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therriaultk · by **therriaultk** » Tue Apr 29, 2014 9:30 pm

A common theme that has come up with the rise of the Internet is regulation. What should and shouldn't be allowed, and how should restrictions be reinforced? We have seen this happen with the rise in popularity of social media, such as Facebook, but the same goes for crowdfunding. The article below refers to two pro-life Kickstarter projects that were taken down in the past couple of months. The reason given for the most recent refusal was:

Unfortunately, this program does not meet our guidelines. Projects on Kickstarter cannot offer self-help. This isn’t a judgment on the quality of the project, just a reflection of our focus.

The founder of the project asked to know more about Kickstarter's definition of self-help in an appeal, and received a vague response after which the appeal button disappeared. This is strange considering that other successfully backed projects refer more specifically to self-help, such as giving direct health advice. Both of these projects relocated to new crowdfunding platforms before the creators received a written apology from the CEO for their wrongful removal.

What do you think? Should these projects have been allowed? What do you think of Kickstarter's approach to this situation?

Source: http://thefederalist.com/2014/04/23/kickstarter-blocks-a-second-pro-life-film-project/

gookygox · by **gookygox** » Wed Apr 30, 2014 3:59 am

I think it's disingenuous for Kickstarter to act like this is not a political stance, and thus despite being pro-choice, I can't really stand behind Kickstarter's position. These are film projects. I think that's why after seeing news that he moved the film to indiegogo, he got a message from the CEO of Kickstarter stating they made the wrong call. It gives the impression that they admit a mistake, but get to do it without also accepting the project.

sbriggman · by **sbriggman** » Wed Apr 30, 2014 10:07 pm

Very interesting.

We consider providing “resources and choices for those in crisis pregnancies” self-help, safety and health advice which fall outside our scope unfortunately.

I imagine we'll see a lot more of these types of stories. After all, the people working at Kickstarter are humans and make mistakes/have their own biases. Glad that other platforms exist that can help these projects.

I can see the argument for it being a political stance....what's interesting though is often times political views are very core to a person's values, and the way in which the company interprets its guidelines is inline with its company's values. You have other companies like Chick-Fil-a that have strongly Christian values.

Seeing as the company is growing so quickly, they definitely have an obligation to consider how their choices regarding their guidelines can impact other creators. Glad the CEO issued an apology.

gookygox · by **gookygox** » Thu May 01, 2014 12:20 am

And Hobby Lobby. And while I try not to patronize businesses that act unfairly to their employees or openly back something I am opposed to, I do hold more respect for those who don't try to pretend that their political views are motivation for particular actions.

tonkatsu · by **tonkatsu** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 10:00 pm

Hmm this is very interesting. By blocking pro-life projects that are film projects, Kickstarter is walking the thin line of blocking free speech, which kind of goes against their whole image I feel.

sbriggman · by **sbriggman** » Tue Jun 10, 2014 4:53 pm

@tonkatsu - Agreed. Happy that they quickly issued an apology. Every company is going to make mistakes, but as long as they quickly admit them, fix them, and move on, I think it's okay to their longterm image.

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