Pixiv’s crackdown on harmless fictional content continues as the Japanese art website announced that certain illustrations will be blocked for users in specific countries to comply with their laws.

Pixiv released a statement on the matter this week, noting the massive change in their content:

According to Pixiv’s statement, certain works will be subject to “display restrictions” in certain countries.

However, Pixiv also incorporated a “location” selection under User settings, and after experimenting with the setting, Niche Gamer confirm that changing to “United States” does in fact remove some content from certain artist profiles.

In comparison, Japan seemingly allows all content:

An ominous message also pops up now when visiting Pixiv, informing users of the recent change:

This is no doubt a result of western influences, as many individuals of a certain “contingent” in the west conflate fictional artwork to real life, and deem adult artwork and/or underage fictional characters as “harmful”.

This turn of events might have been predictable, considering things in the past Pixiv were forced to do.

Editor’s Note: Featured art via Kasai Shin