FA Walks Back Its Anti-ABDL Changes

The recent policy change on FurAffinity that has driven a lot of babyfur/ABDL creators off the site appears to have been reversed. Several site administrators and moderators (of both the gallery website itself and its Discord channel) have announced their resignations, including the two who have become most notorious for their anti-babyfur stances. And today, FA’s de facto leader, Sciggles, has issued a formal apology/announcement and an open letter publicly apologizing for recent events and pledging to make things better. She makes it clear that the open letter portion is from her solely.

The salient points of the official announcement include:

• An admission that the policy changes weren’t fair
• An apology to the communities negatively impacted, specifically including the babyfur/ABDL community
• An admission that the babyfur/ABDL community has been targeted with a deliberate mass-reporting campaign
• An admission that FA did not handle that mass-reporting campaign with the proper care
• An announcement that FA will not enforce section 2.7 of the policy with the exception of extreme or non-artistic violations until it can be rewritten [Note from me: I’m reading “We’re suspending the policy, but don’t abuse this”]
• A reminder that mass reporting is already an abuse of the trouble ticket system and will not be tolerated [Note from me: It shouldn’t have been tolerated in this case either, but there were some mods/admins who apparently relished the opportunity it gave them; I hope they’re all among those who resigned]
• An announcement that FA will not allow targeting of any individual or community via trouble ticket abuse
• A reminder that harassment is not allowed on FA, and that includes attaching negative implications to anyone just because of the kind of art they enjoy [Note from me: for example, calling someone a predator just because they like babyfur art, a very serious allegation based on absolutely no evidence whatsoever]
• An acknowledgement that many people’s trust of FA has been shaken or broken by the mass report, FA’s terrible handling of it, and the subsequent policy change
• A hope that FA can regain that trust over time via positive action
• An admission that FA’s lack of transparency contributed greatly to the cited problems
• A statement that FA is working on a plan to address the lack of transparency and other concerns going forward

Main points of the open letter:

• The passing of Dragoneer (former FA site administrator) over two months ago shook FA to its core and shook the furry community at large as well
• In its wake, FA’s staff has been under a great deal of stress and trying to figure out how to go forward, as Dragoneer handled a lot by himself – he left no guidebook behind
• Most FA staff are unpaid volunteers who put in a lot of time and effort for free and deserve a lot of respect for this
• Into the midst of this overwhelming situation came the malicious anti-babyfur mass reporting incident [Note from me: The mass reporter either picked this time to strike for that reason, or got really lucky]
• The FA staff didn’t respond to the ticketing abuse well, issuing bans and takedowns and punishing the targets of the abuse rather than the abuser
• Sciggles tried to do community outreach and attempted to “fix” the situation with the policy change, which she admits was not a good solution; it was a rushed decision made from a position of extreme stress; she apologizes for this
• She knows that a simple apology won’t fix it and acknowledges that many people are rightfully furious about it
• So she is still taking feedback and listening to people, working on a way to make it better, though she knows there’s never going to be a way to make everyone happy
• She calls for volunteers to be FA moderators or part of the support team, as they need help

Now, there are some out there who don’t trust FA or don’t trust Sciggles specifically. I get that. She probably does too, after all that’s happened, though I can’t speak for her. But it sounds as if this is a time when FA might actually change for the better. Yes, there are some who won’t ever come back to FA, but some might, and some who were preparing to leave may change their minds.

The fact is that FA has been treating babyfur artists and users increasingly poorly for years now. The previous version of section 2.7 wasn’t actually very good either. Perhaps something good can come of this, and the site will allow babyfur art with a simple and reasonable set of restrictions, rather than some arbitrary and vaguely-worded rules that can be easily abused by mass reporters and moderators with an anti-babyfur bent.

As I’ve said previously, however, FA must first decide what its actual goals are in writing the policy: is it trying to make sure posted art is legal in most of the world? Is it trying to avoid an appearance of being a haven for child po/rn? Or is it trying to best serve its community?

If you were planning to leave FA, does this change your mind? If you already left, will this convince you to go back? If not, what do you think FA could do that might change your mind? Or is it too late? (Or are you a non-furry asking, “What’s an FA?”) What do you think?