Manga website MangaDex confirmed it was removing content that depicted graphic content involving underage characters.
If you are unfamiliar with MangaDex, the site was founded in 2018 and hosts fan translations of numerous manga, manhwa, and manhua including popular titles such as Chainsaw Man, One Piece Gakuen, Meitantei Conan, Sakamoto Days, JoJo’s BIzarre Adventure, Fate/Grand Order, and more.
In a post on the site’s forum discussing the removal of the content, administrator EtherealNeko confirmed it.
In an initial post, EtherealNeko wrote, “Stop the misinformation. Titles being removed depict sexual activity between characters that are minors, either in appearance (Handled on a case-by-case basis) or confirmed in the dialogue. It’s about law and compliance with it.”
“If you jerk it off to little kids, go and do it elsewhere, there are sites that specialise in that.”
To be clear masturbation is sinful and no one should be engaging in it let alone viewing pornography. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Both the Magisterium of the Church, in the course of a constant tradition, and the moral sense of the faithful have been in no doubt and have firmly maintained that masturbation is an intrinsically and gravely disordered action.”
Father Casey Cole explains, “First, it is an act that is disordered meaning that it seeks an end that which is incompatible with its purpose. … For sexual activity, the end for which it was created is two-fold: pro-creation and unity between married couples. To act in a sexual manner outside of these ends—say, for pleasure alone, by oneself—would be a disordered act.”
Next, he analyzes, “Serious is obvious, signifying that this is no run-of-the-mill sin, but one with grave implications. While intrinsic notes there is something inherent to the act itself that is evil. No matter the intention, it is wrong.”
Nevertheless, EtherealNeko would share an updated post, “Any additions or uploads to the service that are not compliant will be removed as we become aware of them.
In another post, he provided more information, “Jumping back here because my previous post had a sentence that was poorly worded and came off as too much of a personal attack or moral grandstanding. I also didn't provide enough context on the content being removed, so that's on me.”
“I've been reading some of the replies, and thank you for voicing your opinions and concerns, whether in this thread or elsewhere,” he continued. “Users want clarification on the removals, so please find it below.”
EtherealNeko then explained:
We were made aware of content that goes against our content policy, specifically clause 3.1.1 regarding underage characters in pornographic settings. The content that was removed, and some content still being reviewed, includes entries labelled Mature, with characters that are engaging in sexual intercourse and either:
They are clearly very young in appearance, and the content does not confirm that they are adults.
The content itself confirms that they are under the age of 18.
Nothing else is being examined at this time. We’re currently exploring options to retain the title entry and other non-infringing metadata, but for now, we need to proceed with the removal.
Finally, in his most recent update, he shared, “Titles being removed are those we have been made aware of through a legal nexus as "considered the distribution of illegal material". Moderation will not go beyond the titles mentioned; there was Papa Milk and anything adjacent, and some others still in review.”
“If we are notified of anything else, we will try to inform uploaders before proceeding with removals, where possible,” he concluded.
It is a good thing that this material is being removed from MangaDex. It never should have been on the site to begin with let alone having been created given it offends human dignity and wounds the virtue of chastity. In fact, the site should take it a step further and ban any kind of pornographic content it hosts.
For those struggling with these sins there are numerous resources where you can get help including Integrity Restored, Catholic in Recovery, RECLAIM Sexual Health, STRIVE, The Freedom Group, Road to Purity, and Exodus 90.
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Good. The last thing our society needs is more degeneracy.
Thank God!