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It’s been twelve days since I wrote Patreon several messages regarding their Community Guidelines update. Messages like this one:

“Promoting, normalizing, providing instructional advice about, coordinating, or otherwise glorifying disordered eating, feederism, or related topics is prohibited on Patreon.” “Promoting,” “normalizing,” and “glorifying” are broad enough terms that they could mean anything. “Normalizing” in particular—does any positive depiction of a person who has disordered eating or is involved in feederism violate the Community Guidelines? Is publishing a work intended to reach out to people involved in feederism and reassure them that they’re not morally compromised people “normalizing,” “promoting,” or “glorifying” feederism?


Today, Patreon Trust and Safety sent me this response. Four times. They sent me the exact form letter to each of my queries.

Hi there,
 
This is [NAME REDACTED—Buddy] from Patreon’s Trust & Safety Team. Thanks so much for reaching out with input about our recent Community Guidelines refresh.
 
I’ve passed along your thoughts on how we present the subject of feederism within the Community Guidelines to Patreon’s Policy Team, who oversee the guidelines, and appreciate hearing from creators and members like you.
 
Our goal is to always provide clear and informed guidance on what is and is not allowed on Patreon; however, sometimes we need to continue clarifying specific nuances within a policy. We’ll reflect on what you shared as we continue to improve our policies. If you’re interested in hearing more about ongoing updates to Patreon’s content policies, stay tuned for the next update from the Creator Policy Engagement Program.
 
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Warm regards,

Patreon Trust & Safety

It’s the kind of message I would have written when I was in a public-facing position: “Wheels are turning, but I have no idea what direction they’re going, no control, and I haven’t been authorized to say anything further.” It’s noncommittal and only acts as an acknowledgement that they received my messages.

I’ll keep on this, and provide updates as I get them. Have the new Community Guidelines affected you or creators you support? Write me a comment and let me know!

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