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 suspicion, and how do automated moderation tools fail to understand its nuances? What risks do creators face when ambiguous, stylized, or queer content gets lumped in with illegal material under blanket zero-tolerance policies?
Aurélie unpacks the cultural history of hentai, lolicon, and shotacon, discusses her analysis of 30 platform policies, and calls for a more nuanced, community-informed approach to moderation. Along the way, the discussion touches on censorship, consent, creative freedom, AI-generated porn, and the politics of representation in animation.
Resources cited in this episode:
- “The Limits of Zero Tolerance Policies for Animated Pornographic Media” (Aurélie Petit, 2024)
- “The Hentai Streaming Platform Wars” (Aurélie Petit, 2024)
- Indie Porn: Revolution, Regulation, and Resistance (Zahra Stardust, 2024)
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