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Got Suspended, But I'm Back...
5 years ago
Hey everyone!
I hope you are all well, safe, and coping during these turbulent times.
I just wanted to make a quick update about what has happened to me in the past day and a half.
So I was suspended from FA for 24 hours due to a few of my past and older images apparently violating the new FA policy regarding 'Nazi and other Hate groups'.
I had read and gotten a general idea of the two previous updates, but apparently they have stepped up their enforcement of the policy in recent days. Last I spoke to an admin, they had assured me that the "only images that provoked or encouraged hate speech and violence were to be taken down." And since I didn't believe I had images that really fitted that critiaria, I carried on, but performed the necessary precautions. Under those pretenses, I cleared up as much as I could whilst maintaining a few images that pertained to satire, parody and historical reference. Even after receiving the first few strikes to four of my older images, I had stepped up my resolve and immediately deleted a number more of images that would be deemed unacceptable. But I suppose it wasn't enough.
Before I continue, I'd just like to say and reiterate that I am not and never have been a member of the Nazi party, nor have I ever had any real life affiliations with any such hate groups such as the Neo Nazis.
I have never encourage violence or discord, nor bigotry or racial/ religious discrimination. I have always maintained a peaceful & humorous atmosphere in my gallery, and have given each person the attention they require.
I do not believe in the ideology of Nazism or any other hate organization. And I have explicitly denounce their vicious acts of violence and division.
My interest in the Nazism stems from my interest in WW2 and military history in general. You see, I got into military & WW2 history from the German army (My first war film was "Valkyrie (2008)"). Since that point on I have expanded my interest to other Allied and Axis powers. But in general, I am merely an enthusiast of military history and history in general. And my way of expressing my enthusiasm is by using the symbols and imageries of these military powers in my art. Nothing more, nothing less.
In a specific note, on my third warning hours after my first two, I was flagged for having an "SS" marking, which I chocked up to my logo. The "SS" in my logo was meant to be a reference to the rock band logo from "KISS".
The SS in my logo stood for the initials of my real life name "Samuel Solema". However, I concede that my design choice was of poor choice, and was not considered properly during it's conception. There are many choices that I have made poorly, and for that I deeply apologize. Since this was my first ever suspension, I have certainly learned my lesson, as this experience has humbled me and given me great illumination.
With that said, I have spent almost 24 hours De-Nazifying every single one of my present and past images. I have removed any form of symbolism that maybe construed as being Nazi. I further continued by removing any and all images that focused on both Nazi and Communist depictions or affiliations. And I have spent the last 6 hours re-uploading all 560+ edited images to resolve any further conflict with FA's standards.
I have done this to strengthen my resolve in abiding by FA's new policies. It is to show my commitment to maintaining a good and peaceful stature in this community that I so love and hold dear.
And I do apologize to those who have been or may have been offended by my works in the pat and in the present. It was never my intention to cause any harm or foal.
It is with hope that my efforts in purging my gallery of all Nazism will be taken as great consideration for the admins. And that I hope I have shown my commitment to serving as a peaceful member of this community. So that no more repremands of suspension or threats of bannishment will be put upon me.
If there are any lingering images that I may have over looked regarding Nazism (or any images that do no coinside with FA's regulations) that you may see in my gallery, please let me know so I may properly deal with it as soon as possible.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends,
Danmingle and ThatCleverFox , and so many others who have helped me and supported me during this temporary suspension for their kind and uplifting response to my shock and predicament. They have been of great help emotionally and resourcefully. I thank all of you for your concerns and support.
I wish you all well,
Take care and God Bless
~Sam
I hope you are all well, safe, and coping during these turbulent times.
I just wanted to make a quick update about what has happened to me in the past day and a half.
So I was suspended from FA for 24 hours due to a few of my past and older images apparently violating the new FA policy regarding 'Nazi and other Hate groups'.
I had read and gotten a general idea of the two previous updates, but apparently they have stepped up their enforcement of the policy in recent days. Last I spoke to an admin, they had assured me that the "only images that provoked or encouraged hate speech and violence were to be taken down." And since I didn't believe I had images that really fitted that critiaria, I carried on, but performed the necessary precautions. Under those pretenses, I cleared up as much as I could whilst maintaining a few images that pertained to satire, parody and historical reference. Even after receiving the first few strikes to four of my older images, I had stepped up my resolve and immediately deleted a number more of images that would be deemed unacceptable. But I suppose it wasn't enough.
Before I continue, I'd just like to say and reiterate that I am not and never have been a member of the Nazi party, nor have I ever had any real life affiliations with any such hate groups such as the Neo Nazis.
I have never encourage violence or discord, nor bigotry or racial/ religious discrimination. I have always maintained a peaceful & humorous atmosphere in my gallery, and have given each person the attention they require.
I do not believe in the ideology of Nazism or any other hate organization. And I have explicitly denounce their vicious acts of violence and division.
My interest in the Nazism stems from my interest in WW2 and military history in general. You see, I got into military & WW2 history from the German army (My first war film was "Valkyrie (2008)"). Since that point on I have expanded my interest to other Allied and Axis powers. But in general, I am merely an enthusiast of military history and history in general. And my way of expressing my enthusiasm is by using the symbols and imageries of these military powers in my art. Nothing more, nothing less.
In a specific note, on my third warning hours after my first two, I was flagged for having an "SS" marking, which I chocked up to my logo. The "SS" in my logo was meant to be a reference to the rock band logo from "KISS".
The SS in my logo stood for the initials of my real life name "Samuel Solema". However, I concede that my design choice was of poor choice, and was not considered properly during it's conception. There are many choices that I have made poorly, and for that I deeply apologize. Since this was my first ever suspension, I have certainly learned my lesson, as this experience has humbled me and given me great illumination.
With that said, I have spent almost 24 hours De-Nazifying every single one of my present and past images. I have removed any form of symbolism that maybe construed as being Nazi. I further continued by removing any and all images that focused on both Nazi and Communist depictions or affiliations. And I have spent the last 6 hours re-uploading all 560+ edited images to resolve any further conflict with FA's standards.
I have done this to strengthen my resolve in abiding by FA's new policies. It is to show my commitment to maintaining a good and peaceful stature in this community that I so love and hold dear.
And I do apologize to those who have been or may have been offended by my works in the pat and in the present. It was never my intention to cause any harm or foal.
It is with hope that my efforts in purging my gallery of all Nazism will be taken as great consideration for the admins. And that I hope I have shown my commitment to serving as a peaceful member of this community. So that no more repremands of suspension or threats of bannishment will be put upon me.
If there are any lingering images that I may have over looked regarding Nazism (or any images that do no coinside with FA's regulations) that you may see in my gallery, please let me know so I may properly deal with it as soon as possible.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends,
Danmingle and ThatCleverFox , and so many others who have helped me and supported me during this temporary suspension for their kind and uplifting response to my shock and predicament. They have been of great help emotionally and resourcefully. I thank all of you for your concerns and support.I wish you all well,
Take care and God Bless
~Sam
https://www.reddit.com/r/Beastars/c.....e_chapter_161/
It's 1/3rd the size of Haru!
It was a really stupid rule change that me and many others strongly opposed. But we were ignored. What we REALLY wanted was to get that guy uploading fan art of the Christchurch shooter taken down for breaking EXISTING rules.
Are the original versions of the art still available to be seen in other places?
Probably Deviant Art. I believe there are a few older pieces in there. But there might be a chance I might clean that out as well.
I'd probably share the images privately if someone asked for a certain piece.
You can still reach me on other places.
Plus, since DeviantArt is adding a real-time chat feature for their Eclipse version of the site (similar to facebook messenger), you can actually talk to me directly there.
I am glad to see you back though *hugs*
FA wouldn't be the same without you and your amazing art^^
Hope everything else is well with you.
Man, even after almost 80 years, Nazi’s are still messing up stuff, huh? I’m sorry that all your older artwork that you put a lot of time and effort into had to go, but I’ve seen some shockingly violent reactions to Nazi stuff so I totally believe it. For the record, I too hate Nazis, I mean, I shouldn’t have to say that, but here we are.
Say, you are a fan of WW2, ever consider doing some art relating to barrage balloons? Seems kinda up your ally. Just a thought.
You might also want to edit your current avatar. It still lists "Nazi" as one of the interests.
Welcome back.
Also, i can't help but feel that you are overreacting by saying that Neo-Nazis actually go out and hurt people. They just chant and edgy mantra online and rarely do shit, and you'll actually find the AntiFa types preaching anarchy and crying "Punch Nazis" to be significantly more violent, targeting and attacking innocents they deem "Nazis", such as trying to break down Tucker Carlson's front door at night because they thought he was a fascist. Oh, and i don't believe people should be punched for having thoughts, only if they actually try and act on them.
Stop trying to enforce thought policing. You are ironically going to turn out to be the thing you detest in the end if you do.
Now tell me, where did i support Nazism? Hint: I didn't. I supported the right of Nazis to have free speech just like everyone else has because the consequences are determined by the masses, not a lone authority figure or two. Stop throwing strawman arguments around.
And yes, freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences, but this directly contradicts all your other points supporting their silencing. There's freedom of speech/expression and illegal things such as doxxing and organizing crime, which is, well, crime. That is handled by the government and not angry mobs.
As for bullying, there's already plenty of solutions for this, such as blocking, ignoring, and simply getting thicker skin. Believe it or not, but left-leaning people typically bully, harass and brigade far more aggressively and frequently than right-leaning people, so your point there is moot.
Search up August Ames, she was bullied into suicide by far-left reactionaries who dismissed her arguments for not wanting to be in a porn shoot with a man who was not tested for STDs in place of the reason the angry mob liked more, which was "homophobia". Did the left-wing mob show any remorse when she hanged herself? Nope, they celebrated her death.
Do you know why freedom of speech is so important? It's because it exposes people to things outside their comfort zone. It enables further learning than what they already know, which in turn makes them smarter and capable of contending with opposing ideas. Why do you think /pol/ regulars are so much better at debating than people who shelter themselves in LGBTQ+ safe spaces that ban all opposing viewpoints? It's because one side have a much wider view from confronting opposing ideas and debating with their opponents and even their own peers whereas the latter lives in an echo chamber where they tell each other that they are right until they believe absolute nonsense such as 48 genders or whatever.
We can keep going like this for a long time.
If something is so offensive and can cause harm, it needs to be banned. Also with the whole bully thing, I'm also talking about in schools where you can't block them.
Same thing with Neo-nazis to to-be Nazis. If you ban them, they'll think they're right and move into places where they cannot be censored, where they will form their private circles and potentially end up in extremist groups like Atomwaffen Division. This would be much, much less likely to happen if they could be confronted about what they don't know and what they've got wrong, which could eventually turn them away from nazism and towards a better cause. On top of that, many people are against heavy censorship, and it also causes a thing known as the Streisand effect, which will just draw more attention to the problem instead of less.
Censorship is the most dangerous tool of all, because it causes division and radicalizes both sides. AntiFa and Atomwaffen Division are great examples of what happens when either side is radicalized by echo chambers and safe spaces to the point of violence. Now do you see why i support total freedom of speech?
Anyways, back to the original point. This ban that Sam got was stupid, especially considering that none of his drawings even had the actual swastika or any nazi slogans, much less a serious message in support of nazism. It was just outfits with the "NaziFur" logo and extremely stereotyped German language. ("Ze" instead of "The" and the like) And FurAffinity is a left-leaning platform to top it all off, and i did not see any comments chanting "Heil Hitler" or anything close.
I mean, National Socialism exists still in America, as do hate groups such as the KKK. If your point is that they are not nearly as strong as news media may suggest, that's one thing. But, to dismiss their presence is disingenuous.
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-.....ology/neo-nazi
Especially when you likely aren't on FA every single day.
Considering how old most of the images were, I find they pulled the gun on this far too improperly.
You didn't need a suspension for such and we both know you would've happily done what they requested without it.
And you are right, some images were 7 years old! in a gallery of over 500 images. I think *some* warning is warranted, as, if after 7 years the image had never been flagged before, then why be so harsh now? If you're running a zero tolerance policy, great, but you can't expect people to be able to instantaneously adhere as soon as you change the rules. I'm not gonna say it was targeted, as some of those images were *really* questionable, but to suspend the artist and PREVENT them from being able to ALTER their own gallery to fix other issues? Why not just force disable the account like users can do? at least then the artist has that time to get things in order instead of being unable to do things like read notes or fix other problem images.
TL:DR I agree with your points.
3 suspensions, turns into a permanent ban.
Which is why it's all the more unsettling that they went straight for a suspension; these aren't supposed to be used lightly.
There was very little grace period for stuff as mentioned in a large gallery through many years. Not even a shred of temporary grandfathering.
Especially when it was easily replaced with a new update of rather insignificant notations.
Even so, the lack of warning before-hand given the load was quite unprofessional.
Not to mention, I wouldn't have even read it myself aside from the fact I was bored one day. There was no indication it was all that important just from the title alone.
The notation itself in the post was such a small one line as well, easily miss-able if just skimming over the useless stuff.
Overall, just feel this was handled very poorly; but then again, this doesn't surprise me with FA staff.
If enough artists get booted then people will simply go elsewhere.
I just find it sad that a group of people supposed to long be defeated in both people and ideals still seem to have an ungodly amount of power over people.
s not an accurate label. it's now a tool.
I never noticed it. I simply saw you as a fellow enjoyer of WWII history, a part of our shared past that is sadly almost dead, with only non-living reminders left save for the few people who are left to remember. The fact that you spent time, man hours, and effort to conform is breathtaking. How many would have given up faced with that?
Now of course I have something to say about censorship and a lack of parody/spoofs, but that is not an argument worth fighting here. What you did shows that you are respectable and are understand of the wishes of your viewers and those you share your space with.
