

Violet Blue banned from speaking at BSidesSF by Ada Initiative - rdl
http://www.securitybsides.com/w/page/35868077/BSidesSanFrancisco

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rdl
I was working at BSidesLV last year when she gave a similar version of this
talk. It was not offensive to women, although it was adult content (it
explicitly was about drugs and sex, from the context of harm reduction; if
anything, it was somewhat feminist in that it warned against risks and tried
to empower everyone).

I agree with getting rid of harassment at conventions, but censorship is
itself a form of harassment. I'm glad Violent Blue took it well, but if I were
an attendee, I would have been pissed to have talks censored for bogus
reasons.

Maybe Ada Initiative isn't the right way for conferences to keep the
conference free and open to all discussion.

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drallison
The BSides goal is to _expand the spectrum of conversation beyond the
traditional confines of space and time._

Sex and drugs are a part of modern life and have risks, security, and safety
issues which community members need to know. Better to know the facts than
pretend the issues do not exist. I think cancellation of Violet Blue's talk
was unfortunate.

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reagle
This title is unfounded drama. If you want some clue, you can read:

[http://www.securitybsides.com/w/page/35868077/BSidesSanFranc...](http://www.securitybsides.com/w/page/35868077/BSidesSanFrancisco)

[http://adainitiative.org/2013/02/keeping-it-on-topic-the-
pro...](http://adainitiative.org/2013/02/keeping-it-on-topic-the-problem-with-
discussing-sex-at-technical-conferences/)

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csm
He said. She said.

[http://violetblue.tumblr.com/post/44107008572/what-
happened-...](http://violetblue.tumblr.com/post/44107008572/what-happened-
with-my-security-bsides-talk)

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peripetylabs
Lobbying to have a talk canceled, sounds like classic bullying to me.

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juridatenshi
That's an incredibly misleading title based on what the conference's post
about the topic actually says. It sounds like the conference organizers asked
to cancel the talk after feedback from the Ada Initiative and discussion with
Violet Blue.

~~~
prodigal_erik
"No, they're here and they're not leaving. They told me they'll make it into a
bigger problem if you do your talk." How is it even plausible that hosts of a
_hacker conference_ would censor thoughtcrime voluntarily? It's not as if
selling out to the professionally offended mafia is going to move a lot of
tickets.

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stuaxo
This doesn't really make any sense..

