The Age-Gating of History

Heather Burns: I cannot tell you how much it disgusts me that so much of the archival footage from September 11 has now been age-gated and restricted as “mature” or “sensitive or adult” content, as in this example from this Reddit film archive. It’s history. It’s archival footage of history. It’s a thing that happened. If you were in school in 2001, there were probably televisions playing live news coverage in your classroom or in the hallways. There were in mine. I am with Burns, and with the greatest of respect — she was there that day. But that particular subreddit is an unfortunate example as, while I do not think it should be age-gated, it should be moderated far better. So many of the users there are not treating it as an archive or a way of learning, but as a puzzle where they can play detective. ⌥ Permalink