The closing of Pounced.org is a wake up call for fandom attitudes about sex.
by Patch O'Furr
Such a shame. I met my boyfriend of 5 years through Pounced, as well as some other awesome furs. This is yet another instance of Congress using a flamethrower to address an issue rather than a scalpel.
— Zaphod Birblebrox (@PandemoniumHawk) March 24, 2018
Yesterday’s article covered the closing of Pounced, a long-lived furry dating and personals site, out of fear of legal liability under a controversial new law, FOSTA. A statement on Pounced discussed ill-defined wording that made the law overkill; and how the smallest organizations may face the worst liability. It particularly could require administration that sounds easy on paper, but makes an untenable burden in practice.
FOSTA is meant to protect assumed victims of sex trafficking, but falsely makes “victims” and “sex work” the same thing. My article suggested that nobody wants trafficking abuse, but sex work isn’t illegal everywhere, it exists everywhere and can be called a healthy consenting adult issue. Beyond that is anti-free-speech, anti-business, and intrusive paternalism of a law that has collateral damage on stuff like harmless dating. Here’s some editorial elaboration.