I have an ethical question about the personal images we post here.

(And I mean this as an internal, ethical issue – not an external, legal one.)

What should happen if a forum member posts a personal image, and a second member takes it, changes it significantly w/o permission, and re-posts it?

Better, what if the first poster had stated a preference that this not be done?

As we know, this is a public forum, so there are fewer protections against this. Post your image, take your chance. However, it’s also a moderated forum, whose rules presumably bring back some of those protections. For the situation I’ve just described, I don’t think there’s a specific rule – only general ones about being polite and respectful. As far as I can tell, it’s simply the moderator’s call.

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So here’s my question – directed mainly to our image posters:

If the original poster asks the forum to remove the manipulated image – even if the manipulation was simply done for self-serving laughs – shouldn’t the forum be obligated to do so? Could any principle be more clear?

And if no forum obligation exists, then doesn’t this reduce, and possibly shatter the likelihood of people sharing useful images of any kind here, especially ones they care about?