r/crafts • u/AMVilla86 • Aug 10 '26
Let's talk about Harry Potter
… and other problematic IP
Hi folks,
We need your input. The mods have been discussing for a bit now about crafts with complicated Intellectual Property creators. Occasionally a craft will receive reports due to the theme of the craft and not about crafting itself. While we try to be as open-minded as possible, and we follow sitewide rules (such as no hate speech targeting identity or vulnerability, etc), there is still some nuance with moderating these types of posts. These posts have raised many questions, but we realized we needed to ask the community what they thought. If the community is uncomfortable with something, we want to know and be sure to moderate appropriately.
Some of the ideas we had so far, and why they would be tough to implement:
- Ban specific IP→ Where do we draw the line of what is and isn’t allowed?
- Create specific flair for ‘problematic’ → again, where is the line drawn?
- When a post receives enough reports about the theme and not the craft, leave a high-level moderator comment explaining how to block a user and/or hide a post → might be ignoring a problem rather than solving the issue for the sub.
With that being said, there’s only so much we can police. We want crafters to feel welcome, but with all the moderating we do, it would be hard to add on a layer of “educate a crafter on why the creator of this IP is bad” on top of our normal roles. We also don’t want our subreddit to become a lightning rod for debate. Ultimately, we are a crafts subreddit. While a few comments about inspiration of a craft is allowed, and questioning of said inspiration is also welcome, once we're many comments deep in multiple comment threads with no mention of crafting, it is no longer an appropriate conversation for r/crafts. There are many other subreddits for discussion and debate where you can converse.
So, what do you all think we should do with these types of posts? If we receive a large variety of ideas, we'll put it together in a survey or poll to further gauge how the subreddit feels. Also, feel free to message the mods if you're uncomfortable commenting on the post.
28
u/LottieCupcake Aug 10 '26
I find this tough because on the one hand I have a lot of respect for people who stand by their beliefs and morals and cut out brands etc with problematic ties. I do believe that, despite it probably not meaning much to an already rich as heck **** personally, it is important to make stands like boycotting brands that have problematic ties and support problematic causes (which the money she makes does).
But I feel like making a rule against fandoms as a sub would be... Complicated. You're getting into risky territory with avoiding topics that are close to things that are problematic. Where do you draw the line? How far do you take it? Do we ban expressions of entitire cultures because of problematic actions? I'm British. We have a pretty jam packed history.
And how much stress are you putting onto yourself and how much of your attention are you taking away from being a part of your own community and from looking out for actually directly problematic content?
Also, although obviously rights and safety always come first, for some people brands like harry potter are incredibly meaningful. And it would suck to remove their ability to express themselves and connect with that in a space they care about.
But also it's pretty annoying to keep on having the same thing brought up and people have to explain and ugh.
I would say it would be fair to have an automod that explains the issues with JK and HP. That way it's spreading the word but people can still express themselves. I would also say it would be fair to remove posts or comments that could be taken as financially supporting it. Like buying HP craft kits.