A lot of people noticed a few weeks ago that there was an exodus of users and a ton of discourse around the site. People migrated their accounts then went on to make targeted comments accusing me and the website of various things from bigotry to ableism. So... what happened?

Some Backstory

When Aethy was first created, there was a question of what we were going to do with MAPs (minor attracted people) and zoophiles (people with an attraction to animals). The way it was framed to me at the time was that there should be a space for people to talk about mental health concerns surrounding both of them. Under no circumstances would we allow anyone who held any form of belief that advocated contact between adults and minors or humans and animals. But hey, if people who were staunchly against contact (so called "anti-C") wanted to share resources to keep people from offending, that sounds great. The site was designed to be a safe space for CSA victims (hi) and was created where consent would be paramount. Children and animals can't consent. So we all agreed with that and we're good, right?

The first sign of trouble came when I asked people not to use the word "pedophile" in the CW field. Some of the "out" MAP community on the website was livid and I was accused of bigotry, ableism, and silencing "their language and experiences". I figured this was just a weird fluke by some troublemakers so I ignored it. The rules were altered to clarify what was allowed in CWs, and some people left while causing a ruckus on their way out.

Next came the "MAP Pride" and "Zoo Pride" iconography. All we asked was that these symbols be placed behind CWs. This was met with the same backlash as before. But we stuck to our guns on it. This would cause issues on and off for the rest of the life of the site.

Then, we began to notice people linking to their profiles on "Para" websites. These were websites that included advocacy for the violation of consent by stating that adults should be able to have sex with minors, or that people should be able to have sex with animals. Of course, we banned anyone involved in linking these profiles. You cannot be against abuse when you're on spaces that welcome abusers with open arms. This wasn't a debatable point for me (or any human being who cares about consent).

This caused a huge uproar from the "out" MAP and Zoophiles on the website where again, I was accused of being a "bigot", an "ableist" and I was told that I was contributing to CSA (y'know, which isn't great to hear as a CSA victim). A bunch of nasty things were said about me and the website and a targeted harassment campaign both on the site and off the site was started. I put a stop to it by suspending anyone involved. This was where the idea that I was a "tyrant" originated from; that I banned anyone who "disagreed" with me. Nevermind that we're talking about child and animal abuse here.

The discourse around this continued for months. A lot of users left Aethy and went to join these abusive websites, even though they wanted to argue that they were "anti-C" themselves. There were some users left who disagreed with my decision to ban links to these spaces but they kept their mouths shut. Until now.

What happened?

I'm going to keep the details of this private and not give out names (even though that same courtesy wasn't extended to me by these people)

I was getting reports from people for the past few months regarding a certain subset of iconography. There wasn't anything I could do about it though because no one bothered to explain why the iconography was a reportable offense (PLEASE fill out the reason why something is abusive!! I don't have time to hunt down every individual report). Then, I got a report about someone vague posting about someone being banned from Discord servers and Creative Clash. This individual had posted an art piece where they had used the same symbols that weren't explained to me. This time though, someone reached out and explained what exactly the symbols were.

The symbols were MAP symbols that had been used to signal what children the person was attracted to. They had a name and I dove into some research on them. It turns out, those symbols were distributed by an FBI law enforcement memo to warn law enforcement that CSAM is most likely involved when they come across them. There had been cases in the past where the FBI came across these symbols, searched people's computers, and discovered a network of CSAM tied to them. They had even been used in the trade of CSAM before the internet was more commonplace. (I've done more research since and found their use tied to people on the FBI's most wanted list)

The individual who posted the art piece reached out when we updated our policy to ban the use of these symbols. At first, it simply seemed as though they were ignorant about their use. When presented with the FBI memo though, they became incensed and started accusing me and others of being FBI bootlickers. Nevermind that these symbols were demonstrably tied to use by actual predators. We were attacked simply because we pointed out what the FBI said about them.

