The new TOS are subject to Russian Federation law, not US law. Russia makes "homosexual propaganda" illegal, so your journal could be deleted without notice simply for having favorable discussion of a same-sex relationship. Also, the remarks you just made in response to my comment about bailing fall under the heading of "political agitation" in Russia these days so, again, deletable. There are also clauses in the TOS that appear to give LJ's owners the right to edit your posts without your permission.
You are correct that there's not technically a First Amendment problem since LJ is a company and not itself a government, to say nothing of the fact that it's Russian, but I'm not so interested in a blogging platform whose TOS are expressly anti-free expression. Sure, LJ as a corporate-owned space is free to bar political expression, but it didn't use to. (And do you really want a blog where you can't express your political opinions or urge your friends to vote or attend a demonstration without violating the TOS?)
In addition, the change in what laws LJ is subject to directly endangers Russian bloggers, of course especially LGBTQ bloggers and political activists. The Russian government likes to put a veneer of legality on its political repression, and consider this scenario. We couldn't enter the site without agreeing to the TOS (and how shady is it that the English translation, such as it was, was expressly not warranted to be exact, so that we were signing on to a contract that few of us could even read?). Same applies to a Russian who's had an LJ account for the last decade, discussing politics, or gay rights. They can't sign in without agreeing to the TOS. Now they are in violation of the TOS. Hey presto, veneer of legality for prosecution in Putin's Russia.
I imported my journal to DW yesterday and started deleting my entries from here. I'm keeping the account for a little while in case I need to do anything with any comms I'm part of, and then I'm deleting the whole megillah.
no subject
The new TOS are subject to Russian Federation law, not US law. Russia makes "homosexual propaganda" illegal, so your journal could be deleted without notice simply for having favorable discussion of a same-sex relationship. Also, the remarks you just made in response to my comment about bailing fall under the heading of "political agitation" in Russia these days so, again, deletable. There are also clauses in the TOS that appear to give LJ's owners the right to edit your posts without your permission.
You are correct that there's not technically a First Amendment problem since LJ is a company and not itself a government, to say nothing of the fact that it's Russian, but I'm not so interested in a blogging platform whose TOS are expressly anti-free expression. Sure, LJ as a corporate-owned space is free to bar political expression, but it didn't use to. (And do you really want a blog where you can't express your political opinions or urge your friends to vote or attend a demonstration without violating the TOS?)
In addition, the change in what laws LJ is subject to directly endangers Russian bloggers, of course especially LGBTQ bloggers and political activists. The Russian government likes to put a veneer of legality on its political repression, and consider this scenario. We couldn't enter the site without agreeing to the TOS (and how shady is it that the English translation, such as it was, was expressly not warranted to be exact, so that we were signing on to a contract that few of us could even read?). Same applies to a Russian who's had an LJ account for the last decade, discussing politics, or gay rights. They can't sign in without agreeing to the TOS. Now they are in violation of the TOS. Hey presto, veneer of legality for prosecution in Putin's Russia.
I imported my journal to DW yesterday and started deleting my entries from here. I'm keeping the account for a little while in case I need to do anything with any comms I'm part of, and then I'm deleting the whole megillah.