What would you say if you found out that a platform dedicated to letting people tell their stories suddenly… shut down stories because of who was telling them? What would you say if you found out that Medium, a publication dedicated to people telling their stories from all angles and political affiliations, silenced the voice of someone who is trying to make sure that there are no sexual abuse victims in the first place?

My guess is you would be up in arms. My guess is, you would be shocked and alarmed that a company could do that. Sure, it is their right, but that they would do it in the manner that they did is equally alarming:

Not only do I contend that I have not broken any rules – as evidenced by every post on this blog, which is an exact duplicate, minus a great many links from Medium – they claimed that me, a prevention advocate, has “material which may potentially promote or increase the risk of exploitation of minors,” something I fight against, every day.

So, for Medium to come down on me simply because I have controversial articles about a controversial topic, is asinine. As a recent post from the recent evidence-focused child protection startup Prostasia Foundation points out, the FOSTA/SESTA law which was recently passed in the United States may have played a role.

However, that is not really the reason I have been censored. No one cares to hear my voice in the first place, no matter how much content I generate about ensuring people get help before they make the decision to abuse a child. No one cares about the facts I say, because to most people, the facts are just “siding with child rapists” or “protecting pedophiles.” Most people do not properly understand what a pedophile is: Someone with a sexual attraction to children (separate from the act of raping a child).

The Real Reason For Censorship

The real reason Medium censored voices like mine, no matter how much effort I put into focusing on getting the facts about child sexual abuse out there, is that I belong to one of the most hated and stigmatized groups on planet Earth. I am a pedophile (not a child rapist). The reason my voice was silenced has nothing to do with FOSTA/SESTA, or with any content that most certainly does not promote the sexual abuse or exploitation of children. The reason I was silenced is purely because Medium is afraid of controversy.

If you look up their app on the Apple store or Google Play, you see a lot of negative one-star reviews… criticizing them for giving prevention a voice. Accusing them of giving pedophiles a platform. These reviews have nothing to do with how fantastic Medium is in terms of being user-friendly. They are harassing and likely threatening them in order to shut down controversial subjects.

Yes, you read that correctly. Medium is getting trolled by losers who would much rather whine about controversy than actually take the fact-based steps that are necessary to protect children. I am quite familiar with these trolls. They follow me and stalk me relentlessly on Twitter:

It does not matter what I say, what the facts are, or how rational I am. There are entire groups of trolls on Twitter, ready and willing to harass anyone who supports non-offending pedophiles. Think about that. They believe the solution that will keep children safe is to hate on people for an attraction they never chose and cannot change. One of them, seen above, would hate their own son if they had minor attraction. Their own child. They would hate them, rather than loving and supporting them, despite them doing no wrong other than to have what appears to be a biological condition of attraction.

Other platforms, like Discord, would rather take down communities of people who are trying to support each other in remaining law-abiding.

Does Hatred Protect Children?

Put your pitchfork down for a moment. Take a few deep breaths. Then take a stab at answering that question. Do you think driving people who are already struggling with a very significant mental health issue should be driven further into isolation and depression? Do you think that is helpful? We look down on white supremacist groups because they target anyone who is another skin color with hatred. We look down on many police organizations who clearly target black people. We look down on people who bully gay, bisexual, trans, nonbinary, and others with hatred.

We do not like bullies. We do not like trolls. We do not like entire groups of people who target people for harassment. Twitter’s terms of service forbid it. So does Facebook. Discord does not tolerate bullying. Each of these platforms, as with most social media, give users the option to block people. Currently, my blocklist on Twitter alone is compost of 2,544 accounts. Why? Because they would harass me otherwise, and I would rather keep that kind of trash out of my notifications. So the obvious answer to this question is no.

The hatred of trolls has no place in society, and by caving like cowards to the bullies that are attempting to shut down our voices, Medium has sided with bullies. Medium has made it clear… they care more about themselves than they do about protecting children.