Annals of Censorship: Richard Taylor and Hateful Activities

I generate all sorts of content for this blog, and I share much of it from virtually every new post on various social media platforms. Once I send my curated images out into the world, they may be subjected to varying interpretations of community standards on the respective sites. There could even be some censorship leading to permanent removal of some of the content.

Last year, a Pinterest pin of mine featured proposed New Yorker cover art by Richard Taylor, a favorite cartoonist. It was no doubt from the latter part of World War II. The pin was subsequently "deactivated" from the site for "hateful activities, because it contains support for hate based groups or ideologies." The Taylor art is from a 2022 post, "Richard Taylor Goes to War." The artwork had been sold that year by Swann Galleries in the June Illustration Art sale.

Richard Taylor
Proposed New Yorker cover art

Swann had referred to the work as "Worried Hitler." Taylor's art celebrates the Fuerher's panic as he contemplates a war that is inexorably going against him. His justified paranoia prevents him from trusting his generals, who lurk menacingly in the background. In other words, this is anything but supportive of Nazi ideology. Sure, it does have a prominent swastika on that flag hanging from the wall. Taken out of the context of my original post, could this image really be seen as a violation of Pinterest's Community Guidelines on hateful ideologies?

Well, it was. But I feel certain that in the mid-1940s, when this illustration failed to meet The New Yorker's needs for a cover, no one would have mistaken it for pro-Hitler, pro-Nazi, or containing "support for hate based groups or ideologies." Today, though, corporations may be erring on the side of caution. A PDF explains "This violation was reported to" Pinterest. That certainly sounds as if a human reported it. The complaint may then have been reviewed by algorithm; who knows whether any human input was sought or, indeed, whether the involved human would know any pertinent history.

I had the decision reviewed earlier this year, without any change in the verdict.

Thus the pin was permanently removed from my Attempted Bloggery board on Pinterest. Oddly, though, there is another board of mine, this one about Taylor, where you can still see the image from the pin. It's here, but with absolutely no supporting text. 

Now watch—someone's going to report me.

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