As some of you may know by now, was banned from Deviant art. His drawing in question can be viewed here, as well as his thoughts and the thoughts of others on the banning: [link]

However, this was my firsthand experience with something that I consider to be both distasteful and at the same time somewhat necessary. The issue I am concerned about is Censorship. Personally, I am a big fan of Ben's artwork, and I love how it is somewhat more than ordinary art in that his works carry a meaning. So naturally I was surprised to find that his submission was deleted from Deviant Art, and after resubmitting it, the promptness in which he was banned.

Ben and myself have been in communication, so I present you his side of the story, and I quote, "Actually, I think I uploaded the Christ/Condom illustration about 4 times, they deleted it every time with a note saying that the decision had been taken by a DA admin.
I then realized that they closed my account and that it would last 7 days. So I sent them a bunch of crazy emails to show my anger, rage and frustration... A few minutes after I sent these emails, my page was permanently banned, without warnings.
I wish I could come back, because DA offers a great visibility for us artists but I'm not sure that it will be possible. We'll see." And indeed I suppose we will.

However, during our communications with each other, I also was talking with administrators and learning about the process of being banned. I tried to learn what I could, and from what I understand, (forgive me if I am mistaken, as I'm quite new to this site) an administrator can ban anyone they want to, as long as they get a report in regards to the artists in questions artwork. Having not known this information, I have to say that I'm a bit taken aback.

Whenever artwork is hidden, I usually think it is because it lacks serious artistic merit. For example, you shouldn't (nor do I) expect blatant pornography on this website, and I commend our administrators for that. However, there have been some exceptions to this, such as Ben's work. The intention of the piece in question was to cause a stir about a comment the pope made about condoms and their use. Personally I was offended at what the pope said, so I welcomed Ben's submission and indeed had a good laugh at it. But further analysis of the piece shows that it also brings Jesus Christ into a more human aspect, and while it is both quite amusing to look at at a glance, it also was much, much deeper. So when I learned it was deleted, I was shocked. At first I thought "why would they delete such an important and relevant piece of artwork? Ben had followed correct procedures, he has done no wrong. Why would this happen?"

Then, I came to realize something. While I am not only in awe of how the administrators maintain the site, I also learned that they are a bit biased. Bias is unavoidable, so I do not want to blast administrators for having their own beliefs, merely that they wield a position of much greater power than the rest of us Deviants, and this inherent bias causes an issue with something: censorship. No matter how good the administrator, I feel as though they cannot avoid this issue, and the issues that censoring an artist causes. First off, when an artist of note is censored, the community goes into an uproar. After all, who wants to see someone they not only look up to but aspire to be like being censored. It is like swatting a beehive with a baseball bat, the end result is a painful mess. However, this also brings to point artists who aren't big that are censored. As you may know, Deviant art is a massive website, and that is why I joined. It's a great way to market oneself and make a name in the creative world. But when an artist is censored, it is essentially cutting them off from communication with millions of other users here on this website. Then, there comes the petitions, voter polls, personal notes (some not worded the nicest mind you) and emails.

Putting myself in an administrators shoes, this becomes a living nightmare. Not only these petitions, but spammers, and the artists who are marketing art that is not their own, and those who make little of artistic merit are still out there on Deviant Art, and I have to ask myself, "How do the administrators do it? It's enough to drive a person insane!"