#movie censorship

[glitchyko]

Oh my God!! I forgot to say this yesterday, but they censored the mutant mayhem trailer in theaters! When Donnie gets stabbed in the leg by Raphs sai on accident, they don’t actually show it happen, or show the sai in his leg and it looked so weird!!

[teg-report]

Cracka: The Controversial Movie That Was Banned and Erased – Watch the Lost Video Now!

The movie was set to be released in 2020. It was planned for right before the election. However, it never saw the light of day. After the release of its trailer, the movie seemingly vanished without a trace. No updates, no news—just silence. But recently, I found the last known copy of the original film. I’m excited to share it with you all. The premise is incredibly unique and…

[mexcine]

Swipe File 22: "Movie Dos and Don'ts"

The Production Code Administration's new movie content restrictions were parodied by Hollywood photographer A.L "Whitey" Schafer in his famous "Thou Shalt Not" (various cited as 1934 or 1940 -- it also appeared in "Life" magazine October 28, 1946). An unidentified artist recreated this for the cover of "American Detective Magazine" (Australia, 1952), and the cover of Thomas Doherty's 1999 book "Pre-Code Hollywood" re-used the original image.

[nerdby]

ALL👏🏻MEDIA👏🏻IS👏🏻POLITICAL👏🏻

[weirdlookindog]

Christopher Lee and Anouska Hempel in deleted scene from Scars of Dracula (1970)

[doriandrifting]

What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck

So Noah Schnapp can spew his racist propaganda and go on a tirade of liking Islamophobic and homophobic content but when a Mexican woman dares to say she understands what it’s like to be colonized and stands in solidarity with oppressed people, she’s fired? It’s fucked.

[chimaeraonwards]

Pendatang and why I think it's important for the fight against censorship

Malaysia's first fully crowd funded film is finally out and its free on YouTube!!!

(btw its fully subtitled in English, Malay, Chinese (Simplified), and Tamil for those who want it)

Pendatang by Kuman Pictures is set in a dystopian future where, due to racial extremism, Malaysia is fully segregated. Citizens live in their own areas based on their race and mixing between the races is punishable by 25 years in prison.

The story centers around a Malaysian Chinese family who is forced to relocate to a designated house by the authorities but they find a Malay girl hiding in their attic.

Anyone who is familiar with the Malaysian film scene would be wondering, "A Malaysian movie about race and inequality? How the fuck did this movie get through the censorship board?". Well, easy. They didn't even try.

In the name of keeping peace in the country, The Malaysian Film Censorship Board (Lembaga Penapis Filem - LPF) is notorious for censoring local movies to the point it loses its impact or keeping movies in a limbo for years. But films need LPF's approval to be able to release theatrically local cinemas.

The makers of Pendatang knew that this film wouldn't have made it past the censorship board or any other kinds of local governmental/commercial release or funding channel. So from the start, they set out to crowd fund this movie to release it for free online - where the LPF has no jurisdiction.

They managed to raise past their goal of RM300k (which is about slightly less than 100k USD). And one year later, they've kept their word - the movie is available on YouTube for free with no ads (making it a non-profit movie).

This is what the makers have to say about this move and what they hope it achieves:

So not only is it a badass move to bypass censorship and non-profit, its also a ground breaker and this opens up a whole new avenue for Malaysian filmmakers.

But it can't be that bad, can it? Well here are some films that weren't so lucky with the LPF.

Mentaga Terbang a story about a young girl's religious journey after her mother's passing to find out what happens after death. It was banned in Malaysia.

Tiger Stripes, the Cannes award winning teenage body horror film detailing a girl's journey with womanhood. It was so heavily cut by LPF that the filmmaker has disowned the censored version and has come out to say that essence was removed from the movie.

Spilt Gravy on Rice is a dark comedy based on a play of the same name. It is a story about a journalist who is close to death and decides to fix his family issues with his 5 kids who all have different mothers. The film was submitted for approval in 2012 and was forced to make changes (including an alternate ending) and was finally approved in 2020. Due to covid, the premiere was delayed till 2022. The original playwright, Jit Murad, passed earlier that year and never got to see his story in the big screen. You can find the film with its original ending on Netflix now.

