My Where's Waldo Moment With Flickr Censorship

This was supposed to be about Wednesday's march across the Brooklyn Bridge. That changed when I went to grab pics for my post and found a new censor.

Let me add a preface; little matters less to me than popularity and more so for my pictures. Photography is a lifelong love, joyful for me to take and sharing is a bonus. This image is the one at the crux of this new controversy. A very meish shot.

My Flickr has over 22,000 pictures and far more than half are protests and activist events since Occupy Wall Street was birthed. There’s a healthy dose of NYC street scenes and fashion but very much PG content.

Not once since my account has been active has any picture of mine raised an objection. This is the game changer. Where is the problem?

Flickr functions allow the offending image to be enlarged enough to see a fly, yet the objectionable element still eludes me. This isn’t my first mandate event and none of the slogans or signs jumps out as unusual. There must be over 1,000 signs in my collection now that share individual opinions about the policies in the COVID era.

The link for more details is as useless as a suspension appeal at Twitter or Facebook. Automated functions have limitations but this crap is inexcusable.

It’s not even one of the many images that have “Let’s Go Brandon“ or “F*CK Joe Biden“ which realistically need 1950’s television rules to see as objectionable.

I’m pretty old fashioned, my images are fairly wholesome and reflect who we are as a society. That’s exactly what the picture that is Restricted does along with hundreds more for Wednesday’s march across the Brooklyn Bridge.

The screenshot of the page shows zero views due to its restrictions. Apparently Flickr Bot has deemed me in violation of an unspecified rule or posing a risk to casual viewers. The link supplied to learn more doesn’t work and feels more like an omen.

Unlike Where’s Waldo where there is actually an element to find my bet is this has little to do with the details but if anyone can find something I’m delighted to be wrong on this one.

My online experience has been an ongoing battle with censorship and Flickr has been a safe space for free expression. What a tradgedy to lose it but I prefer to go down swinging, defending human rights and freedoms and hope that makes a difference.

All pics are free to download and share. Nov 3 album link is above, enjoy! :~)