Changes

Numerous discussions have arisen over the years, particularly as AO3's size, notoriety and clout has grown, about the handling of racist content, abuse and behaviour on the site. [[AO3 & Censorship]] is one meta essay published in 2018 that deals with the subject of racist trolls harassing AO3 users and how the site's content policy could be adapted to address this more effectively.  

Numerous discussions have arisen over the years, particularly as AO3's size, notoriety and clout has grown, about the handling of racist content, abuse and behaviour on the site. [[AO3 & Censorship]] is one meta essay published in 2018 that deals with the subject of racist trolls harassing AO3 users and how the site's content policy could be adapted to address this more effectively.  

In 2020, the [[OTW and AO3 Racism Discussion (2020)]] was instigated by the global protests in the wake of George Floyd's death and the subsequent debates ignited about racism in all parts of life, including fandom. It gave rise to the [[Open Letter to the OTW on Racism in Fandom]], which led to a statement being published by the OTW Board, Chairs and Leads about steps that the OTW would be taking to address issues of racism both internally and within its projects. Many of these proposed steps concerned the AO3, such as tools to facilitate investigations by the Policy & Abuse team, and features to give readers and creators more control and protection, such as comment freezing and potential blocking and muting functionality.<ref>[https://www.transformativeworks.org/statement-from-the-otw-board-of-directors-chairs-leads/ Statement from the OTW Board of Directors, Chairs, & Leads], June 24, 2020. (Accessed February 10, 2022).</ref>

In 2020, the [[OTW and AO3 Racism Discussion (2020)]] was instigated by the global protests in the wake of George Floyd's death and the subsequent debates ignited about racism in all parts of life, including fandom. It gave rise to the [[Open Letter to the OTW on Racism in Fandom]], which led to a statement being published by the OTW Board, Chairs and Leads about steps that the OTW would be taking to address issues of racism both internally and within its projects. Many of these proposed steps concerned the AO3, such as tools to facilitate investigations by the Policy & Abuse team, and features to give readers and creators more control and protection, such as comment freezing and potential [[AO3 blocking feature|blocking and muting functionality]].<ref>[https://www.transformativeworks.org/statement-from-the-otw-board-of-directors-chairs-leads/ Statement from the OTW Board of Directors, Chairs, & Leads], June 24, 2020. (Accessed February 10, 2022).</ref>

The blog post [[What's up with the AO3 and racism?]] was also published during this period, and summarises the main issues under discussion.

The blog post [[What's up with the AO3 and racism?]] was also published during this period, and summarises the main issues under discussion.