SELF-REGULATION POLICY

Self-Regurlation Policy

alvine.org(hereinafter referred to as “this site” or “I”) recognize and respect the importance of the sound upbringing of juvenile, and to respond to the recent increase in self-regurlation requests for expressive persons, I have established my own self-regurlation policy (hereinafter referred to as “this policy”) as follows.

Obligation to make efforts as stipulated by the Law

This site may contain images, video, audio, text, and other media that may contain sensitive expressions. Although such content is not considered to fall under the category of “Harmful Information for Juvenile” (青少年有害情報) as defined by Article 2, Paragraph 3 of the Act on Establishment of Enhanced Environment for Juvenile’s Safe and Secure Internet Use, I will endeavor to take “measures to prevent viewing by juvenile” (青少年閲覧防止措置) in accordance with the duty of effort of the “certain server administrator” (特定サーバー管理者) as stipulated in Article 21 of the Law.

Responding to the Self-Regurlation requests

Freedom to not be exposed to expressions one does not wish to see

In recent years, discussions on the state of expression have often focused on the issue around of the “freedom not to be exposed to expressions one does not wish to see”¹ which shakes foundation of liberalism. In Japan and other liberal societies, freedom of self-determination includes the freedom to choose what one sees. The idea that there is room for tolerating offensive expressions based on the principle of seeing what one wants to see and turning away from what one does not want to see (sometimes called the “free marketplace of ideas and expression”). The Supreme Court of Japan’s decision in the case of a request for an injunction against commercial advertising on subway cars (1988)² also supports this idea, while providing an interpretation of the freedom that inevitably conflicts with public space and the offensiveness that must be tolerated.

So, isn’t the “freedom not to be exposed to expression one does not wish to see” quite different from the “freedom” in common sense, and closer to a movement of requests for self-regulation based on a moral standpoint ?

Incidentally, I have never received any such requests to date, and if I did, I would not comply with them.

Why Self-Regurlation

However, I do not consider such a request to be unjustified, even if it lacks a legal basis. For example, sexual expression, even if it is unrealistic, must be understood as something that can provoke the victim’s emotions and cause emotional distress, since the social problem of sexual assault exists in the strict sense.Therefore, the failure of an expressionist to establish self-imposed restrictions on sexual expression can unintentionally cause emotional distress (i.e., secondary sexual harm). Furthermore, such aversion to sexual expression is not limited to people with certain attributes; it is not uncommon for people to feel extremely stressed over even small things, as in the psychological term HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) it is no longer uncommon to find people who are highly stressed by even the smallest of things. It is not unreasonable for an expressive person who deals with annonymous people to listen to their needs, even if it is a little inconvenient.

Furthermore, especially Japanese society, which has long upheld liberalism, has a history of limiting expression at the side of the private sector, with associations and companies “self-regurlation” in practice, while enjoying “freedom” under the law, with the Constitution at the top. It is hard to say what kind of cultural impact this “self-regurlation” has had and to what extent it has had an economic effect, but it has led to the formation of present situation, in which the expressive people rarely fight over the conflict of their individual freedoms. To ignore this history, and to condemn the “freedom not to be exposed to expression one does not wish to see” in such exaggerated terms as “a challenge to freedom of expression” without understanding that this is a request from the private sector to the private sector, isn’t to be mad with liberalism?

Criteria

The following criteria will be used to judge “contents containing sensitive expressions” on this site, based on the premise that they are Kitazawa Sakufu’s own works.

Methods

This site will host contents containing sensitive expressions in the following manner to prevent access by juveniles, and at the same time, will enforce self-regurlation.

Furthermore, although this is not on this site, I will make a voluntary effort to:

when I post such content on Twitter.

Accesibility Consideration

Self-regulation on the Web is often done in a way that seriously spoils accessibility. Based on the idea that Nothing takes precedence over Accessibility, this site is self-regulating with the following considerations so as not to impair the user experience (UX) of you.