What is Censorship?

We here at Mark Me Safe believe in the absolute freedom of speech, but each and every Citizen is accountable to the Laws of our Great Land, so therefore we ask, and demand that each Citizen, when posting here on Mark Me Safe, take FULL RESPONSIBLITY for their own actions, in thought, as well as in action. Mark Me Safe is neither responsible, nor are we accountable for what you think, or post herein.

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information, on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient." Censorship can be conducted by governments, private institutions, and other controlling bodies.

Governments and private organizations may engage in censorship. Other groups or institutions may propose and petition for censorship. When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of their own works or speech, it is referred to as self-censorship. General censorship occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of claimed reasons including national security, to control obscenity, child pornography, and hate speech, to protect children or other vulnerable groups, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to prevent slander and libel.

Direct censorship may or may not be legal, depending on the type, location, and content. Many countries provide strong protections against censorship by law, but none of these protections are absolute and frequently a claim of necessity to balance conflicting rights is made, in order to determine what could and could not be censored. There are no laws against self-censorship.

What Does Free Speech Mean?

Among other cherished values, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech. The U.S. Supreme Court often has struggled to determine what exactly constitutes protected speech. The following are examples of speech, both direct (words) and symbolic (actions), that the Court has decided are either entitled to First Amendment protections, or not.

The First Amendment states, in relevant part, that:

“Congress shall make no law...abridging freedom of speech.”

Freedom of speech includes the right:

  • Not to speak (specifically, the right not to salute the flag): West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).
  • Of students to wear black armbands to school to protest a war (“Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.”): Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969).
  • To use certain offensive words and phrases to convey political messages: Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971).
  • To contribute money (under certain circumstances) to political campaigns: Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976).
  • To advertise commercial products and professional services (with some restrictions): Virginia Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Consumer Council, 425 U.S. 748 (1976); Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977).
  • To engage in symbolic speech, (e.g., burning the flag in protest): Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989); United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990).

Freedom of speech does not include the right:

  • To incite actions that would harm others (e.g., “[S]hout[ing] ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.”): Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919).
  • To make or distribute obscene - pornographic materials: Roth v. United States, 354 U.S. 476 (1957).
  • Plagiarism of copyrighted material: Copyright laws.
  • To burn draft cards as an anti-war protest: United States v. O’Brien, 391 U.S. 367 (1968).
  • To permit students to print articles in a school newspaper over the objections of the school administration: Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988).
  • Of students to make an obscene speech at a school-sponsored event: Bethel School District #43 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986).
  • Of students to advocate illegal drug use at a school-sponsored event: Morse v. Frederick, __ U.S. __ (2007).

Further, Mark Me Safe asks that you, the Citizens allow common sense to prevail, if you think it may be inflammatory, rewrite it. If your intent is to be offensive, rethink it. If we need to get involved, we will use these principles to determine If the post violates the simple standards we ask for. If you violate the Citizens Standards, we typically will not delete the post, but rather ask you to reconsider the posts value, and remove it yourself. If it Violates the Law of our Great Land, We not only will delete the post, we will issue a monetary fine which will need to be paid prior to being allowed to log back in to Mark Me Safe, you cost us time and money, we simply pass the costs it back to you, and then it is your choice to rejoin this site.

Our terms are simple;

  • Say who you are: Use your real name, not someone else
  • Say where you are: Make it Public, or keep it Private, your choice.
  • Use your common sense, obey the laws of our land
  • Do not violate the law, this is not a freeway where you can "kinda speed a little, it is either legal, or not... SIMPLE!
  • If you are offended by someone’s thoughts, You chose to see them by being their friend, Deal with it!
  • If you feel someone is not playing be the rules, let us know, we might look into it, but again, Deal with it!
  • As a last resort, your feed is your feed, Unfriend, Unlike, Un Follow, or simple scroll down!
  • Use of another person’s name is grounds for Immediate Termination of your User Account.
  • Misrepresentation of your location is Terms for Suspension of your User Account.
  • Violation of the Law is grounds for Immediate Suspension of your User Account, a fine may be issued which would have to be paid prior to reactivation of your User Account.

