what scratch could fix (reposted)

Instructions

A/N: Okay, so I wrote this a long time ago. I still hold these viewpoints, I guess? But I don't really care about these issues that much anymore as I've gotten more and more inactive on Scratch. I will be leaving this project up because a lot of people have related to it, and most of what I have said is quite true. But I appreciate the ST and I wrote this when I was a less mature person. So yeah. Hi. I’m here to rant about Scratch, and it’s problems. First of all, Art Theft. It’s a serious problem, and one that Scratch refuses to address again and again. Art Theft is when you use someone’s art in a project without giving credit. It’s really disappointing, and Scratch does NOTHING about it. They SHOULD make sure that it’s strictly monitored. Heck, there isn't even an option to report someone based on the fact that their profile picture is stealing art. And let me just say how ridiculous the ‘All art that you post on Scratch can be used by anyone!’ is. That’s called PLAGIARISM, kids, and in the real world, you’d get sent to jail for that. I understand that Scratch promotes sharing and remixing, but not stealing. Secondly, random bans. This is one of the worst things EVER that happens. Scratch has had my friend (censored for the ST) banned FIVE TIMES because they thought he was another account. They could have checked the IP address, but noooooo. They just ban him. Another, more famous example is (censored for the ST) where Scratch thought she was another account and banned her, despite her parents repeatedly calling the ST. It’s honestly terrible. Yes, ok, you have to be extremely careful if it’s an alt account. The ST can’t do something like checking the IP address, I guess. Why? Don't ask me. Now, the filter. Don’t get me started on the filter. Not everything is a sunny utopia. Give us some creative license, please. My friend got banned once for saying Whats-appppppo (remove the extra p’s and the o.) This is ridiculous. The filter bots can’t detect someone calling my friend ‘fat’ and ‘ugly’ but if I mention another platform then it’s all ‘Scratch doesn’t allow it!’ Just mentioning death, cancer and/or depression can get you banned or muted. Honestly. Scratch, you aren't helping people with depression, you're oppressing them. And the most annoying part is they don't tell you what you're commenting that's wrong, so you don't learn from your apparent 'mistakes'. The age range is 8-16, but sometimes I feel like it’s designed for toddlers. Finally. Vent projects. Some innocent scratcher whose pet just died posts a project about it. It's a cute way to memorialize them and will help the scratcher get closure. Then. The project gets taken down. 'Some people may find this triggering. Please refrain from posting such projects in the future. A project that someone has poured who knows how many hours of work into gets taken down - because it mentions something dying. It doesn't make sense. I mean, at least the ST can justify giving warnings for social platforms, because some people may not know what they are and want to go on them, thus exposing them to the big bad world of social media (because no one already knew what whatsappp-o was already, of course.) It's not a good argument - heck, it's not even a valid argument - but hey, at least they have an argument. However, if you don't know that death is a thing - that death exists - you need to go see a therapist. Scratch, we don't need a vent project some scratcher made to find out that death exists. Bad things exist, violence exists, discrimination exists We can find things much worse then that, just by opening up a history book. Look, guys, I love Scratch. It's been my escape from the real world for ages. But that just contributes to my annoyance at these issues. I don’t even FACE most of these issues. I’ve only had a ban once (as far as I know) and don’t post much art. But I KNOW how many of my friends DO face these problems. So I will fight for this. The fact that a lot of these problems are consistently ignored is a big issue too :/ I would put more, but I don’t have enough space for everything and I’ll leave it at that. There are problems, people. Problems we need to fix. Oh, and a fun fact: the ST has marked this project ‘NFE’. Not for everyone. It means this can never get featured/front paged, and it doesn’t show up in the search bar. Why do you think they did that, hmm? If you agree with any/all points in this project, consider joining this studio: