Suggestion: Ban the Discussion of Harry Potter

[Hollypaws]

I didn't expect to revisit this thread, but I still believe J.K.R's content should not have a platform.

As recently as February 2024, JKR has donated a staggering 70,000 pounds (86,460.29 USD) to help repeal the rights of trans women in Scotland.

She of course, has also deliberately misgendered a trans woman and broadcaster named India Willoughby and even went as far as saying “You’ve sent me the wrong video. There isn’t a lady in this one, just a man revelling in his misogynistic performance of what he thinks ‘woman’ means: narcissistic, shallow and exhibitionist.”upon being sent a video of her by a Twitter user.

And most shockingly of all, J.K.R has stooped as low as holocaust denial. She denied that the Nazis burned books and documents pertaining to trans healthcare and research. This happened this month, and she even intimidated someone into silence by abusing her power and wealth- because who could go against her in court? Certainly not most people speaking out against her.

Frankly, I find it insulting to see that people have diminished this to be about how fans feel, or about it being "no fun allowed" or that this situation, which has extraordinary circumstances is at all comparable. Are any of the Erins, even a former author under the pseudonym, Gillian Philips, who is also a TERF like Rowling influential enough to be directly cited by an American senator while explicitly blocking a trans-rights bill? Does a fan being sad they can't talk about Harry Potter on one specific website outweigh the fact that J.K.R uses Harry Potter and the money it makes to hurt people, and that because she gets worse by the year it's dubious to sing it's praises? This isn't to say that series like Warriors having problematic authors is unimportant, so much as saying that as far as I am immediately ware, none of them, not even Gillian Philips are so influencial that they are the face of a hate movement.

I ask again, when will enough be enough? How many lengths does she have to go before people say its immoral to act like this is just a series with a problematic creator like Danny Phantom (which had multiple people working on it by the way, not just Butch Hartman- ergo supporting it could mean supporting the people who worked on it that aren't lousy like him), or that it just has problematic writing like Warriors? Will it be enough if she succeeds in stamping out the rights of trans people in Scotland and the UK- especially the rights of trans women? Will we all just let the status quo go on and let fans happily enjoy their comfort media as it's creator ruins the lives of trans people- and undoubtedly has given people in other countries such as politicians in the USA ideas on how to continue their oppression of trans people here? Genuinely, why do fans comfort- even trans people who still like Harry Potter come before again, the very real, tangible effort she's making to oppress trans people and harass those who speak out into silence? Does she need to actually take someone to court for calling her out and potentially cause them to lose all of their money trying to defend themselves?

While I am not against separating the art from the artist- or examining the works of deeply bigoted individuals such as H.P. Lovecraft for example, you cannot separate the work from the author when it is an active tool and fund for the oppression of minorities. I do not intend to debate my stance. I don't even support book bannings given that books like Maus were clearly banned out of antisemitic bigotry- and that any good banning books could hypothetically do would inevitably be used by bigots to ban books retelling the horrors Jewish people, LGBT+ people and other minoities who were targeted by Nazis experienced during the Holocaust like Maus or Anne Frank's diary, or even books for small children like Hair Love and other books who were unfairly targetted. I do however, think there is a strong difference between banning a book and discouraging people from giving more attention to a franchise who's author that is doing horrific harm more people . What of the people who say, find a discussion thread and become a fan- only to become radicalized against trans women and the community as a whole upon seeing J.K.R's tweets? Can we really gloss over this potential issue, knowing how teenage boys were radicalized by Andrew Tate- or how imfamously PewDiePie shifting to alt-right views caused many fans of him to o the same? Having grown up with bigoted beliefs as a child, it's not hard for me to imagine how someone could be influenced to double down on their beliefs if they saw the author of their new favorite book series encouraging hatred. I am fully aware of the fact that other series such as Warriors and Pokemon have problems, but can you point to any of the people working on that and tell me they're hellbent on arguing on Twitter with trans people, encouraging terf ideology and donating large sums of money to causes that hurt people? Are they too being quoted? Gillian Philips, ex-Erin Hunter author was ousted after Warriors fans discovered she was a terf at the very least.

Can people not even say, stop showing support of her works in protest until Warner Brothers and all who bankroll her stop supporting her? How can the Warriors fandom successfully cause a positive change for the series, but Harry Potter fans aren't expected to do the same? You could very well make the argument that asking someone roleplaying as Firestar to pushback against Gillian Philips or any other Erin Hunter members who want to come out of the bigotry boiler room is expecting too much of someone who just wants to "have fun" and that it'd be "fun policing" to do so. And yet, the fandom managed to push for Harper Collins to drop her. Can you imagine what might happen if the Harry Potter fandom did the same, to attempt to get J.K.R. out from her own franchise? Even if it would inevitably be met with people buying her merch out of bigoted spite like those who bought Hogwarts Legacy (some even bought multiple copies), at least it'd be something.

J.K.R. has also allied herself with other notable bigots, such as Julie Bindel, known for working with an alt-right hate group called the Heritage Foundation which is also violently LGBT+phobic, against BLM, and are climate change deniers among other things. She too, much like J.K.R. has become is an outspoken bigot. Caroline Farrow, who works with CitizenGo- another hate group that has even spread misinformation in Kenya to prevent homosexuality from becoming decriminalized for example- and J.K.R. has been seen fondly interacting with her as well. She has also (allegedly) doxxed a trans woman as well. But sure, there's no need at all to bristle at seeing her series get praised when this is going on in the background, is there?

At the very least, there could be disclaimers on Harry Potter threads (added by staff or by the users who make them) denoting that J.K.R. is a bigot and that you should not spend your money consuming her works or buying up her merch unless it's secondhand, because it provably goes to terrorizing trans women, and likely will be used to persecute trans men and nonbinary people if she gets her way before moving onto the rest of the LGBT community. I truly don't know what to say if J.K.R. loudly and proudly devoting time and large amounts of money to oppress people and causing ripple effects elsewhere as well as allying herself with bigots (and by extension the hate groups they are apart of) just doesn't matter because what if a Harry Potter fan is sad if we say "enough is enough"? Fans who likely know just what the implications of her actions mean, given that even news stations have covered her outbursts. I am not personally going to debate any further on this topic, but after everything she's done this year so far, I felt the need to say something.

[wwwebc4ge]

Shell yeah!! Username Hollypaws is so epic and cool for this as a J.K.R hater!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!

[sm06sm]

Going to be an unpopular opinion, but:
1. If CS takes a side on this, then they’ll have to start banning a LOT more stuff, and that becomes a slippery slope fast.
2. The creator does not equal the content. On shows or anything that I disagree with, I can separate the person and the work. And even if some of the work is controversial, I can still have that discernment. But maybe some people don’t feel that way, but even then, doesn’t mean you should all out ban a discussion you don’t agree with.
3. This is where I’m going to get a lot of hate, but it’s simpler to just not interact with discussions of shows/books/anything that you don’t agree with. Thats a personal decision and much easier than asking for an entire ban on what would end up being almost anything nowadays

[Yuji Itadori~]

Going to be an unpopular opinion, but:
1. If CS takes a side on this, then they’ll have to start banning a LOT more stuff, and that becomes a slippery slope fast.
2. The creator does not equal the content. On shows or anything that I disagree with, I can separate the person and the work. And even if some of the work is controversial, I can still have that discernment. But maybe some people don’t feel that way, but even then, doesn’t mean you should all out ban a discussion you don’t agree with.
3. This is where I’m going to get a lot of hate, but it’s simpler to just not interact with discussions of shows/books/anything that you don’t agree with. Thats a personal decision and much easier than asking for an entire ban on what would end up being almost anything nowadays

No, I completely agree with the third point. I don't think it will generate as much hate as you believe. It's the same way with people, you don't like a person, you either block or do not interact so I don't see why it can't be done with discussions. If you like it, interact. If you don't like it, do not interact.

[skwisgaar]

sorry but no support. i hate JKR as much as the next guy, but banning one media will always be a slippery slope to lead to more things being banned that don't need to be. it will only give the series more attention. just dont interact with harry potter fans, better yet block them. someone else brought up that a bunch of older profiles still have old interests such as harry potter on them, and banning it would affect those inactive accounts. what if someone comes back to their old account after moving on from HP only to find their account banned for something they couldn't fix in time?

obviously JKR is abhorrent and a disgusting excuse for a human being, but banning one media is only going to harm others and censor even more what we can and cannot talk about on here, INCLUDING criticism of said media. she frustrates me to no end with her hate, as someone who is trans and a poc myself, but this is counterproductive. this is a site with only a little over a million users, and only an even smaller percent of us on here actually consume harry potter content. this wouldn't even make a dent in her sales unfortunately.

TL:DR
- No support for banning the topic of HP as a whole
- Yes for staff modding fanclubs of these series to prevent certain insensitive topics/comments.
- Yes to having a disclaimer on the fanclub threads to stop users from discussing hurtful/harmful topics relating to the series.

EDIT: And of course banning topics/discussion/references to/of media and/or creators that's sole purpose/main point is discrimination based on race/ethnicity/culture/language. [Which should already be a rule, I'm unsure if there is something like that on the rules thread.]

this user brings up good points. more moderation in fandom spaces where hate is unfortunately present in them (albeit the source material or just what people discuss in fan spaces) should be used.

