I need some help understanding a policy

[TinyStargazer]

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Clarification_of_policy_disallowing_ageplay

What exactly counts as lewd...? Sexual is obvious but lewd has really broad meaning!

 

(I can't figure out how to add comments so I'm editing it in.)

Thank you for your help! I plan on having a child avatar, I was asking so I knew what I needed to report and stuff.

[Rolig Loon]

You might want to review the US. Supreme Court decision in Barnes v Glen Theatre, Inc. , which attempted to set a bar.  Justice Soulter's majority opinion is often phrased as "Nudity itself is not inherently expressive conduct," meaning that it all depends on who is offended and in what context. 

In SL, you will have breached community standards if you are in a region that is not rated Adult and your activity involves

• Representations of intensely violent acts, for example depicting death, torture, dismemberment or other severe bodily harm, whether or not photo-realistic (meaning that images either are or cannot be distinguished from a photograph).
• Photo-realistic nudity.
• Expressly sexually themed content, spaces or activities, whether or not photo-realistic. We broadly define what is "sexually themed" to include any sexually oriented activities and conduct.

Review https://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Maturity-ratings/ta-p/700119#Section_.1

ETA:  With regard to activity involving avatars that appear to be children, those standards apply anywhere.

[Nalates Urriah]

Rolig is precisely correct... but, let's try something a bit more practical.

If you are alone, you can pretty much do whatever you want because no one is really watching. With a million or so people logging in each day, there are not enough Linden staff to police the place. So, the Lab responds to complaints and it is very debatable as to how well they do that. It's like there is never a cop around when you need one.

If you go to any of the nude beaches or landing places where new people show up, it would not be greatly unusual to see a male with an erection walking around. In RL that is generally considered lewd behavior. But, SL residents tend to tolerate it. The Lab only finds out about it if someone reports the person.

So, lewd for purposes of the ToS is what someone you interact with might report. Nebulous enough? But, that is the practical nature of how the ToS is  enforced.

If you wouldn't do something on the street in front of your home with neighbors looking on, don't do it in inappropriate places in SL.

 

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Just want to add this rule of thumb:

If you wouldn't interact that way with a any depiction of a minor in front of your grandmother, don't do it in SL. 

LL has told people to report any age play or even a suspicion of it.  Most people find it abhorrent and will report you. If LL finds it's true, you  will get banned for life fast with no appeal.   They don't need the reporter to provide proof.  All they need is the approximate time and location so they can investigate their own activity and chat logs.