This is why a movie like Pendatang is so important. Some suspect that Pendatang will be taken down or blocked by the government. I hope it won't.

Malaysian filmmakers want to share good stories that shouldn't be watered down. Malaysian voices want to be heard and shouldn't be unnecessarily filtered and censored.

[ineffable-opinions]

BL “Censorship” & Commercialization

Content: 1. ubiquitous censorship - special focus on Japanese BL 2. commercial viability of live action BL & generalizations 3. solutions - special focus on state support of Thai BL 4. [update state-supported production of Love in the Big City series]

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Censorship is a sensitive topic. I have tried my best. Please feel free to comment and critique.

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History of Korean BL is one of censorship and commercialization and Korean fu-people has struggled against both. There have been different victors at different points in time. Aljosa Puzar’s "BL"(Boy Love), "GL"(Girl Love) and Female Communities of Practice and Affect in South Korea chronicles that struggle. (Highly recommended.)

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I have tried to problematize BL commercialization before. But that was in the context of fu-culture and the commodity fetishism associated with the consumption of BL, particularly in live action form which is probably its most capitalist rendition for many many reasons.

Here I would like to look at it from another angle: censorship. This is a continuation of my earlier post (Why so many shonen ai live-action?) motivated by the live action adaptation of ‘조폭인 내가 고등학생이 되었습니다’ (I, A Gangster, Became a High School Student) by 호롤 (Ho Rol).

The live action has jumped genres switching from BL to 판타스틱 휴먼 드라마 (lit. fantasy human drama). This switch got it tagged as ‘Censored Adaptation of Same-sex Original Work’ on My Drama List. I personally don’t like that tag. Almost all BL adaptation is a censored adaptation, with notable exceptions like Sei no Gekiyaku. But no one uses that tag for, say, 25 Ji, Akasaka de (2024) which censored all sexual content, especially from the volume 1 of the manga which was critical to the story and the couple’s development in the original manga series’ and its multiple adaptations’ popularity. Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka (2024) went as far as removing the more sexual second couple from the live action adaptation all together, yet it does not get a "censored" tag.

An interesting question that the controversy surrounding High School Return of a Gangster (2024) has sparked is that of BL media’s commercial viability, especially in live action form. Here’s what producers told the Korean newspaper, Hankook Ilbo, about the genre-jumping:

"BL 장르는 제작비 투자나 리쿱(제작비 회수)에 한계가 있는 게 사실이다. 그러다 보니 처음부터 이 작품은 브로맨스로 해보고 싶었다"

“The BL genre is limited in terms of investment in production costs and recoup (recovery of production costs). So, from the beginning, we planned it as a bromance (beulomaenseu).”

The author of this article cites examples of works that enjoyed success on OTT platforms, namely Watcha’s Semantic Error and TVing's Unintentional Love Story (2023). However, the article also highlights the fact that BL continues to be a niche genre and live action adaptations don’t guarantee success.

이성택 (Lee Seong Taek), the director of High School Return of a Gangster, previously directed the BL Love Class (2022). The producer 넘버쓰리픽쳐스 (Number Three Pictures Co., Ltd.) have BL works like Unintentional Love Story under its belt.

'Unintentional Love Story' Director Jang Eui-soon (장의순) | source

If the producer of one of the two most popular live action BL is admitting to it, then it is not easy to dismiss the issue of commercial viability of live action BL.

Very famous BL publishing houses (starting with JUNE) and hosting platforms with relatively lower expenses have struggled. Some of them are no more. It is also difficult for authors to survive merely on earnings from publishing houses and hosting platforms, especially when those platforms are not very rich. So, it is not difficult to imagine that live action production houses also struggle to survive.

Take GMMTV for example. They are probably one of the most successful BL producers. According to their managing director, BL content (series) is not a profitable business in itself. They rely on khujin (branded pairs) of actors to bring in advertisement revenue, merchandize sales, and pull crowds to concerts and fan-meets. It is not enough for actors to just act. They are expected to sing, dance and perform. Meanwhile, GMMTV is forced to keep working with these actor pairs and stick to templates that suit them. While it works for now, it remains to be seen how long the business model can last.

