>>283004246
>>283005026
R-18 zoning always existed. Content standards are getting stricter because of companies' response to globalization and social media polarization. Specifically, the current situation where the opinions of companies, companies' localizers, companies' consultants, and companies' activists matter more than those of scientific experts and the public for deeming acceptable and unacceptable fictional content is creating unfairly tough restrictions/censorship policies on fiction.
For example, The Bocchi the Rock! screenwriter didn't just talk about zoning. She expressed her belief that never again can an anime character bathe naked. Else, according to the screenwriter, it is the official work calling on fans to "exploit" fictional characters. Bocchi the Rock!'s screenwriter scapegoats fiction as capable of influencing a "1% of extremists" to do harm. In other words, she believes complying and censoring fiction in advance will prevent real-life harm. She believes, for fictional works, fictional minors should be protected by treating them differently from fictional adults. This is a restriction on fictional expressions.
The worst part about the current situation is that companies hide their numerous restrictions on fictional expressions from the public, and even with 18+ zoning, they still censor fictional expressions. TV stations, credit card companies/payment processors, publishers, video game platform holders, and stores all engage in this style of fiction censorship. The issue isn't the use of zoning itself; instead, it's the people/companies who get to restrict/censor fictional content.
Rather than rallying against zoning, I believe companies must be required to be transparent about any of their fictional content restrictions and allow for democratic scrutiny by their country's public. Additionally, each company's 18+ zoning/eldest age categorization must allow for completely uncensored/unrestricted fictional expressions.
