For some reason, I once again see influx of "you shouldn't write X content because Y!" arguments rising in certain fandoms-in-law of mine (I love this name, I can't remember the specific twt user that came up with it, but, bless you).
People who know me know I grew up in fandom with three laws of fandom at the forefront of fandom etiquette (so many fandoms in one sentence...). For those who've never heard of them, the three laws were proposed by a Tumblr user ozhawkauthor (you can look them up, they're still out there) as a means of writing out the until know unspoken rules that allowed fandoms to somehow defend themselves from the control of the... well minority of society having power over any other type of the media, and curating the contents that we are exposed to, without consideration for our opinion on the topic. They weren't perfect, and focused on protecting the creators, rather than consumers, but because fandom in greater part consist of prosumers (consumers that are also producers), those laws intended to secure safe experience of vast majority of participants of the fandom.
The Three Laws were simple, had catchy (for most part- looking at you, law 2) abbreviations, and put forth an emphasis on a really important fact - Creation is fiction, but creator is real. To work on a common base, the laws are as follows:
DL;DR - Don't Like; Don't Read
YKINMK(ATO) - Your Kink Is Not My Kink (And That's Ok)
SALS - Ship And Let Ship
As you can see, only first gives you space for interpretation as a consumer's protection (is it order or an exclamation? Is it "If You don't like then You don't read" or "I don't like therefore I don't read"?), the others are clearly directed at forcing the consumers into assuming responsibility of their consumption... but it never said how (except it did, in the form of all three laws, but not explicitly). The laws request you to be civil in your fandom, even towards things you personally dislike (notp-ing is fine as long as you remember to SALS), are uncomfortable with (YKINMK(ATO!!!)), and in general makes you responsible for your experience (DL;DR). It's actually logical, and fandoms did it for more than a century already (yep I include Sherlock's original fanbase as a fandom). But.
BUT.
Some people still don't understand how to do it. How are you supposed to stay quiet when somebody ships incest (rule of SALS means there's no wrong ship - because they're fictional, and as long as you keep them that way, they're fine (yes, even RPS is fine, as long as you keep it FICTIONAL, and not bother Real People with it)? How do I not read and flame on that disgusting vore kink fic that appeared on my socmed? How do I unsee the work which I didn't like?!
Well, I don't have the answer for that last one, but. I think, it's the highest time to add the fourth law, to spell out what other three rules just implied. In the name of keeping it with catchy abbreviations, let's call it rule of BAM.
Block
And
Move on
Blocking takes many different forms and names - blocking, muting, filtering, etc. It's an action the consumer once again needs to take, but it is finally for the sake of their protection, not creator's protection. Disturbing fic? Blocked. Art? Filter on. This person who flames on my ship as it's their notp? Muting. And finally, the space created is safe for me, the consumer. And the best part? I didn't have to hurt anybody to do it. I didn't throw any slurs out, didn't accuse people of illegal sexual abuse, didn't dogpile on anybody. And yet, the space I'm in is safe for myself.
Of course, it might be hard to understand at first.
It was to my utter confusion when I discovered my brother considered it offensive that somebody blocked him on social media for his borderline right-wing opinions (yeah, we all have that one family member who's like that. Dw, I keep an eye on it, he's swaying more centre rn). I was curious why he thought it was an action against him specifically, and he answered "because it's restricting my ability to have my voice heard". It sounds valid, right? Only it's not.
According to the Jakobson's model of communication, the act of conversation has six basic elements necessary for it to happen: Sender, receiver, context, code, contact and message.
Restricting your ability to communicate would mean preventing you from speaking out the message, or changing its context or code to make you incomprehensible.
Blocking is actually disturbing contact, and happens solely on the receiver's end - it does NOT affect the abilities of the sender to continue sending the messages, but receiver's to receive it.
In simpler terms. Blocking isn't about blocked person, it's about the blocking person, and you should consider it that way. It is not an act of punishment, it's an act of protection, to certain degree a mutual protection, because if I know your message is unpleasant to me, the chance my message will be unpleasant to you is also high. Hence, while BAM, Block And Move on, is first and foremost a law to protect consumer, it protects creators as well.
We really need to change perspective of blocking, from something negative, happening against people, into positive, happening for them. You got blocked? Great! Applaud a person for mature approach! You're Blocking! Safety first, a great idea!
And you know what is the best part?
By using BAM, you're pissing off the people thriving on your negative emotions, people who shove the things you're uncomfortable with into your face just to rile you up, make you say something, hurt someone, and get hurt in return. You're not hurting a fellow lover of the same fandom you're in (who's also not creating a content you don't like to spite you, but to make others who like it feel good!), you hurt some rich dude that gets money for all the angry comments you write, regardless of whether it will cause your breakdown later or not. You're hurting the true enemy of the fandom.
So, yes. BAM, my friends, and BAM hard at that.*
*BAM does not have a line after which it can't be applied. There is nothing that can oblige you to not caring about safety of your personal space first and foremost (and yes, your feed on your account is your personal space). Racist remarks hurt you? You don't have to fight them if you don't feel strong enough for that, you CAN block the person, to keep yourself safe. Bigots in your DMs? BLOCK ASAP. You don't need to warn anybody if you don't want to (though you probably will). Your former "friends" harrassing you for NOT harrassing other people anymore? BLOCK, it's the best you can do for yourself, and it might be a great step in the direction of getting out of that toxic environment.
TLTR: Rule of BAM, Block And Move on, should be added to the Three Laws of Fandom, as a means of protecting both consumenrs and creators of the fanwork. We need to change perception of act of blocking from an action done against someone into action done for someone.