To borrow words from OtisBS007: The game is gone.

So I was finishing up some thumbnails for bots I had planned for February when Lao posted an update and linked to a post made by Mikale, a mod of this website. For those who have not seen it, I have linked it down below. For prosperity, I have copied Mikale's post inside this bot's chat. Lao has done this as well.

Mikale's post

https://janitorai.com/characters/18ea0d4a-6f22-4850-9647-cefc6c447f16_character-loved-you-all-3

Lao's post

https://janitorai.com/characters/f14c242e-b913-4fb1-8a2e-9a22be505f56_character-✨-19-k-✨-and-hiatus

I'd like to highlight a portion of the original post regarding the image policy and share my thoughts.

The contents are rather damning, with Mikale revealing that they are not the ones making changes. Turns out, they are made aware of the changes placed on this site at the same time as we were.

"Around February or March last year, mods learned at the exact same time as users that NSFW images would no longer be allowed. We were explicitly told not to say that we learned it at the same time, even though it was obvious. I'll say it clearly now: we found out through the public announcement, just like everyone else."

"So overnight, mods were expected to enforce a rule we had just discovered ourselves, and to answer questions we didn't have answers to."

"The image filter has been adjusted multiple times. Mods have spent countless hours removing images. We've taken a huge amount of harassment for it. And yet, there have been no subscriptions, no clear updates, and no transparency."

Imagine having to enforce ever-changing rules created by your superior while being forced to face the backlash from users.

"I want to add something. I've seen people complain, "You can't post porn on a porn site anymore." That comparison doesn't really hold. The platform is not a pornographic website. A porn site is a specific legal category with strict regulations, and that's precisely why those sites can work with payment processors. This site is an AI generation platform. Pornographic content can exist inside bots, but the site itself isn't classified as a porn site. Complaining about porn images being removed here is closer to complaining about not being able to post porn on Facebook."

A few things. Firstly, I'm "people." The issue that myself and other creators have is that there are options that the user can choose to opt out of having pornographic images displayed (the image blur option in the settings). If I remember correctly, that option is on by default.

Additionally, I have personally found it bizarre that such images were barred when the contents written in certain bots were being permitted, while being more explicit than the thumbnails. To be fair to the OP, they go into detail that they didn't make the decision shown in the following:

"So for months, moderation enforced these image rules because we were told they were necessary. Then, recently, devs publicly said something very different."

"After months of telling mods that NSFW images had to be removed, that the image guidelines were validated, devs publicly stated that if an image passes the automod filter, it's fine."

"That means mods spent months enforcing rules we were told were mandatory, only for users to later be told publicly that those same images were actually acceptable all along, as long as they passed the filter."

So that was a fucking lie, as seen here.

Mikale continues:

"Once again, mods end up looking abusive, arbitrary, or incompetent when in reality, we were following the instructions we were given."

"The filter itself is an AI system. It's not reliable. Some explicit images pass, others don't. There's no clear logic a human can apply consistently. And yet, we were enforcing rules based on that system, without knowing the criteria ourselves."

"The worst part is that mods weren't informed of this change. I personally learned that "if it passes the filter, it's okay" through a conversation with someone else. Not internally or officially."

I'd like to thank Mikale for their transparency. Please take the time to read through the entire post when you have the chance. It goes deeper into how bad things have been on their side of the tracks.

I'm gonna end this post here. Abrupt, I know, but I gotta go make sure all the sauce I posted here is backed up; we'll see how things pan out in time. Before I go, let's close this with a final excerpt that, if anything, proves that there was someone who cared.

"For a long time, I believed in this project. I genuinely did. I loved working with the moderation team. They are good people, and I don't regret working alongside them for a single second. But I reached a point where I can't justify staying."

"Moderation on the platform is unpaid. It's volunteer work. We're not employees. In my case, I'm disabled and can't work a traditional job. For me, moderation was my work. I treated it seriously. I spent close to full-time hours doing it for over a year because I cared and I believed it mattered."