How Fans Saved Sexypedia From Being Erased From the Internet

Neither can be easy. The Sexypedia had withstood different makes an attempt to take away the location, together with one by its authentic proprietor after they left. Fandom obtained a number of takedown requests, however group members pointed the finger at a YouTube video created by Trig Jegman, a volunteer workers member of a number of different Fandom wikis.

The video, which has obtained about 3,000 views, beneficial Sexypedia be deleted for “outright sexual in content material protection.” The video additionally claimed tons of of different databases violated Fandom’s insurance policies. “The choice so as to add Sexypedia [to the list] was not carried out out of non-public hatred or deliberate focusing on,” Jegman says.

The studies led to an inside dialogue for Fandom, which should have determined Sexypedia was too inherently sexual to be allowed. As soon as the choice was made, the location was taken down with no session or warning given to the location’s workers, who had thought they had been in compliance.

“Our wiki contained no express content material and was strictly PG-13,” says Lee, who had owned and maintained Sexypedia since 2021. (Lee declined to offer their final identify, citing privateness considerations.) “[Fandom’s] motive does not make sense, except they simply noticed the phrase ‘intercourse’ within the title.”

In contrast to the Wikimedia Basis, which hosts Wikipedia, Fandom is a for-profit firm, owned since 2018 by enterprise capitalist Jonathan Miller’s Built-in Media Firm. Just lately, plenty of fan wikis have elected to create new databases unaffiliated with Fandom moderately than cope with the corporate’s shifting practices and insurance policies. Final yr, customers and workers of the large Minecraft Wiki voted to leave Fandom, saying the corporate had been “prioritizing its personal pursuits and engagement over these of wiki communities.” (Fandom declined to offer touch upon the report for this story.)

The Sexypedia group didn’t have these considerations. “We ran high-quality with no problem for years, even having Fandom workers assist us with issues,” says Lee. Nonetheless, on October 30, when mods requested why the wiki had disappeared, Fandom responded to their help request by saying it violated the corporate’s Phrases of Use and Group Creation insurance policies, successfully denying their attraction to reopen the location. As per coverage, although, Fandom permitted the workers to archive the wiki’s knowledge, so it might be restored elsewhere.

The day Fandom denied their attraction, Lee formally requested area from Miraheze, a nonprofit internet hosting service, as a brand new dwelling. The group lent their full help to the choice, and for the subsequent two weeks the Discord was a hive of exercise, making ready the legions of thin white males earlier than the new site was permitted on November 11. It’s presently below building, however it seems as if the one-of-a-kind catalog of fan love has been saved.

To inaugurate the brand new web site, the group even held a vote on which character would get the consideration of the primary web page on the location. The As soon as-ler gained handily, persevering with a practice that even those who continue it don’t fully perceive. It’ll be just a little simpler, although, now that the Sexypedia is again on-line.