The Citizens Standards, ie... The Nitty Gritty

1. Minors
No minors are permitted to use Mark Me Safe. Mark Me Safe content should not contain any image, video, depiction, or description involving minors other than children under your Guardianship, or with the permission of such. Period.

2. Defamation
We may remove content if or when found to be defamatory by a court of law having jurisdiction over Mark Me Safe. Otherwise, we will avoid making our own determinations about the truth or falsity of content posted on Mark Me Safe.

3. Nudity and Pornography
Images, videos, depictions or descriptions of nudity or sex are not permitted, ABSOLUTELY ZERO TOLERANCE for CHILD PORNAGRAPHY (Justice.gov) or Pedophilia of any means. An exception to the requirement is given to (1) photographs or videos portraying stylized sculptural art—i.e., sculptural works that neither look realistic, nor focus primarily on genitalia; (2) any non-sexual image posted by a verified art gallery; (3) any non-sexual image that contains breif nudity of a verified adult that is not the subject of the image.

4. Indecency Involving Violence, Gore and Other Graphic Content
The purpose of allowing content on Mark Me Safe is to convey news, share personal experiences and knowledge, or to make political statements. Accordingly:
4.1 No content may contain, without a “sensitive tag” designation any image, video, or other depiction of death, or of serious physical violence or injury, including nonconsensual sex or sexual assault are visible or represented realistically.
4.2 Even with a “sensitive” designation, content that, considering all the context (typically, when no context is provided) appears to be gratuitous and presented to threaten only—is prohibited.
4.3 Because neither cover images nor profile pictures can be designated as “sensitive,” they may not contain the types of images described above.

5. Fraud, ID Theft, Impersonation, Doxing
5.1 No content or message sent using this service may contain:
5.1.1 any attempt to gain money or other value(s) by means of wrongful or criminal deception, including knowingly sharing synthetic or manipulated media where intended to deceive, defraud, or manipulate.
5.1.2 any trademark or other intellectual property belonging to another, without permission or proper attribution, as appropriate.
5.1.3 any use of another’s name or likeness in a confusing or deceptive manner.
5.1.4 another’s private information (including non-public contact, financial account, location, medical or other information), or a threat or offer to publicly expose the same.
5.2 no user may fraudulently portray association with, employment by, or endorsement of Mark Me Safe.
5.3 no user may disclose identifiable information, location, or contact information of another person, business, or entity even with their permission. A user should not publish this information on the Internet or our site.

6. Threats of Violence, Advocacy of Imminent Lawless Action, Threats to Dox, Bribery or Criminal Solicitation, So-called “fighting words”,
might not be a violation of our Guidelines.
6.1 However, reported content or messages sent using our service will be deemed a violation of these Guidelines if they contain:
6.1.1 a “serious expression of intent to commit acts of unlawful violence to an individual or group", with either the intent or disregard as to whether the content will “place the victim in fear of harm or death.”
6.1.2 an explicit or implicit encouragement to use violence, or to commit a lawless action, such that: (a) the content intends to result in the use of violence or lawless action, or the imminent use of violence or lawless action is the likely result of the content or message.
6.1.3 a threat to or actually dox anyone for any reason.
6.1.4 an offer to give or receive money, or other goods or services, in exchange for (a) a favor from any public official, or (b) the commission of any illegal action by anyone.

7. Terrorism
Terrorist organizations of any type are forbidden from using Mark Me Safe, or anyone involved in recruiting for such organizations.

8. Business / Product Advertisements
Those wishing to advertise products or services on Mark Me Safe may do so in their own content, or Via a Company Page. We are also offering site wide advertising to Users who opt not to pay a premium for use of our site.

9. Bots
Users may not use this service via automated tooling—i.e., issue excessive queries to our system, continuously, at a rate that suggests it’s being done by a bot of some kind. Users who do this will be immediately removed. They will be reinstated only upon paying Mark Me Safe restitution for damages caused and value received by means of circumventing our system.