synonymous

This is a roundup of the many exposes on the issues with AO3/OTW starting from May 2023 from discussions on key forums. I do not claim ownership of anything reposted here. This journal is kept for the purposes of documentation and to prevent linkrot, and to assemble commentary from multiple sources, particularly ones that are hard to navigate, into one readable space.

A general writeup has been compiled on Tumblr here. This journal is unaffiliated with them.

Yes, this is a collection of things akin to jaywalking, arson, and murder. I'm aware of this; I am just trying to gather all the data about the OTW's internal flaws regardless of the degree of the flaw.

Some key sources in namespace include denise/synecdochic, who has tried repeatedly to reach out to the OTW to assist them with their PAC expertise; azarias, a former Policy & Abuse Committee member during the CSEM attacks; and dhobikikutti, who has documented many messages and comments -- primarily their own -- in correspondence with the OTW Board/Legal. A good majority of discussions cited are from fail_fandomanon, from anonymous volunteers.

Comments from chestnut_pod's post here are also sourced.

• Issues with Legal, PAC, and the CSEM Attacks of 2022 | Additional commentary
  • OTW's response, and additional commentary
  • Volunteer followup commentary
  • Public update from OTW/AO3, as well as additional commentary
  • OTW Complications with azarias as DCRO
  • Denise discussing, in detail, the OTW's failures with trust and safety (cloned post with relevant commentary added)
  • OTW's response to Denise's criticism
  • OTW's official response to azarias
• Further 2023 Incidents:
• Reprimanding a volunteer of color, Dhobi Ki Kutti, for talking about racism
• The Dreamwidth community problem
• Alex Tischer's continued involvement in the OTW
• Election Season
• Audrey R's 2023 Candidate Withdrawal
• Resignation of 2 Board members
• Resignation of Alex Tischer
• Controversy surrounding a targeted question during a candidate Q&A
• Former candidate on Dhobi Ki Kutti's CCAP, and Kutti's response
• The OTW's mistreatment of Chinese volunteers
• Other Cultural and Structural Issues
• Advice and Experience from Denise
• Issues with AO3's Code

Previous issues with the OTW, for documentation purposes:

• OTW Culture
• OTW Fiscal Mismanagement
• OTW 2015 Elections and Fundraiser

Further Reading:

• Thoughts on "the OTW has lots of money" by tei
• A House Divided by epilogistic

Alternative Resources:

• Download your own fic from AO3, a script by nianeyna
• SquidgeWorld, a multifandom archive cloned from AO3 (in case anything happens to the webhost, it will NOT be affiliated with OTW; see here)

I cannot share this journal in namespace for a variety of reasons, so I appreciate those helping me get the word out.