Where is the line for unacceptable content?
A few months ago, someone wrote in to Pinecast support asking about whether they could host their podcast. The nature of the podcast was controversial, and so they were inquiring whether it would be removed from Pinecast for violating policies. Specifically, they asked the following:
Is there ANYTHING I could say in a podcast to get removed from your service? I’m taking “trans people have a mental disorder” all the way to “Hitler wasn’t so bad.”
I usually would otherwise not share the contents of a message from a customer, but this pokes at an issue that I’ve been asked about before (under far less dramatic circumstances) and hasn’t been exhaustively defined in any official policies. Frankly, we’ve never had to deal with a situation where someone has posted content like this, and it’s certainly something I hadn’t expected to need to deal with.
I’d like to take the time to make the policy as unambiguous as possible. Hopefully this can codify my feelings on the matter into a substantive policy.
Low-hanging fruit
Pinecast is a company based in Chicago, IL. If something violates US, Illinois, or Chicago/Cook County laws, it’s not allowed on Pinecast.
A few months back, I’d needed to tell a customer for the first time (other than for copyright issues) that their podcast would be unwelcome on Pinecast. The premise was that the producer would find pedophiles online, then share their personal details online. While I can appreciate the noble intentions of this person, this content is very unwelcome on Pinecast
Let me be very clear: I do not support pedophiles or pedophilia (and I shouldn’t even need to say that). But the answer to finding a pedophile is to GO TO THE POLICE for heaven’s sake, not make a damn podcast. Doxing is illegal, regardless of the victim.
Moreover, any sort of attacks on individuals are not welcome. Anything intended to harass or disparage another person is against the terms of service and won’t be tolerated. This also includes things like deep fakes or spreading rumors or lies meant to harm a person or their reputation.
What about hate speech
There’s no law in the United States that bans hate speech. Hate speech has repeatedly been—for better or worse—determined by the court system to be protected speech. While that may be true, and there is nothing illegal about it, it’s not welcome.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, hate speech is listed as:
Hate speech is a statement intended to demean and brutalize another, or the use of cruel and derogatory language on the basis of real or alleged membership in a social group.
The Pinecast terms of service lists off a bunch of protected classes that users may not publish content about that meets that above definition. That means that everything from criticizing a group of people for their religious beliefs to condemning LGBT people is off the table.
Here’s a simple litmus test for whether something is hate speech in the eyes of Pinecast:
- Is the speech derogatory, or otherwise condemns the existence of a group?
- Is the speech targeted at a group of people who did not choose the beliefs they hold? Or, are the beliefs held on the grounds of a person’s faith?
If both of the above are true, the speech is almost certainly hate speech.
Let’s say the person who wrote in originally was given a platform on Pinecast. Praising Nazis is spreading harmful propaganda (I shouldn’t need to explain why Nazis and their beliefs are bad). Condemning the existence of trans people increases stigma, which provably makes their lives more difficult and dangerous. Messages like these have real-world consequences: hate, oppression, and death. We cannot in good faith provide distribution for a podcast that holds those values in esteem.
The other side of the line
Conversely, we’re not the podcast police. While some podcasts may contain content that is distasteful, offensive, or otherwise rude, we are not here to silence it. We won’t deplatform a podcast for making a bad standup comedy set about Sharia law, but we’ll help it find a new home if it demonizes Muslims. We won’t censor a podcast that calls something “gay” in a way that makes the host sound like a teenager in 2005, but we’ll deplatform shows that call for sending gays to conversion therapy.
What does this mean
Pinecast’s policy has astoundingly been described as “corporate censorship,” and technically that’s true in the sense that Pinecast is a corporation and we’re prohibiting certain types of content. “Corporate censorship” (or any sort of moderation, for that matter) is fundamentally necessary for any company to have meaningful values. We simply cannot be a forum for all types of speech while also supporting a diverse culture of podcasters: you can’t build a community of diverse individuals if some of those individuals are spreading hateful messages about the others.
There is no agenda here. Pinecast doesn’t moderate based on political alignment or faith, so long as they don’t violate the rules outlined above (there are, anecdotally, more conservative and religious podcasts on Pinecast than not). And in fact, it’s in our interest to foster a diverse community of people producing content from a wide array of viewpoints.
To the overwhelming majority of you that have created amazing content on Pinecast and have approached the community with respect and empathy, thank you. Our first four years have been an amazing experience with many extremely talented people from all over the world uploading their work, and it’s my great hope that Pinecast continues to flourish over the next four (and beyond!).