Now there is also investment from Mainland China that has migrated to other BL producers following dangai ban. But those who invest already burned themselves pretty bad with all the money they poured in during the short-lived but explosive dangai boom. It is sunk cost at this point. Another crack down could be the death knell for Chinese investments in BL. 

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More generally, it is likely that commercial viability of a live action BL project hinges on the following:

#1 Target demographic

Like all other BL content, live action too is primarily targeted at fu-people (BL audience) – both queer and non-queer. The target demography is further sub-divided based on the type of BL and purchasing power.

Sweeter ones are supposed to appeal to all ages and that’s the area Thailand and GMMTV in particular are focused on. Most of Japanese BL series are sweet. Korea too produces sweet BL. However, they are unlikely to bring in explosive success the way odo BL (those following royal road narrative progression – wherein characters face significant challenges, interpersonal or otherwise, to reach happy ending).

Older and, perhaps more hard-core fans, are likely to support jado works (BL that follow the evil path where neither happy ending nor resolution to challenges are guaranteed) with surprising frequency. This might be partly due to the erotic content in jado works.

Purchasing power of BL fans vary widely. There are those who are

“sending gifts to their actors in Thailand, sending food trucks to their shooting locations, putting up billboard advertisements and doing charity events [as well as] ordering merchandise in bulk.”

They also travel to BL producing nations [on fan pilgrimages] and attend fan meetings, concerts and other events regularly.

(Source: The Print)

The other group of BL fans who are probably younger and/or can’t afford to show support in the above-mentioned ways. BL commercially benefits from being appealing to those with higher purchasing power.

#2 Popularity of original work in case of adaptation  

Popular BL novels, manhwa, etc. bring in a set of fans who are interested in the live action. Longer and more-acclaimed works are likely to ensure success of the live action given decent making and reasonable changes during adaptation. Semantic Error is a case in point. However, missteps during adaptation can have the opposite effect.

#3 Cost of production

It is difficult to get investment in the first place, especially with how niche the genre is. Moreover, higher cost of production sets the bar for success higher too.

On the other hand, high production quality and better cast and crew (likely more expensive too) makes the viewing more pleasurable and increases the likelihood of success.

There are other factors which influence the success of BL producers. The most popular BL live action from China, Addicted, was produced by the author, Chai JiDan, with a tiny budget. Its dangai family drama remake, Stay with Me, also has an interesting producer.

Source | Mame with her Japanese fans

Orawan Vichayawannakul’s MeMindY is another BL author led production company that has enjoyed considerable success.

OP Pictures’ entry into BL genre has also been successful.

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Solutions

#1 Let’s start with the worst

BL as money laundering vehicle. It is probably the most obvious, sort of win-win until it isn’t. Sustainability depends how much skin the ruling class have in the game.

#2 State sponsorship

(or better yet, tax payer supported BL production)

State sponsorship is what Thailand has perfected.

source | 2023 seminar on "Beyond Borders: Exploring the Global Appeal and Diversity of Thailand's Boys' Love Contents" by 9 companies from Thailand organized by Department of International Trade Promotion under Thailand’s Ministry of Trade.

The eleven speakers, including an official from the Office of Commercial Affairs, Royal Thai Embassy in Japan, vigorously pitched partnerships with Japanese content companies [at the above-mentioned seminar.]

Also, several of the companies pitching at the seminar, such as Star Hunter Entertainment […] were plumping for BL not as a niche product but rather a core element of their corporate strategy.

Halo Productions representative Tewarat Supunnium [trumpeted] the vertical integration of his company, from talent representation to contents distribution.

source

Thai BL has been big hits in China, South Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and beyond, which has motivated Thailand’s government to ‘deploy Boys Love as its latest soft power weapon to promote the country on the global stage’. In an article published in The Nation, BL director, Bundit Sintanaparadee, explains how that affects production.

He pointed out that the international popularity of Thai shows can boost tourism and generate interest in the featured locations – a vital aspect of soft power. The government can facilitate this process by providing support and streamlining the bureaucratic obstacles to filming in attractive locations like Bangkok’s Chinatown district of Yaowarat.