TL;DR: banning one thing would only encourage more and more banning. it would be censorship central. it would also bring MORE attention to said author and media, which is the opposite of your goal. she should not have a platform but rules like this are only harmful to us as members in the long run and not her. she is not affected.

[iHolli]

Going to be an unpopular opinion, but:
1. If CS takes a side on this, then they’ll have to start banning a LOT more stuff, and that becomes a slippery slope fast.
2. The creator does not equal the content. On shows or anything that I disagree with, I can separate the person and the work. And even if some of the work is controversial, I can still have that discernment. But maybe some people don’t feel that way, but even then, doesn’t mean you should all out ban a discussion you don’t agree with.
3. This is where I’m going to get a lot of hate, but it’s simpler to just not interact with discussions of shows/books/anything that you don’t agree with. Thats a personal decision and much easier than asking for an entire ban on what would end up being almost anything nowadays

No, I completely agree with the third point. I don't think it will generate as much hate as you believe. It's the same way with people, you don't like a person, you either block or do not interact so I don't see why it can't be done with discussions. If you like it, interact. If you don't like it, do not interact.

{ I haven't felt inclined to give input here previously but I have to agree with this. I 100% am behind boycotting everything to do with HP because JKR claims any support for her work is support for her views, not to mention HP itself is just extremely problematic, and I've cut ties with people who do things like play the recent game. but I also 100% agree with the first point here-- banning something like this is a dangerously slippery slope. the best thing is to block and move on. this isn't black and white. ♡

[pisto pesto pasta]

no support as a trans person and as a person who isnt into harry potter. while i disagree w everything jk rowling stands for, we would also need to ban a lot of other topics just because their creators are problematic. like every third person i see here has a hazbin hotel/helluva boss pfp, but the creator is also extremely transphobic. it would require insanely heavy moderation to ban all the topics just because their creator has wronged people.

anyway. no support. were not really changing the world by prohibiting talking about the 1st best seller book worldwide on a random pet site. it genuinely changes nothing.

let me be clear about this

supporting jk rowling = bad
discussing silly magic book = good

[Celozon]

sorry but no support. i hate JKR as much as the next guy, but banning one media will always be a slippery slope to lead to more things being banned that don't need to be. it will only give the series more attention. just dont interact with harry potter fans, better yet block them. someone else brought up that a bunch of older profiles still have old interests such as harry potter on them, and banning it would affect those inactive accounts. what if someone comes back to their old account after moving on from HP only to find their account banned for something they couldn't fix in time?

obviously JKR is abhorrent and a disgusting excuse for a human being, but banning one media is only going to harm others and censor even more what we can and cannot talk about on here, INCLUDING criticism of said media. she frustrates me to no end with her hate, as someone who is trans and a poc myself, but this is counterproductive. this is a site with only a little over a million users, and only an even smaller percent of us on here actually consume harry potter content. this wouldn't even make a dent in her sales unfortunately.

TL:DR
- No support for banning the topic of HP as a whole
- Yes for staff modding fanclubs of these series to prevent certain insensitive topics/comments.
- Yes to having a disclaimer on the fanclub threads to stop users from discussing hurtful/harmful topics relating to the series.

EDIT: And of course banning topics/discussion/references to/of media and/or creators that's sole purpose/main point is discrimination based on race/ethnicity/culture/language. [Which should already be a rule, I'm unsure if there is something like that on the rules thread.]

this user brings up good points. more moderation in fandom spaces where hate is unfortunately present in them (albeit the source material or just what people discuss in fan spaces) should be used.

TL;DR: banning one thing would only encourage more and more banning. it would be censorship central. it would also bring MORE attention to said author and media, which is the opposite of your goal. she should not have a platform but rules like this are only harmful to us as members in the long run and not her. she is not affected.

Just want to clear some things up here;
- We wouldn't ever ban anyone for something on their profile that we only disallowed after they became inactive. If truly necessary staff can remove things from user's profiles like avatars, sig text, interests text, etc. Though its typically only used in extreme cases.
- We already have rules against discrimination and hateful comments, if you ever see anyone spreading hateful content in these places please report it and we will take care of it, there isn't any reason we would allow it just because its on a harry potter fan page. We can't monitor the entirety of the forums 24/7, we rely on user-submitted reports to alert us things like this. We typically only actively monitor specific threads if rule infractions are common. Even if you aren't sure if its against the rules its better to report anyway or send in a ticket to ask if something would be considered against the rules or not.