Brandy and Jeremy speak with journalist Michael McGrady Jr about two growing threats to online sexual expression: financial censorship and age verification laws. They discuss recent crackdowns, including the financial censorship of adult games on Steam and itch.io, and the effects of the UK’s Online Safety Act requiring ID checks for many sites. Michael explains how these measures harm both privacy and the livelihoods of sex workers, game developers, and queer creators. Learn how long-running moral campaigns combined with corporate risk aversion are creating a perfect storm for the suppression of lawful expression worldwide, and discover real ways to protect children without censorship.

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In this episode of Beyond the Filter, hosts Jeremy and Brandy delve into the creation of Fan Refuge, a new social media platform designed for fans by fans. Jeremy shares insights into how Fan Refuge aims to provide a censorship-free space while ensuring user safety through innovative tools and community guidelines. Discover the challenges and inspirations behind this project, and learn how Fan Refuge plans to stand out in the landscape of fan websites. Join us as we explore the future of fan communities online.

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In this episode, hosts Jeremy and Brandy speak with F15-H (Fish), an artist from Hong Kong now living in mainland China, about a shocking wave of arrests targeting fanfiction writers on the Chinese platform MyHD Books. Over 500 authors—predominantly young women and college students—were arrested in May on charges of public indecency, facing penalties of up to 10 years in prison simply for writing erotic fanfiction. Fish reveals how these arrests were triggered when the Taiwan-based platform introduced monetization features, giving authorities a pretext to crack down on content that had existed for years. The conversation explores China’s gendered approach to censorship, where female-created content faces harsher penalties than male-oriented material, and draws troubling parallels to rising puritanical movements worldwide. From doll nipples getting creators shadow-banned from payment systems to fans reporting writers to the government over shipping preferences, Fish paints a picture of a surveillance state where fiction is treated more seriously than real crimes—and warns that similar trends are emerging globally.

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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 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.

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Under Trump and Project 2025, censorship isn’t creeping in — it’s charging full force. From gutting public media and defunding the arts to banning words like “diversity” and “trauma,” the far-right agenda aims to erase marginalized voices, rewrite culture, and muzzle dissent. By reviving the Comstock Act, weaponizing the FCC, and attacking DEI and online speech, this authoritarian blueprint threatens free expression, queer visibility, and artistic resistance. But artists, educators, and activists aren’t staying silent — they’re fighting back with truth, satire, and solidarity. This episode is a wake-up call to resist the silencing machine.

Defunding public broadcasting:

Trump wants to cut NPR and PBS funding. He could succeed this time | US news | The Guardian

Will Trump Defund NPR And PBS? Here’s What We Know As President Attacks The Broadcasters

Voice of America has to provide accurate, objective and comprehensive news – could that all change?

Kari Lake meets with Voice of America’s overseers, raising concerns over its independence

FCC: Project-2025-Civil-Rights-Technology.pdf

NEA: Trump Executive Orders Target the Arts, Culture, and Science Sectors

Kennedy Center: How Trump’s influence is reshaping the Kennedy Center

Banned terms: The List of Trump’s Forbidden Words That Will Get Your Paper Flagged at NSF

Comstock Act: Democrats Introduce Legislation to Serve as Barrier for Impending Comstock Act Revival

Age verification for porn: AVP Association Update on Recent Developments

Section 230: 2025’s Implications for the Telecommunications Industry

Times v Sullivan: A Supreme Court Ruling Could End Press Freedom as We Know It

Further reading:

At NSF, executive orders add up to a culture of fear

Donald Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Centre, explained

Trump Administration Threatens ‘Extreme’ Cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities

Not deregulation but heavy-handed regulation at the Trump FCC

Will Trump target America’s public broadcasters? It’s complicated

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In the inaugural episode of Beyond the Filter, hosts Jeremy Malcolm and Brandy Brightman discuss the complexities of censorship in the digital age. They explore how censorship is often driven by moral panic, particularly around issues of safety and sexuality, and how it can backfire, leading to more harm than good. The conversation highlights the importance of creating safe online spaces that respect freedom of expression while addressing genuine concerns about online safety. They introduce the Center for Online Safety and Liberty, an organization aimed at promoting both safety and liberty online, and discuss the challenges posed by simplistic solutions to complex problems, such as age verification laws and the potential repeal of Section 230. The episode sets the stage for future discussions on various topics related to online freedom and safety, including Project 2025 and its potential impact on free speech.

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