Filming in iconic places such as Yaowarat can be costly and complicated due to the need to coordinate with multiple government agencies and pay location fees. Bundit said the government could simplify the process to benefit not just filmmakers but also tourist revenue in the locations.

Bundit also cautioned against a top-down approach to soft power, where the government dictates what represents Thailand on the world stage. He emphasises the need for industry professionals to have their say.

source

In a 2022 article, Bangkok Post explores the impact of BL on Thailand’s economy ‘as export products that can draw lucrative revenue streams and foster business opportunities in other areas, including tourism.’

[According to government estimates from 2021,] Thailand's Y content market was worth more than 1 billion baht... In June that year, the Department of International Trade Promotion held an online Y content business matching event to boost the industry, with the participation of 10 Thai content creators. More than 360 million baht was generated from the purchase of the Thai content, with the top three buyers coming from Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Noppharnach Chaiyahwimhon, GMMTV's senior director of content production, said [that the] business ecosystem linked to Y Series in Thailand shows a growth of 30-40% per year. [He also said that] Y Series can also be a boon for other businesses, such as films, artist management and merchandise. [He mentioned] Y Series from Thailand [getting] translated into several languages [and one of their Y Series having received theatrical adaptation in South Korea.]

[According to] Kanokporn Prachayaset, chief commercial officer and country manager of WeTV Thailand, … Y Series from Thailand is one of the most popular content genres on its platform. [Half of all the BL content on the platform was Thai.] WeTV [was] sourcing Y Series from Asia as well as having its own WeTV original shows by working with various local production houses, such as GMMTV, TV Thunder, Dee Hup House, M Choice Studio and All This Entertainment. [She also highlighted the contribution of the fan base, which is] active in organising activities and campaigns for their idols.

Seksan Sripraiwan, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) Tokyo office, said the TAT and the Royal Thai Embassy have actively promoted the country by using Thai entertainment [and that] Thai BL content is considered one of the most popular recent cultural exports to Japan. Japan's market for Thai BL is around 1 million viewers, of which 20,000-30,000 are heavily active on social media sites for renowned BL actors, led by Bright-Win and Krist-Singto. He said Japanese tour operators already offered tailor-made tour packages which contain elements related to BL TV series, such as shooting locations like universities, cafes, Wat Arun or the Amphawa floating market.

Kanokkittika Kritwutikon, director of the TAT Chengdu office, said Thai BL TV shows have gained popularity in China, such as the coming-of-age series "I Told Sunset About You", which helped drive tourists to Phuket, the main location of the story.

"Most Chinese BL fans are millennial females who can offer long-term support for their favourite actors," Mrs Kanokkittika said. [Recognizing the 3 million strong queer population of Chongqing,] she said the LGBT segment could be categorised as luxury travellers as they are high-income earners, live in key cities, and want to spend more for travel experiences.

source

Earlier this year Ministry of Commerce have partnered with Be On Cloud and Idol Factory to promote ‘Thai products, services, tourism, and culture by incorporating them seamlessly into’ their new series “Shine” and “Pin Phak” aka “The Loyal Pin” respectively.

“This will help create around 2 billion in value for Thailand’s economy,” said Commerce Minister Phumtham.

Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and two actresses, Becky and Freen, witness the signing ceremony between the Ministry of Commerce and Idol Factory Co., Ltd. on February 28, 2024....

According to the Department of International Trade Promotion, the Thai movie and series sector and related industries will generate 8,000 million baht in exports by 2023. In 2024, it will likely reach 10,000 million baht, particularly in the Y-movie and Y-series, which are expected to expand in value from 1,000 million baht to 2,000 million baht as a result of the Ministry of Commerce’s proactive cooperation with the private sector.

source

The Thai government’s efforts are paying off.

Oramon Sapthaweetham, director-general of the Department of Business Development, revealed that the Boys’ Love series had helped revitalise the film production industry, generating substantial profits and extending economic benefits to allied sectors, such as advertising, leveraging actors as influencers, event organisation, and tourism. 

"Over the past 10 years, Thailand has produced over 177 Boys’ Love [series], continuously gaining popularity and expanding its customer base, eventually leading to exports to international markets," Oramon added.

The film production industry in Thailand is witnessing substantial growth. In the first four months of 2024, 56 new businesses were registered, marking a 12% increase from 2023. The total registered capital also saw a significant rise of 146.44% to 195.18 million baht. In 2023, the industry grew by 20% with 137 businesses and a capital of 258 million baht. The total revenue in 2022 was 12.895 billion baht, indicating a continuous growth trend.

source

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#3 Diversification

Ok, so this is based on my limited knowledge and imagination. Feel free to skip.

There are two production companies that I have ever been interested in - Bhavana Studios and Mammootty Kampany. Both of them have produced experimental Malayalam movies while managing to remain commercially successful. While is partially attributable to these companies being brands, I think their overall strategy of diversification have worked in their favour.

Mammootty Kampany could produce art-house movie Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam for award circuits and with no expectation of commercial performance by banking on their other production Kannur Squad which was action entertainer sure to bring in the big bucks. Their queer family drama Kaathal – The Core and neo-noir psychological thriller Rorschach did exceptionally well in the box office as well as garnered critical acclaim. Bhavana Studios has similar track record of their commercially successful projects kind of cross subsidizing their experimental and unique projects and lifting the heat off in case of flops.

Having production companies which are aspirational in their approach to BL while having the economics sorted out help where government support is not forth coming.

Censorship as No-thing

When sometime is truly censored, we wouldn’t know. Unless we ask. Here’s what Jooyin Saejang learned from asking.

Conclusion

I have a strong preference for live action adaptations that are willing to go the last mile in terms of sexual content, social critiques and addressing real-life issues. That’s the reason why the header image for this BL side blog is from Moothon (2019).

But realistically this isn’t always possible. And I prefer having more production companies offering variety. I don’t want them to sink under the weight of BL that didn’t do well commercially and me being left at the mercy of media conglomerates with seemingly bottomless funds and monopsony over BL authors, original works and the culture that creates them.

Also, there is queer content from Korean that is neither mainstream nor from fu-culture. Support those. Unfortunately, Cheers by Cheers 짠!하면 알 수 있어 has been removed from their YouTube channel which is now called Cheer Up. While the series is gone, there are interviews with English subtitles.

Love in the Big City

Love in the Big City, the series and the movie are based on Park Sang-young's novel of the same name that was published in 2019. In Korea, it sold over 100,000 copies. Ever since, it has been translated into 15 languages, including English. The English translation by Anton Hur was published in 2021. The book has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2022 and the Dublin Literary Award in 2023.

The movie secured an investor early on. The film was produced by Showbox and Tale Farming (고래와유기농). Michigan Venture Capital, a key investor, was responsible for 2 billion won out of the net production cost of about 6 billion won. Plus M Entertainment, a subsidiary of the JoongAng Group took care of its distribution. (source)

State-sponsorship for Korean BL !

The series, on the other hand, faced difficulty attracting investment as well as had trouble finding OTT platforms willing to air the show. It was co-produced by MerryChristmas, a subsidiary of WYSIWYG Studio' a KOSDAQ-listed company, along with Big Stone Studio. Mbrella Films provided production services in Thailand. They have received the state-support through Korea Creative Content Agency under Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism amounting to 3 billion won as production costs support aimed at strengthening the global competitiveness of K-content through OTT.

Finally, TVING, a platform that has aired multiple BL projects previously (such as Unintentional Love Story, Jazz for Two, To My Star 2, The Eighth Sense and High School Return of a Gangster), aired the series in South Korea and the streaming platform Rakuten Viki promoted it as a BL.

An iconic scene from bonus chapter 2 of The New Employee aka The New Recruit manhwa adaptation (web novel written by Moscareto and illustrated by Zec) ahead that didn't make it into the live action adaptation.

Gong comes home to find su in a sexy position at the doorway, fingering himself according to gong's instructions over phone.

[assemblyofoddities]

X-Men 97' Season Two

There's no way Beau DeMayo got the Morph/Wolverine content in X-Men 97' to the final cut without fighting tooth and nail for it to happen. Now that he's off the creative team for Season 2, there's probably not going to be much more of it.

[theeternalwombtarot]

Community does not need this!! But they’re loud in the comments about how harmful this could be for the community and divination and other spiritual practices and traditions! Thankfully!! I was just talking about spiritual psychosis on my close friends on Instagram yesterday and then I see things like this and post just went viral of some woman absolutely losing it, snot running out her nose and everything over the eclipse.

