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<title>blogTO Recent Comments: MySpace Censorship Hits Kids in Toronto?</title>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/feed/recentcomments/?4721</link>
<description>Comments recently made in this post on blogTO</description>
<copyright>Copyright 2009</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:32:11 PST</lastBuildDate>
<item>
<title>emoboy</title>
<description><![CDATA[
hy, Check out the pics of my new emo hairstyle
at http://xrl.us/ouog4]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c322185</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c322185</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:59:26 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Brian Mora</title>
<description><![CDATA[
PS I forgot to mention, the whole point of my last post is, You are NOT ALONE.  If the Myspace censors came after you and then they came after me who will they target next?  This is why they need to be reined in --- by the courts or even by the US Congress if need be --- to make them stop arbitrarily censoring its users.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c230836</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c230836</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:27:56 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Brian Mora</title>
<description><![CDATA[
I myself am fighting Myspace censorship and it has gotten to the point that I have had to seek legal action against them.  After they kept sending back form letter autoreplies and refused to answer telephone calls or emails or even regular letters I had to file for an injunction forcing Myspace to unblock my email and allow me to return to the site.  With the evidence I have at hand there is no way that a court will rule in their favour either.
And if you're worried about your sexuality, don't:  I am a heterosexual who himself has found himself a target of Myspace censorship.  Politics:  I consider myself to the right of conservative, and I can tell you, there are people who get dumped from Myspace for expressing their opposition to certain groups, like homosexuals and Muslims, and certainly other conservatives have also fallen victim to Myspace censorship...occasionally by other conservatives too, but often by those with an irrational partisan hatred of the right.  The virulent leftists also act to encourage Myspace censorship and I can point to a number of examples.
If you don't like what is said on someone's profile, and it is not patently illegal in content, just move on...leave that profile alone and find someone or something more interesting.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c230834</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c230834</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:19:25 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>dave</title>
<description><![CDATA[
I tried posting video(s)/bulletins on Concentration camps in USA, For the life of me they wouldn't post, I tried like 3 different videos like 10 times not once would they post..then when i tried posting something of a different subject it worked..I came to the conclusion myspace is mass-censoring. I have a eerie feeling those camps will be in use in the near future...]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c170865</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c170865</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Sun, 10 Jun 2007 23:30:32 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Jason Ramone</title>
<description><![CDATA[
I think it is interesting that your account got re-stored, when my account was deleted a few weeks ago, I got the same email saying that my account could not be restored. My band had 25,000+ friends, and over 161,000 audio plays in the past year and a half. I had to restart my networking, and I wonder if it was censorship due to the political nature of my music. p.s. I think Maggie is or was in Kids on TV, I know of this band.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c168200</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c168200</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 08 Jun 2007 07:08:13 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Matt Thomas</title>
<description><![CDATA[
THEY WON....
BUT NO EXPLANATION
HAS ANYONE HEARD OF THIS HAPPENING EVER??????
From KOTV :
Myspace has restored the deleted Kids on TV account. This comment is from that account. We have never heard of this happening to anyone. Has anyone heard of this? We haven't received any communication from them. We still don't know why it was deleted originally so we don't know what we should remove from the site to make it acceptable to them. Over time we are going to try and consolidate all the Kids on TV pages so there is only one place to go (not the censorship one of course). 

We are totally mytified about this. Obviously the stink we ALL raised TOGETHER caused this to happen. Now the question, what will it take to get the pages of the other artist/activists back? We're going to continue to raise this issue of course and promote the censorship page. We are absolutely dedicated to the development of a community forum to discuss how to handle content censorship on myspace. We want dialog between users on myspace and myspace staff on this issue to make the situation better. Until that time, please post your ideas on what they could do to change policy. 
]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c127707</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c127707</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:09:36 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Realist</title>
<description><![CDATA[
"You may have question marks everywhere, but your article is quite clear in the fact that you are accusing myspace of homophobia. The question marks seem almost like a hedge. I think the article is unfounded and required a WHOLE lot more researching and evidence to support your claim.
If myspace were deleting successful and high profile gay's, explain Jeffree Star.
I hate to be an apologist, but i just think you guys have jumped the gun, to put it mildly.
"

EVERYONE:
JUST BECAUSE JEFFREE STAR DRESSES IN DRAG DOES NOT MEAN HE'S GAY.
JEFFREE STAR HAS NEVER OPENLY IDENTIFIED AS GAY...IN FACT HE HAS MORE TIES TO SKINHEADS AND SHADY PUNK BANDS THAN ANYONE IN THE LGBT COMMUNITY.
ANYONE EVER CONSIDER THAT HE MIGHT BE MOCKING GAYS?
HIM NOT BEING DELETED NOT RELATED TO THIS POST.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c127384</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c127384</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:42:51 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Matt Thomas</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Well thanks for the show of support guys that was totally two seconds away from being an online group hug.

