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Fan Refuge is Coming
Fan websites have long been policing creative content. An early and seminal case was when FanFiction.net abruptly banned all NC-17–rated stories in 2002 – removing thousands of explicit fics after user complaints. A second “purge” followed around 2012, when the site quietly deleted any story deemed too mature (excessive sex, profanity, or copyright issues). These crackdowns provoked outrage, fan petitions and migrations (many writers moved their deleted works to other archives).
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A turning point came in 2007 with LiveJournal’s “Strikethrough” incident, when hundreds of user accounts and communities were suspended—many related to fandom—under vague allegations of hosting "illegal content," including fictional depictions of taboo subjects. Though some accounts were reinstated, the move shattered trust in corporate-controlled platforms. LiveJournal’s increasing content restrictions and eventual sale to a Russian company further alienated its fandom base.
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These repeated bans helped motivate a fan-run alternative. In 2007 a group of fans formed the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) and began building Archive of Our Own (AO3). AO3 launched in 2009 as a noncommercial, broadly inclusive repository explicitly designed to avoid the content restrictions of commercial sites. Its policies were framed in direct response to earlier purges – AO3 now allows virtually any legal fanwork regardless of content, reflecting a “free-speech” ethos born of those censorship battles.
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Fan artists and social-media users have faced similar crackdowns. DeviantArt, a popular fan-art site, updated its policy in 2018 to ban all sexual images of minors – warning that any “NSFW art of a minor” would get the artist banned without warning. Many creators protested that this rule (and its automated enforcement) was overbroad and caught innocent work. Around the same time, Tumblr instituted a sweeping porn ban in December 2018 which removed all erotic images, GIFs and videos from the platform, impacting many NSFW fan communities.
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These purges aren't slowing down. As recently as 2024, Wattpad quietly raised its story age-of-consent from 16 to 18 and rolled out automated moderation. Suddenly hundreds of fanfic posts and originals were flagged or removed without warning. Wattpad later explained that new “moderation tools” were being used to identify violations at scale, advising authors to edit or appeal questioned content. By then many writers were scrambling to back up or self-censor their work.
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Upcoming COSL project Fan Refuge will be stepping into this fray soon. Following in the footsteps of AO3, Fan Refuge will be an membership website for fans, supporting text, audio, artwork and videos, without aggressive censorship. Instead, Fan Refuge will offer a unique content warning system to allows you to decide what content you want to see, and what you would rather be hidden from your view.
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It won't be easy to bring this vision to life. Fan websites often don't adopt aggressive moderation practices as a personal preference. More commonly it is forced upon them by legal pressures or by rules imposed by app-stores, advertising networks, or payment networks. And those pressures are getting tighter all the time. But we're not doing this because it's easy, we're doing it because we're fans ourselves, and we don't agree with how politicians and business moguls are trying to shape where and how fans share fiction and art.
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If you believe in this vision too, you can do something about it. As one of our first COSL supporters, we are offering you an exclusive invitation to become one of the first users of Fan Refuge while it is still in the alpha testing stage. All that you have to do is to make a donation to our Fan Refuge crowdfunding campaign – any amount, it doesn't matter – and we'll be in touch to provide you with your exclusive pre-release invitation.
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Censorship won’t stop us. With your support, we’re creating the platform fandom deserves. Fan Refuge is coming—let’s make it real, together.
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The Latest from Our Blog
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Fiction or Felony? The Blurring of Art and Abuse
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When Danish AI artist "Barry Coty" was arrested in 2023, it came as a surprise. He had believed that the fantasy AI porn images he was creating were a harmless outlet that might reduce demand for real child abuse material. Instead, he found himself at the center of a global Interpol operation and facing criminal charges that would help reshape …
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Fan Refuge is a new, inclusive and safe fan community built on open source Trust & Safety tools.
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Beyond the Filter: Aurélie Petit on Censorship of Animated Porn and its Limits
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This month on Beyond the Filter, Brandy and Jeremy are joined by Aurélie Petit, PhD candidate in Film Studies at Concordia University and author of the recent Porn Studies article The Limits of Zero Tolerance Policies for Animated Pornographic Media. Together, they explore the complex and often contradictory ways digital platforms moderate animated sexual content. Why is animation treated with …
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COSL Seeks Membership/Community Officer
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Are you passionate about digital rights and community building? The Center for Online Safety and Liberty (COSL) is looking for a dedicated Membership/Community Officer to help grow our network of supporters.
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In this part-time volunteer role (5–10 hours/week), you'll play a key role in welcoming new members, managing our growing membership base, and driving grassroots fundraising. You’ll craft compelling outreach through social media, newsletters, and targeted campaigns, helping strengthen COSL’s community and support. You'll also build excitement around the Fan Refuge community, participating on its website and building our Discord server.
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This is a great opportunity to gain experience in nonprofit development while making a real impact in advancing online safety and digital freedom. You'll collaborate with a passionate team committed to defending digital rights, and build valuable relationships of your own.
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Launch of Justice for Real Survivors
Last month we announced our latest legal advocacy project, Justice for Real Survivors. This month we are excited to announce the official launch of the project, and the commencement of its first activities.
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This project tackles a growing global trend: the conflation of fictional sexual content with real sex crimes—often to the detriment of actual survivors and marginalized communities. From AI-generated art to fantasy literature and queer storytelling, creators and educators around the world are being swept up in policies designed for a completely different category of harm. At the same time, real survivors of sexual abuse are underserved, under-resourced, and often silenced.
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Justice for Real Survivors aims to flip that script. Our work will include:
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Legal and policy research to distinguish real harm from imagined threats
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Public advocacy that centers survivors’ voices and protects expression
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Development of shared principles for the ethical governance of fictional content
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Strategic litigation and media engagement to push back against harmful laws
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We believe in evidence over moral panic, and in safety with freedom—not in place of it. To keep informed of our activities in real time, you can visit the project website below.
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Fight the Stop CSAM Act
The STOP CSAM Act may sound like it protects children—but in reality, it threatens the privacy and safety of everyone online. This dangerous bill would pressure online platforms to monitor user messages and content, undermining encryption and opening the door to censorship. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation warns, it risks silencing vulnerable communities and breaking the very tools that protect our safety and freedom of expression.
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What’s more, the STOP CSAM Act simply isn’t necessary. Law enforcement already has tools to investigate and prosecute child exploitation—what’s needed is better funding, improved digital literacy, and support for evidence-based prevention programs. We can protect kids without sacrificing the rights of everyone who uses the internet.
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Take action today: Tell your lawmakers to vote NO on the STOP CSAM Act.
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Support our work!
Pledging your monthly support for our work is the best way that you can support us, because it gives us the stability to plan ahead. You can pledge your support at three levels.
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Keep In Touch With Us
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