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OpenSea and Rarible, two major NFT platforms, are accused by users of taking down artworks without permission due to "political" reasons.

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OpenSea and Rarible, two major NFT platforms, are accused by users of taking down artworks without permission due to "political" reasons.

Two well-known NFT trading platforms, OpenSea and Rarible, have recently been reported by creators for "political censorship" issues, as they have unilaterally delisted NFTs from the market. The delisted NFT project is Flurks, and the platform has not provided a detailed explanation for the removal reasons yet.

What is Flurks?

The NFT project that was recently taken down - Flurks, was launched by the well-known American political cartoonist Stonetoss. Stonetoss's comics often revolve around controversial international political issues, and his satirical comic style has attracted a large following.

The NFT project introduced this time is based on characters from his comics, with various designs added, including political undertones and cryptocurrency memes, with a total of 5,000 pieces. When the series went on sale at the end of November, the entire collection sold out in just over 20 minutes, raising 420 ETH (approximately $1.8 million).

Due to the rapid sell-out, users immediately recognized the market demand for this NFT project, and a lot of trading activities appeared on the secondary markets OpenSea and Rarible, with trading volumes exceeding 100 ETH before the project was taken down from OpenSea. The time from sell-out to being taken down by OpenSea was only six hours.

Taken Down by OpenSea and Rarible

However, as mentioned earlier, this project was taken down from the two major NFT trading platforms for unknown reasons. Stonetoss subsequently tried to contact the platforms to explain the product concept and understand the reason for the takedown. However, there was no response, and Stonetoss believes that the treatment could be due to political factors.

According to a report from Bitcoin.com,

We believe that the takedown by Opensea and Rarible is mainly due to political censorship. Since my comic works often carry political colors, they are often targeted for removal from platforms. In response to this situation, I have dealt with many comments on my works and hope to meet the demands of many who want them removed from the platform.

In addition, Stonetoss also mentioned that some of the NFTs he released contain features with political implications such as the American federal flag - patriotism, the rainbow flag - LGBTQ+ rights, the Gadsden flag - libertarianism, and the sickle and hammer - communism. These politically charged features may be the main reason for the takedown.

Although the platforms have not provided any official response, Stonetoss stated that he received a reply from an internal employee on Rarible's official Discord channel, with the employee stating that they would not take down works solely based on political viewpoints.

Since the development of blockchain technology, decentralization and resistance to censorship have been its features. The inexplicable takedown of works by OpenSea and Rarible goes against this principle. We hope that the platforms can provide a reasonable response promptly, ensuring fair treatment for all users and not contradicting the original central idea of blockchain.