Vancouver artist's website deactivated after being deemed pornographic
A local feminist and artist, whose work critiques social justice and pornography, has had her website taken down by her U.S. server after her artwork was deemed pornographic itself.
Vancouver performance artist and photographer Karen Moe told the Georgia Straight by phone that she discovered her website (www.karenmoephotography.com/) had been deactivated by her server, Host Monster, on June 6.
Her website featured images from her project Lethe: a mock metaphysics, a response to her experience of being abducted and raped.
Moe has exhibited and performed Lethe in New York City, Victoria, and Toronto, and in Vancouver at the Capture Photography Festival.
The images on the website include a shot of bare buttocks with police-line tape wrapped around the waist, and double-exposure, ghost-like images of topless women.
Moe received an email on June 6 that stated "Your web hosting account for karenmoe.net has been deactivated, as of 06/06/2015. (reason: terms of service violation - adult/pornography)". She then contacted Host Monster by phone and was told by a representative they have "no tolerance for any kind of nudity".
Moe was appalled at what she considered a "reductionist judgement" of her work.
"I'm…horrified that my work would be accused of being adult porn," she said. "When you're doing a piece that's a feminist deconstruction of violence, you're certainly not going to be doing it in a Lululemon outfit."
In the terms of agreement on its website, Host Monster, which is based in Orem, Utah, states:
No Subscriber may utilize the Services to provide, sell or offer to sell the following: controlled substances; illegal drugs and drug contraband; weapons; pirated materials; instructions on making, assembling or obtaining illegal goods or weapons to attack others; information used to violate the copyright(s) of, violate the trademark(s) of or to destroy others' intellectual property or information; information used to illegally harm any people or animals; pornography, nudity, sexual products, programs or services; escort services or other content deemed adult related.
(She had no purchasing capabilities available on the website.)
When the Georgia Straight asked her if she spoke to any higher level representatives such as a manager, she said she didn't—she didn't think there was any point after learning about their zero tolerance for nudity.
As a customer with Host Monster since 2009, she has had two websites with them, one for her dog art photography and another for her fine art practice. The server had been chosen for her by her website designer when it was created.
Host Monster declined to be interviewed by the Georgia Straight as it is against their policy to discuss information with anyone except for the authorized user of the account. Host Monster is owned by the Endurance International Group, based in Burlington, Massachusetts.
Although Moe has considered taking action against the company, she will, in the meantime, search for a new website.
Coincidentally, Moe also had a Facebook posting of a photo involving nudity suspended on June 1.
Comments
6 Comments
Walter Kemble
Jun 12, 2015 at 11:35am
It's telling that our society (public policy) has no issue with depictions of horrendous violence and human abuse -but the image of the human form, showing it as was created BY NATURE, are deemed atrocities. Methinks, if ANYONE looks at an image of the naked human body as perverted or distasteful, the obscenity lies within the viewer, NOT what is being viewed!
Jacko
Jun 12, 2015 at 12:09pm
Next time read the terms of agreement!
Stoopid
Jun 12, 2015 at 12:11pm
@Walter Kremble
I'm not sure if you've been asleep for the last decade or two, but the internet is awash in photos of nude humans. The website laid out their policy clearly and it's their right to control the content. Since the artist seems to want to revenge perhaps she can go after her website designer? Maybe she can get Twitter people to bully the shit out of that person, since that seems to be the new method of creating and fomenting hatred and intolerance.
@Stoopid
Jun 12, 2015 at 7:34pm
I don't think you understand how serious this is. People who would write policies like the web host had are fascists with sexual hangups that lead to bad government.
Freddie
Jun 13, 2015 at 3:56am
How out to lunch was this web designer, this artist relied on? In fact, how out to lunch was the artist? Fine, push the boundaries of art. But when you enter the realm of publicly depicting nudity, violence, rape etc., you'd be best advised to proactively invest in legal opinion oversight of all contracts, as laws in different jurisdictions vary.
It's not the web hosts job to interpret what the hell "feminist deconstruction of violence" means. I don't fault the service provider one bit. If you can't be bothered to read the terms and conditions, or assign someone else to do that, that's your fault.
Because I personally support sex, nudity, and boundary-pushing art, doesn't everyone else does, and they shouldn't have to, and that's their right. Bottom line, they're running a vanilla operation, to not get sued, if the subject being photographed is 15 but looks 21. There's plenty of other sites that will cater to nudity. Art doesn't live in a vacuum. Do your homework, and read the contract you're agreeing to. Like the Jackass movie song goes "if you're gonna be dumb, ya' gotta be tough."
Malcolm Boura
Jun 17, 2015 at 12:17am
Freedom of expression is meaningless if the means of expression are denied, and increasingly they are being denied. More important, the attitudes encouraged by this web host result in appalling outcomes, particularly for children and young people.