SL5B - Linden Lab Proclaims Child Avatars Only For Sex

The upcoming 5th Birthday celebration of Second Life™ by Linden Lab™ is designed for:

'Celebrating the cultural diversity of Second Life': 'Who do you hang around with in Second Life? What are your communities' traditions and signature characteristics? Are you proud of your sexy blue fur? Your excruciatingly detailed tea ceremony? Your murky environments? Your sculptures? The help you've given to others?'

The celebration is being held in a PG area, so Linden Lab™ doesn't want any displays that are not of a PG nature; fair enough. Note that given the statement above, even Linden Lab™ knows that 'sexy' can be PG. So sexy is okay, as long as it's not 'adult' (R or X rated).

So... despite celebrating the cultural diversity of Second Life™ there are some groups forbidden to display exhibits. Which groups are these? Glad you asked!

The "Gor" community -- apparently Linden Lab™ feels the Gor community is not suitable for a PG environment, which means they are a mature/adult group that would rate an 'R' or 'X' rating.

The "BDSM" community -- apparently Linden Lab™ feels the BDSM community is not suitable for a PG environment, which means they are a mature/adult group that would rate an 'R' or 'X' rating.

The "Child Avatars" community -- apparently Linden Lab™ feels the Child Avatars community is not suitable for a PG environment, which means they are a mature/adult group that would rate an 'R' or 'X' rating.

Um... come again?

This isn't about protecting real life kids; real life kids are on the Teen Grid, not the Main Grid. Real life kids, should they get on the Main Grid, will be using an adult avatar, as they will be wanting to experience things as an adult; they won't be using a child avatar.

Child avatars are not banned from Second Life™, so there is nothing inherently against the Terms of Service or Community Standards about child avatars. Linden Lab™ has stated that child avatars are allowed in Second Life™.

So what's the problem?

The Gor community, which is allowed in Second Life™ but features a heavy content of sex and violence, is not permitted to have an exhibit at the SL5B celebration in a PG area.

The BDSM community, which is allowed in Second Life™ but features a heavy content of sex and violence, is not permitted to have an exhibit at the SL5B celebration in a PG area.

The Child Avatar community is not permitted to have an exhibit at the SL5B celebration in a PG area.

So what's the common connection? Apparently, Linden Lab™ believe that all three groups feature a heavy sexual content and are inappropriate for a PG area.

There you have it, folks: Linden Lab™ believes that child avatars are only for deviant sexual practices, just like Gor and BDSM.

All hail the Main Grid. All hail Linden Lab™ and their infinite wisdom.

All hail Mark Kingdon, aka M Linden, the CEO of Linden Lab™. Since this is official Linden Lab™ policy, Mark has endorsed it.

Those of you with child avatars, you're on notice: Mark Kingdon thinks you're only using Second Life™ for deviant sexual purposes.