Let's hope someone up-top sees this and removes a strike, as it is obvious that you intent to make good. Don't think of your past design choices as now being "bad ones" just, different from most. Now though, you have a chance to be creative once more! use this oprotunity to make something that you like, one that no one can say offends them because it belongs to X hate group.
I dunno if any of this matters in the end, but I'm glad your stuff gets to stay here, and that you, made it through. I know I would have totally just jumped ship and gone to a different site. But now.. it can be done. It's nothing to fear over.
https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/9494183/
I don't think it's fair to even begin to assume you're a Nazi sympathizer or anything of the sort; I'd go so far as to say this entire situation was handled less than professionally on the side of the administration (but let's not get on that).
Carry on doing what stokes the creative flame inside of you; we'll all be here to remind you of how much we like what you do, one drawn line at a time.
It’s the silliness of righteousness!
It's a shame that these policies inconvenience people who denounce Nutzis. Sadly, these policies will likely have little effect on the activities of actual Nutzis.
It's a dumbass rule and it's just gonna backfire over time. Maybe a new site wile rise and replace it like FA replaced VCL.
Also, should probably change the mention of Nazi in your animated avatar.
they might as well just ban furries as well~ :/
We really should chat more often tho, u got discord or telegram?
I fail to see how your art can be seen as hateful. I mean, you've always done stuff with a parady(spelling) spin for crying out loud! Even I can see that and I'm a dummy!@_@
By the way, it's great to see more folks being historians! It seems so much is being forgotten these days so we need people to carry the knowledge of history into the future, lest we repeat the mistakes of the past.
Welcome back dude!
You're a cool guy man, and hopefully in time when my schedule's not cluttered I'd love to draw ya something. :3
I can see why they want some of the symbols removed, but given the circumstances, they should give you a chance before constantly suspending you.
It's great to have you back old friend *hug*
Its the new McCarthy era. The Red Scare is renewed, except it has a swastika in a white circle in that red field where the red field sports a yellow hammer and sickle is now accepted.
What worries me is that these 'yutes' of today wouldn't know what a real Nazi was if one stood in front of them, about to deck them flat. Instead they target people whos opinions differ from theirs, even if said targeted person hates nazis themselves!!
And this was linked to me today , God help us all! This is a voice of the new Furry Fandom! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vVR-wDl4GA
I agree with the commentator, "Is this a troll?"
This is one time I was within driving distance of you Young Sam, we'd be commiserating big time!
And the recent, critically acclaimed Jo Jo Rabbit is frowned upon cause the boys Imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler. You cannot have Hitler as a friend!!
though, if anyone of your fans and friends know you well, they would already know you don't practice or encourage such brusque acts.
~but seeing as some people can easily misinterpret signs, better safe than sorry!
Glad to have you back on the art-attack.
without saying specifics, are you able to upload those other 'art pieces' on other social sites? some of those art pieces i see that are no more wer eactually pretty funny/well drawn.
But it's too risky since the flag once again has an image problem, thanks to scumbags like Dyann Roof...
The first batch was understandable I suppose, the second image was just a picture of my German medal, and the last wasn't even about Nazis. But they saw my logo on the bottom corner and flagged it as Nazi.
Any ways, thanks Sika, glad to be back. Thanks for the supportive words.
never mind that they'll happily accept submissions featuring antifa-themed violence and whatnot - and IIRC then they banned an account that posted a picture of an antifa furry making out with a nazi furry
Meanwhile straight up porn with asses pressed right against the screen from their favorite artists gets marked as general and surely gets seen.
FA staff are more biased than ever when they started getting these 'policy updates'
THIS is what bothers me about left wing culture. Never remember or reference, only forget and cleanse. It's dangerous.
So I don't know if it's different for others, but if you're given just a warning and a chance to salvage your stuff, then my compliments to you.
They did, two hours before they fired me, it came in the mail 2 days after I was fired. Turned out that was a MO how the company sacked people legally without being sued for false accusations or termination. Legally they DID send a written warning, therefor saying "You were warned first in writing!" Just never acknowledged WHEN the written notice was sent before termination!
Forgive me if I go off topic, this is my opinion. Then again, I'm glad to hear you're back. I really like your artworks.
I figured they were coming for you when I gave you my contact info. It took longer than expected but I'm not surprised. Stupid religious fanatics.
Sadly FA has the foot traffic none of the other sites even come close too. And Inkbunny is a shelter for Pedos and Zoos.
The funny thing is, I heard about this while I was search hentai on Chan.sankakucomplex, been there? There have news articles on top.
I already wrote my obligatory journal denouncing Nazism.
Strange how there is no escape from it, not even on a furry site.
Personally, I have always suspected that denouncing Nazism is just another excuse to bring it up.
Hence all these lovely comments.
Oh! Those awful Nazis! Will we never be rid of them?
Maligayang Pagdating ulit, Sam.