Confusion about TOS regarding pornography/nudity

Technical Details

Forum version : #phpBB2
Position : Moderator
Concerned browser(s) : Mozilla Firefox
Who the problem concerns : All members
When the problem appeared : confusion in forum about the forummotion TOS, this year
Forum link : ( link is hidden, you must reply to see )

Description of problem

Hello,

Second time i'm trying this let's hope it'll successfully send this time.
So for a while now our staff on our forum have been a bit confused about the TOS regarding nudity. We're not sure what the TOS sees under pornography. We're an art site and prefer not to limit our users in their way of expressing art. However the past few years we didn't allow any type of nudity that shows nipples or genital areas in art, because we thought forummotion strictly prohibits that.
So my question is, what does forummotion see under pornography and nudity?

I would think that any type of nudity, would fall under the ILLICIT CONTENTS and LIMITATIONS OF THE SERVICES, part of the TOS, especially of you have minors signing in. As stated in the TOS:

Contents which are Illegal, harmful, threatening, improper, slanderous, vulgar, obscene or ethically reprehensible
Content which disclose personal datum that could identifies children under age of 18 or which exploit the images.

Just to clarify, does this mean that as long as the 18+ areas are covered it is acceptable? (like the breasts or nipples, genital area, butt)

@capsule because forumotion is available to all age groups a good rule of thumb is to think if its not appropriate for a 10 year old then, it probably not appropriate to use on a forumotion forum.

Alright that makes sense, thank you both for your responses. If the members on our forum have more questions i'll be back but for now all should be clear!

Sorry just had a last question, is it okay if i show an example of what we had on our forum but took down?

~Edited as SLGray responded

Even if you have a section only for adults, your forum could still be against the ToS.  It only takes one person to report your forum.  The main office can see everything on your forum.  One person could say it is art, but another could say it is pornography.

Your rule of thumb should be that no matter where something is on your forum it has to suitable for someone that is 13 or younger.

I'm posting this for a member of ours (she does not have a forummotion acc atm) who asked about an art piece she posted on our forum but we took down, she contacted your staff on facebook and this was the response:

https://i.gyazo.com/6d86efa7ea55d1b82c81e837cb925f49.png


this is the art piece:

Image Removed

in accordance to your guidelines what would your final conclusion be? in relation to strictly nipples (female nipples, especially) and not including genitalias

(apologies if the image isn't supposed to be shared here but i didn't get a clear answer on that so i did link it since it's related)

Please do not post images like that on this forum.  Our membership covers a wide range of ages.  You should have sent it by PM.

Why are you asking here if you got an answer on Facebook?  Notice the reply states appropriate measures that minors do not see it.  The issue is that there is really no way to stop someone gaining access to a section on your forum that they are not allowed to see.  They could have a friend that allow them to use their account.  I just would not take the chance.

Apologies but it wasn't me who received that answer from facebook, i got that message from a member of our forum and wanted to double check. I'll make sure to discuss things like these through pm next time.
Simply wanted more clarification for the people who were confused about the rules. Thanks for the help and apologies if i caused any inconvenience.

I understand your confusing with the ToS.  When it comes to art, it is best to take away from anything, especially nudes, that could be interpreted differently by different people.

This also applies to text.  A graphic novel could get your forum ban.

For Examples: 

Heart of Darkness is a great novel, but it could also be considered racist because of some terms used in the novel.

You would not want to post about the book called 50 Shades of Gray.

See one person would think one way and another would think the opposite.

I would just stay away from any subject that is very debatable.

Just to add something here about 3 years a go a member asked this same thing but it was about a photography forum.

Now our rules say no nudity at all, Now this member asked me to look at a photo took where the lady in the photo was covered on the bottom half and part of her Brest was still showing.

In my eyes i see nothing wrong about it but the law's some places in the world this is not the case and its seen as nudity / pornography.

Now the point i was gave is say I am the founder of a forum and i make a 18+ forum now its not open to guests but it's open to members and all the photo's / Art are in a hidden part of the forum.

Now a new member comes a long that is under 18 and wants to be a part of your forum / site
They could lie about the age they put in the account and the forum system would say sorry you have to be 18 and over to be a part of this site.

Now all that 13 year old has to do is add up the age to be 18 + and bam you now have a under age member seeing what you think is safe to be on your site for older members only.

This is why we now say NO pornography / nudity of any sort on your forum.

On line you trust No one!!