August 10, 2006

Moral panic in asterisking


Oddities in the U.S. iTunes asterisking scheme continue to turn up.  Now we see a moral panic incorporated in it, through the bleeping of "molest", "molester", "molestation", "pedophile", and "pedophilia".  Yes, the WORDS THEMSELVES are offensive.

[Other words too dirty to view: "scrotum" and "rapist" (but "rape" is ok, as I pointed out earlier).  "Masturbation" holds the title for greatest number of asterisks (ten), just barely beating out "molestation".  Thanks to Nassira Nicola for the pointers.]

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Posted by Arnold Zwicky at August 10, 2006 10:31 AM