking on an official basis, she comes up with the now infamous line: "It's not illegal to aspire to be thin."
"If I GTFO, who else will answer your questions? ;-) Yes, I do work for LJ and I'm speaking officially.
"I do know what I'm talking about; I've read many many of these communities. It's sad, I know it is. But it's not illegal to aspire to be thin. It's not against the ToS to give people bad advice.
"LiveJournal does not support girls harming themselves. There is a line where we will suspend a pro-ana community or require removal of an entry. That line is when content is specifically instructing or inciting self-harm. Generalities aren't against the ToS, but specificities may be."
Not only does this hugely offend the concerned posters, who point out that anorexia is a deadly disease and mental disorder with an up to 20% mortality rate ... no mere "aspiration to be thin" ... but it's pointed out to Coffeechica that there are many blatantly specific examples, many of which have already been reported to the LJ Abuse team, and which have uniformly received the brush-off.
( Some anorexia statistics )
Thevelvetsun composed An Open Letter to LiveJournal, Regarding Proanorexia and requests signatures. I signed it, several days ago, and I encourage you to read the letter and her explanatory post. Please sign her open letter, if you agree with her stance.
Some of the members of the proanorexia group complained, and it was mentioned how the two mods were overburdened and couldn't be expected to catch all the self-harming tips and tricks posted and delete them. I agree with the commenters who said a community that large needed many more moderators and should have appointed them already. As this comment points out, at least 8 moderators is a good number for a community of that size (and it is very, very active).
Thevelvetsun, upon receiving no response from LJ, has contacted the media, as she promised to do.
She is still requesting signatures to her letter (currently she has over 1,000) as the issue has not been resolved yet.
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On a less serious note, here are two icons pertaining to the issue ... free for sharing, per the creators:
by Pichipai:
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by Ardath_rekha:
