Babyfurs are a bellwether, and on FurAffinity, signs point to rain.

Posted on September 23, 2024

Babyfur artists are getting banned en masse from FurAffinity, the largest furry art website on the internet. Nobody seems to know why or who’s responsible. I think this is concerning.

What a babyfur is

For the uninitiated, babyfur is a genre of furry art that either depicts characters as babies or young children, or depicts adults who are adult baby diaper lovers (ABDLs).

There is nothing inherently sexual or inappropriate about babyfur art. There are two different camps in the community: SFW artists whose characters are minors, and NSFW and borderline-NSFW artists whose characters are adults who engage in ageplay or costume play. As long as the two don’t overlap, there’s not anything morally objectionable about it. It’s even allowed under FurAffinity’s rules! FurAffinity’s Upload Policy 2.7 reads:

2.7 Content Involving Minors Content featuring minors is not allowed when the minor is in the presence of sexual activity, sexual objects, or nudity, though exceptions may be made for non-sexual depictions of birth and breastfeeding. Presence is defined as being in the same scene, such as sharing a comic panel, contiguous image, reference sheet, or specific section of a story where characters are engaging each other. Minors may not have detailed bulges or outlines of normal or hyper genitalia, clothed or otherwise. Minors may not be fetishized. Minors may not be depicted as pregnant. Minors are defined as real or fictional humanoids with a childlike body or younger than 18 years old, and any adolescent animals or fantasy creatures. Upload Policy — Fur Affinity [dot] net

Why you should care

SFW artists and artists who work depicts adults only are getting caught up in the wake of these bans. They aren’t breaking the rules, so why the bans?

I agree that FurAffinity shouldn’t allow NSFW art featuring children.

By FurAffinity’s own rules, art of children that’s safe and age-appropriate shouldn’t be banned.

By FurAffinity’s own rules, art of consenting adults engaged in adult activity shouldn’t be banned.

Strange things are being done to FurAffinity’s users, and we have no idea why. We don’t know when or if the content restrictions will stop. Will other genres of art be banned later? And we certainly don’t know if FurAffinity will restore the accounts of artists wrongfully banned, or how and if they plan to rebuild trust.

The current site lead, Sciggles, is recovering from personal health issues—so, meanwhile, who’s in charge? Is anyone? How do we even find out?

You saved FurAffinity. You raised over $200,000 to do it. I wrote previously about my misgivings with the lack of transparency or accountability FurAffinity was showing. Things haven’t gotten clearer or more responsive in the last month. You deserve answers. Ash Coyote put it well: “The platform owes it to the people who helped save it to be open about its direction.” Then you can decide for yourself whether you want to continue to put your money, time, and effort into it.