There are many issues involving ao3 (Archive of Our Own) to the point that “anti-censorship” is just completely covering up for the pedophilia within the fan-fiction being written (particularly involve babies and toddlers). I’ll particularly be talking about the pedophilia, but note: they support incest, misogyny, and racism. They allow it all and see no issue with it (and so do the defenders/users).

What is ao3?: Ao3 (Archive of Our Own) is an archive to host fan-fiction (stories involving characters from a certain media). Archive of our own was started by incest defenders and host ANY sort of content. It is open to anyone and it doesn’t require age verification whatsoever. Simply click a button saying that you’re 18 and you’re in.

Why is ao3 bad as a whole?: Ai generated photos of children (realistic or not) has been completely allowed and defended. Anyone over the age of 13 can make an account and interact with this content. Tags (a guide to help find/understand these stories) such as “extremely underage”, “underage sex”, and “rape” are all allowed and defended. There are stories on there depicting ->NEWBORNS<- GETTING RAPED.

How has it affected me?: I used ao3 for the first time when I was 13 and now? I’m dealing with the repercussions of being exposed to things like rape, misogyny, incest, and racism. I’ve suffered from paranoia due to the things I’ve read as my innocence was taken and I had to face the reality that people could/could’ve hurt me even as a toddler.

It’s fiction so it doesn’t matter, right?: It does! It allows children to find and interact with people who could harm, groom, and even sexually abuse them. There are so many studies that affirm the fact that fiction affects reality. If it acts like a child/baby/toddler, looks like one (or is described as looking like one), and sounds like one…it’s a child. Remember: fiction is based on reality, even dragons were based off of dinosaurs.