After they had publicly fought with people in our Matrix server, it was discovered that they had been boosting content from a known website which hosts Pro-C users and were open to "Pro-C discourse". So, they weren't as "anti-C" as they claimed. Unfortunately, there were a handful of people on the website who knew of this person as they had been popular in Creative Clash (before they were banned). After it was brought to my attention that they had been boosting that content, they were banned from Aethy as well. This really pissed off a certain subset of users.

Since the individual in question was so popular, there were a decent chunk of people on Aethy who were friends with them. By banning them, the mask finally came off. These people began migrating their accounts to other websites and went back to accusing me of the old standbys ("ableist", "bigot", etc.). Some began advocating for "Pro-Cs" while still claiming they were "anti-C" themselves. Many acted as if they were above the "discourse" while defending this individual and accusing me of stirring up drama (y'know, for banning someone pushing rhetoric from a site that allows pro-C advocacy). They weren't mad at their friend for pushing spaces like this, they were mad at me for pointing it out.

Also, since I'm accused of muddying the water by claiming the space in question allows Pro-C advocacy when they're mostly "anti-C", here's the proof that says otherwise [aethy.com].

This was the final straw.

MAPs and Zoophiles and Aethy

Every single person who was an "out" MAP or zoophile on the website has since ended up either joining Pro-C spaces, or stood by trying to advocate their use because "there's no other choice". People are alright joining spaces with actual abusers or are actual abusers themselves. This is also backed up by the recent banning of MAP iconography on Inkbunny. It wasn't just "some" of the "out" MAPs that were spreading abuse, it was all of them. The logical conclusion here is that the online MAP movement has either been mostly taken over by abusive individuals, or it was started as a way to shield them from criticism. They use well meaning "anti-C" individuals as shields while also slowly coaxing them to their side.

This is literally backed up by a quote I found on a Pro-C MAP space. It says, and I quote,

"Should our efforts expand within the Fediverse, the best analog for this might be the MAP infiltration of Secular-Rationalist bulletin boards that took place in the mid-late 00s. MAPs would be targeting a group that is already predisposed to realigning their way of thinking."

They're abusing the language of well-meaning progressives in order to wedge themselves into our spaces. Anyone who disagrees with either direct or indirect Pro-C rhetoric is an "ableist", a "bigot", or any other flavor of progressive language. People are falling for this and are allowing actual abusers to infiltrate progressive spaces.

And I'm tired of it.

I put a stop to it on Aethy (which caused a huge uproar) and I'm glad I did. There's a lot of people who suffer from unwanted attractions, but they don't organize a movement around it. They don't create spaces where abusers can sit out in the open. They don't steal progressive language in order to create a shield for the worst of our species. They don't take advantage of people with other mental illnesses in an attempt to groom them into joining their spaces (e.g. like MAPs do with POCD sufferers). They don't fucking use the same symbols as people spreading actual abusive material.

I flat out don't believe that a person who suffers from unwanted attraction would create this kind of movement around it if they didn't want abuse to be normalized.

I realized that Aethy wasn't getting flack for "being dramatic" because we were somehow a uniquely "dramatic" space. We were getting flack for being dramatic because we weren't satisfied allowing abusive shit on our website. Every time we saw abuse, we stamped it out. If that's what being "dramatic" is, then fine, I guess I'm a drama llama.

To the people defending this type of behavior and who continue to throw a fit about me: I truly hope you realize what you're doing. I truly hope you realize the type of abuse you're allowing. But if you don't, I truly hope you stay away from this website.

We've since banned most of the involved users for continuing to harass and spread mistruths about us. The people who defended the individual in question migrated off the website around the beginning of October, and we've mostly defederated from the involved accounts. If you're wondering why someone who was in your following list is missing, that'd probably be why.

(Note: I didn't name the instances in question because I don't want to give them a platform. They thrive on people spreading their name and I don't want to give them that satisfaction)