The Facebook method of addressing deletions is pretty good proof of the point that Myspace really does not care about their users or how they are percieved because it can be done right on a large scale.

Check out www.censorspace.com, they reference this article and more accounts of censorship, artistic and commerical, including an article in the New York Times about the coding block issue.

On the KOTV news front...apparently the KOTV European Manager who was sending out press releases about the incident was told to stop by MySpace Germany upon which he said Hell no. After the KOTV incident interupted a music liesencing talk between MySpace and an a group who is very close with KOTV, MySpace Germany sent a letter to MySpace LA asking for a response. Upon which they sent the kids ANOTHER standard faceless email stating "We are not at liberty to discuss individual deletions"...who the hell does PR for these guys ....anyways the battle rages on.
Anyone have any new stories. ]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c126137</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c126137</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:27:23 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Chris</title>
<description><![CDATA[
To contrast, Facebook has lately been doing a bit of over-deletion of user accounts, and for no good reason deleted my best friend's profile, which was totally for personal use and one which she'd spent quite a bit of time building up.  Really pissed us both off, but a simple bit of email communication to the admins and *snap* it was undeleted in full.  MySpace, on the other hand, doesn't really give a shit about their users... frankly, that was obvious from the first day that thrown-together mess of a site went online, and I've never seen anything to indicate any different... it's a pile of 'features' with no consideration of users at all, it's designed to attract people, not actually offer them anything worthwhile.

Do keep your crappy band off my Facebook tho, plzthx.  (KOTV are awesome, I just mean 'your crappy band' in general.)]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c125361</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c125361</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 2007 11:02:21 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ryan C.</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Unless MySpace.com comes out (lol) and makes a public statement regarding profile deletions, everything is hearsay. No need to boycott myspace, no need to boycott KOTV. The band is obviously frustrated; they used that site for EVERYTHING, and to have all that work utterly erased is one fuck of a pisser.

btw, I'm Ryan C of BlogTO, not sure if the other ryan commenting is one of the 40 other Ryans on BTO or not.

Regarding our journalistic integrity, every single member of BTO does what they do because they enjoy it, not because it's a full time gig with dental benefits. Specifically, we often blog for the site in our spare time, or during lunch breaks while working our 9-5's. We often do not have the time and especially often not have the resources to full get all the details before making a post. We don't have an inside man at Parliament, nor do we have moles feeding us info from Exxon. We work with what we're given. I was planning on posting about this topic before I found out Matt had decided to do it, and looking things over, I probably wouldn't have done much different. If anything, posting about the event in any way shape or form HAS in fact stirred discussion, as well as brought more facts and ideas out of the woodwork. This is why we blog; to stir discussion with the most vocal of our readership. You can't please everyone, but with BlogTO at least you can tell us why you specifically are not pleased at all!]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c124670</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c124670</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2007 10:30:52 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Carrie</title>
<description><![CDATA[
YES!!! BlogTO should uphold itself to the journalistic integrity of other news organizations.

LIKE FOX!!!!!

or CNN?

Matt, really you need to aim a little higher in your moral approach to blogging.  Take O'Reiley as your mentor.

Really, I read this blog post and saw nothing of what Matt has been accused of.  He is reporting other people's concerns, which may or may not be legit and I think he left it fairly open with "a brief email could clear this all up".      Hardly as sensational as most nightly news programs.  I think the rabidness of the brouhaha stirred up by the few is rather silly.

Come ON!  It's not like when Fox bought myspace, WE DIDN'T ALL SEE IT COMING???]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c124400</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c124400</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Wed, 21 Mar 2007 01:13:59 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Matt Thomas</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Maybe I was just excited I was important enough to slander j/k

But I understand that Rupert just wants his money but if you look at programming choices and what not it matches his views more often then not. Sure it's not a NAMBLA card but it's something to keep in mind when we make choices.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123482</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123482</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:28:59 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ryan</title>
<description><![CDATA[
It wasn't your name Matt.  After all, what happens in Vegas . . . :)

I don't think his quote was tantamount to admitting NAMBLA membership.  Besides, he's said worst things about communism and still does business in China.  At the end all the day, all Rupert cares about it getting your money into his pocket.

]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123475</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123475</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:17:16 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Matt Thomas</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Oh P.S.

Check out this article about MySpace hackers... sounds exciting

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,129933-pg,1/article.html

and to Ryan I can only hope that wasn't my name... :)

But in all fairness I'm sure you could make accusations of pedophilia if I made it known publically I was a member of NAMBLA. Sure that doesn't mean I've done anything but if it came out someone who was around children alot was a member well that's worth mentioning and asking for an explanation.

Only Murdoch and his company don't have to explain anything even though he's publically denounced everything left including queers.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123439</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123439</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:14:28 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>brokenengine</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Excellent Matt, I look fwd to it.

]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123431</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123431</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:07:38 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>brokenengine</title>
<description><![CDATA[
HAHA ok easy boys.  

Jerrold, I see your point, but I think I've made mine as well.  I respect you & BlogTO, so I kind of expect more meat to the articles before they're published.  I mean, if the argument "It's only a blog, so why should there be integrity" is agreed to, then fine, but I think BlogTO can be much more than that.  Y'know?]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123427</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123427</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:03:09 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Matt Thomas</title>
<description><![CDATA[
I feel the need to say that deleting someone's MySpace account is not a Hate Crime. The difference between a Hate 
Crime and discrimination is usually sadly violence. Violence is a direct act with accountability deletion is however a casual act with no clear person to point the finger at. Even if the accusations are proved beyond a shadow of a doubt it's a private site that has no responsibility to anyone but it's users should know what they are associating and dealing with. They've become the only game in town and that's scary.

I'm not accusing MySpace of a hate crime I'm bringing up accusations of possible homophobia as part of a bigger problem based on a handful of accounts by people who joined after the FOX buy out and are usually activist, left wing, radical and anti-american. 

A pattern is always worth checking out and like I said blogs and the internet are a perfect forum for such things and I'll gladly retract any comments if only the faceless giant would speak up. 

As far as i'm concerned the fact that Murdoch is a huge homophobe is enough to sour me on MySpace and their agenda...*cough* FOX News... would anyone say that it's an unbiased source of journalism with no slant based on the owners ideals? Check out the documentary OutFoxed and see how far they go to censor things in the FOX world. Throw in the hypocritical nature of MySpace "rules" and hey that's a debate. 

I could have simply talked about that but the ongoing accusations of homophobia on top of it now coming from a local artist is so much more relevant. That's called a hook.

As far as the comments so far about Jefree Star and the gay marriage profiles being left alone.
Jefree was around post FOX in the early days of MySpace, has an insane number of die hard friends and tours supporting MySpace. So that seems pretty conflicted. 

And you I'm sure there's nothing sexually suggestive about the Gay Marriage profile on top of the fact that deleting a profile so mainstream and overtly political is something clearly they couldn't get away with. I'm not just saying Gay content here I'm saying queer, radical, political and sexual as well. It's the sexually suggestive personal opinion factor that really makes my brow furrow when it comes to choices made by MySpace staff and how they deal with potential complaints.

Even throwing out the queer factor the fact were becoming so dependent on a system that refuses to work with us and could easily get away with silencing us is SCARY and worth talking about.

These accusations aren't baseless. They are based on a group of queer people in conjunction with other activists who have had their profiles deleted. Given the vague policies I saw an opening for exploitation of grassroots individuals and brought it up I also I wanted to remind the public that Murdoch is a prick and for all the kids who won't shop at the Gap or buy Nike shoes who live and die for MySpace I wonder why we can't hold internet based companies to the same standards as we used to hold to everything in our consumer conscious Adbusters generation.

And please to everyone stop with the spamming accusations. 
Not ever single person who has experienced what they think was censorship has hundreds of friends and spent the day spamming. That's an easy out and it's their ability to be vague and brush people off that very way that is part of the problem. 

I wanted to and will do more and more research on the subject and bring up what I find. But why wait when all I ask for is a response to a growing complaint. I'm not as interested in finger pointing as I am in opening up a dialogue.

I can't prove it was or wasn't the case. But I have read and heard things that point to a potential part of a big problem and some of you seem to just say Hey no way that's way off base and throws MySpace's own vague policy back at the issue.

The plot is thickening too. There's more to come concerning a *gasp* vague new response from MySpace and huge support for KOTV from the very indie artists MySpace was attempting to purchase rights from. Stay Tuned.]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123417</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123417</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:52:04 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ryan</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Good thing I didn't jump to the wrong conclusion and start making wild accusations then:)]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123398</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123398</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:26:08 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Jerrold</title>
<description><![CDATA[
Googlebots can't read tone or context and I'd rather not see anyone's name wrongly  associated with pedophilia.  

That's why I edited your comment, and why I also sent you the same explanation by email.

Cheers,
Jerrold]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123396</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123396</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:23:29 PDT</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
<title>Ryan</title>
<description><![CDATA[
And it should be noted that I gave an actual name in my example.  Though clearly labelled as an example, it was "censored".

Do I have recourse?  Should I?]]>
</description>
<link>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123393</link>
<guid>http://www.blogto.com/arts/2007/03/myspace_censorship_hits_kids_in_toronto/#c123393</guid>
<category>Toronto, Arts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:16:36 PDT</pubDate>
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