Someone left a comment today about Lush, pointing to a blog complaining about the site.
I have read the complaints, and I’m afraid I don’t see the discrimination.
As a webmaster, you have to make difficult choices. I ban pretty much the entire Russian Federation, Ukraine, China, and umpteen other places because the hits from those locations are so overwhelmingly spam that it’s not worth checking them. Instead, my ban message indicates that one can contact me through one of the story sites ( Lush, Lit, or SOL ) and I will manually allow the user, if anyone from those locations ever does show up on the site.
I’m not discriminating. I’m protecting my site. From the descriptions provided ( even within the blog complaining about Lush ) I see the exact same thing.
Users from India are provided the means to submit stories, and I have little doubt that once an original story has been approved, the user would probably be given the same access as anyone else. The country ban is a firewall that protects the site from having to deal with a problem that was consuming time and resources better spent on improving the site and approving stories.
As someone who has maintained an internet presence since the late 90s, I fully understand Lush’s position.
I can also see how someone who wanted to submit an original story in good faith would feel offended. I don’t begrudge them that emotion, but I’m not going to support an anti-Lush campaign on that basis.
If you don’t see the error with the type of thinking that they promote then you are well suited for Lush. Nobody asked you to support anything,only made you aware of what happens there. Discrimination is defined as the difference in privilege allotment based on things like race, religion, nationality, location etcetera. That you support and also practice the same means that I have nothing more to say to you.
And when you’ve had to deal with an onslaught of spam, plagiarizers, hackers, and other bad actors relentlessly pounding your site from a region, then you’ll finally see why it’s a necessity.
Here, as at Lush, information and channels are made available for people from the restricted regions who wish to participate in good faith to gain equal, unrestricted access.
It was your choice not to explore those avenues at Lush.
And when someone is leaving messages on Amazon, consumer protection sites, and the sites of Lush members all over the internet, that’s a campaign.
And spam.
I did not have those restrictions but I sympathize with those that do, you can call it a campaign if you want, I may have joined it late but I support raising awareness about it. I guess you supported segregation as well. If there’s nothing wrong with it, why did lush delete my account as soon as I mentioned the blog to the owner in a private mail?
Had no idea they had restrictions in place, but had I known, I wouldn’t have cared, because I understand the necessity, and there was obviously a means in place for people of good faith to gain full, unrestricted access. The person complaining even says so, and likewise chose not to take advantage of it.
I haven’t the foggiest idea why you were deleted, nor does it or the “mysterious timing” nudge me in one way or the other. From what I gather, your issue was completely unrelated.
Interesting how few people care that people from other places have to take extra steps to prove that they’re just as good as people from places like the UK and the States and even more interesting how they don’t see anything wrong with how people from those places are treated as long as it does not interefere with their own privileges. I got deleted at merely mentioning that I saw that blog. But not to worry, I won’t be coming back to your blog, I’m sure when Hitler was delivering his speeches he had some people thinking there was nothing wrong with how he was treating others.
And, there’s Godwin’s Law.
People who’ve never operated a website have no idea what’s actually going on behind the scenes. Every day is a terrorist attack, and every day those terrorists have new weapons.
You have a preconceived notion, and *everything* is going to be proof to you that you’re right.