CYBERSPACE – The residents of Godly, Texas can heave a sigh of relief the next time they log onto Tribe.net. Wade, a moderator for the site, explained in the tribeideas.tribe.net group recently that by December 20, 2005, the company will ensure that the popular social networking service is “a respectful site for everybody, including people from Godly, Texas!”What this means in layman’s terms is that Tribe.net has decided to bring its membership’s uploaded image collections into compliance with 2257 regulations – and that the company appears poised to err on the side of extreme caution by catering to the most conservative online community standard possible as regards the possible definitions of “obscenity,” “pornography,” and “sexually explicit” content.

An email that went out to members last Wednesday announced the upcoming release of a new Tribe.net “Terms of Use” document outlining a number of changes to the site. Among those expected changes are a minimum age requirement of 18 for membership, the removal of any images that might fall under 2257 regulations, and the end of the “Mature” designation for profiles or groups, with the replacement of a “Community Flagging” tool that will allow users to determine whether or not they find content to be “offensive.”

“In effect,” said Wade, “we’re not drawing a line other than stating that content portraying obscenity, pornography, and sexually explicit conduct is prohibited on our site. The Community Flagging tools will be in the hands of tribe.net members, and it’s up to them to define where the line is, and to enforce it.”

The announcement was met with immediate and often intense hostility and suspicion, with some users calling for acts of intentional disobedience or boycott while others expressed fears that malicious users could falsely accuse them of posting offensive material. Attempts by concerned members to learn whether their topless photographs, art nude paintings, or BDSM and other adult oriented special interest groups would likely be in violation of the unreleased TOU were met by moderators with recommendations to visit the Free Speech Coalition and Electronic Freedom Frontier websites for definitions. Also provided were non-specific philosophical statements, such as “the spirit of these changes is that this is all up to your best judgment, in good faith and respect.”

For a self-identified online community that prides itself on its counter culture, alternative-lifestyle, Burning Man, and sex-positive individuality, the restrictions and vague answers from moderators smell of oppression by “The Man” and questionable compromises on the part of a company that promotes an ultra indie-hip image.

According to Wade, “The reality is we have a Republican administration and Congress that have made this a hot-button issue. As a business we have no choice but to obey the law or shut down, regardless of what our personal feelings are about the law here.”

Wade went on to point out that some liberal leaning sites, including PlanetOut.com, have removed all “questionable content” or completely closed.

Few solid recommendations were made to users, except that all “sexually explicit” images should be removed. Beyond that, Wade suggested that images that “might be on the edge for some users” be marked “’Friend Only’ out of respect for” those who might be offended were they to see them.

Under the previous rules, Wade explained, “Some users, even with the ‘Mature’ system in place, were still coming across content they found offensive.” In addition to avoiding possible prosecution for 2257 violations and removing the opportunity for more sensitive users to encounter materials they might find upsetting, Wade contended that the new arrangements are “more tribe-like for users to decide together what content is appropriate or not,” and thus create a unique community standard for obscenity. Wade promised that Tribe.net would incorporate “checks and balances” to ensure that abusive use of the flagging tools would not become a problem.

Given that Wade states the majority of users post from San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon (whose state constitution guarantees nearly unlimited free speech protection), the people of Godly, Texas may still not find the Tribe.net community as restrained as the moderators would like to hope.

The site was offline for approximately six hours on Thursday evening. A number of users have substituted anti-censorship themed images for their previous primary identity icons.