The fear mongering and demonization of spiritual teachings, astrology, tarot and spiritual practices and traditions is about to start becoming very big. It was already a really prominent thing oppressors have used for ages especially against poc who practice forms of witchcraft or deity worship they brought with them from home. I was just watching a docu-series yesterday that highlighted how the native population on mt. Shasta were forced to leave and practiced ritual and held ceremonies in the caves of mount Shasta and those who colonized would go into those caves after they left and preform mockeries of their ceremonies and rituals as entertainment.

We’re about to step into a reality and time where spiritual people, practitioners and others within the community will be replacing celebrities and individuals of high rank or people who hold a lot of power in this world and I said before that the oppressor has a very specific recipe for oppression and trying to keep people (especially in the west) as unaware and as stuck in perpetual karmic cycles and systems as much as possible. And this is just yet another technique they use to discredit individuals with gifts. They use psychics and astrologers and others themselves to help them predict and interpret what’s coming.

They use these types of stories or ideas to fuel radical religious beliefs and ideas that are built upon fear mongering and hatred, they use religious institutions and manipulated versions of their Bible and beliefs and create division within the west. Vast majority of republicans are statistically uneducated and are conservative who hold onto heavy religious beliefs and views to back up, support and justify their actions and beliefs. Heavily similar to antebellum America and the justification of slavery and the mistreatment of African American people.

To add onto that, this movie about tarot does not accurately portray what tarot really is and how it works whatsoever but guess who’ll believe it and perpetuate it. Half the negative ideas that are swirling around about metaphysical, Wiccan or spiritual practices are due to pop culture and horror movies and the individuals who sit at their desks in the dark scribbling away these plots and releasing these movies.

[unb1nding-t-b0y]

Ok ok we got Deadpool and Wolverine queer coded into a movie together. The only way DC can win is by making a gay romantic comedy about Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie obviously) and Poison Ivy and we get their meet cute of Harley bumping into her mid heist and driving off with the loot together. No coding no execs saying they can't be together just 1.5 hours of Harley Quinn being undeniably gay and obsessed with Ivy.

[bitchy-peachy]

Anti logic: I watched a movie with cannibalism and incest. I might as well fk my sister and eat my neighbors now because fiction influences reality. 🤪

[boysnberriespie]

Truly you can’t simultaneously say “this queer media is important and meaningful in real life” and then simultaneously say that anyone critiquing it for its handling of certain subjects and the messages that sends is just applying morality to media where it doesn’t belong

It can not both be a moral win and free from analysis of those morals

[mollyjimbly]

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨

sick and tired, yet again another law that will kill privacy...

another trojan horse disguised under the name of "protection of children"

this one is Bill 1199 or "Stop CSAM"

The STOP CSAM Act Threatens Free Expression and Privacy Rights of Children and Adults

"Last month, Senator Durbin introduced the Strengthening Transparency and Obligation to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment Act of 2023 (STOP CSAM Act). While the goal of the bill — to protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse online — is great, the bill’s approach is seriously flawed.

The STOP CSAM Act will make children less safe, at the expense of the privacy and free expression rights of children and adults alike. By significantly increasing the liability risk that online services would face for hosting, transmitting, or otherwise enabling user-generated content, the bill increases the likelihood that these services will report and remove substantially more speech than the illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM, also referred to in law as “child pornography”) currently in scope of federal law. It will also make prosecution of perpetrators of child exploitation crimes harder, because law enforcement will have to search a haystack of reports for a needle, wading through innumerable useless reports to find reports of actual CSAM."

Wanting to protect children from SA is a noble and moral thing, but it should not come at the expense of privacy and security.

What to do is; spread the word, reblog this post, feel free to copy-paste resources from here too!

SIGNABLE PETITION

More Resources

This bill the most likely one to pass bc of its deceptive name, we cannot let them gut encryption, and gut Section 230!

[dumplingprincessextraordinaire]

Us ❤️❤️❤️

[ragpicker-and-poet]

Unsurprisingly, censors have no sense of humor.