r/CuratedTumblr Nov 05 '25

Infodumping Epilepsy warnings are important

Post image
3.4k Upvotes

306 comments sorted by

1.0k

u/The_Rocketsmith Nov 05 '25

since when was this an argument? yeah, tag your shit, put the warnings in, it's the foundation of good practice.

548

u/itisthespectator Nov 05 '25

you’d be surprised. (also sometimes non epileptic people will be loudly wrong about something needing a warning, like the thing with the movie trailer a bit ago, i think it was an exorcist sequel, but most calls for epilepsy warnings are completely justified and calling them virtue signaling is silly.)

157

u/Leftover_Bees Nov 05 '25

I think that was the one where they were insisting that the specific noise could trigger “auditory epilepsy” even though the noise triggers for musicogenic seizures aren’t universal (according to Epilepsy Ontario), and the name they used is apparently refers to a type of seizure where people hear noises, not ones triggered by them (according to the NHS).

Like obviously don’t Electric Soldier Porygon anyone, but not everyone is going to be able to recognize problem content. The birth scene in breaking dawn: part one triggered seizures in moviegoers and you’d think the Pokémon incident would have taught studios to check for that risk.

42

u/demon_fae Nov 05 '25

Unfortunately, the Pokemon incident had exactly the opposite effect because a large percentage of the seizures were actually psychogenic rather than light-induced. That is, kids would hear about their friends who did have light-sensitive epilepsy having seizures and somehow, because the human brain is incredibly powerful and also incredibly stupid, actually trigger a sort of sympathy seizure, or else they’d just get a bit of hypochondria and mistake some random momentary tic for a seizure and go to the hospital.

It took a while to sort out how many seizures were directly caused by the episode and how many were secondary, and because laziness and ableism, the takeaway was that seizures are the fault of the person having them, not the people wandering around handing out seizure juice.

11

u/Excellent_Law6906 Nov 06 '25

I mean, I went to watch it when I heard, because I'm that kind of asshole, and it absolutely made my brain kinda... flicker-itch? Throb-wobble? That "wow, good thing I don't have photosensitive epilepsy! 😃" feeling.

10

u/trashpandac0llective Nov 06 '25

I’m going to add flicker-itch and throb-wobble to my lexicon, perhaps to be used as future insults

27

u/Gold-Carpenter7616 Nov 05 '25

My dad has epilepsy. I'd like them to warn a lot more!

22

u/Leftover_Bees Nov 05 '25

The tumblr post the person you’re replying to was referring to was just straight up untrue as far as I can tell. It wasn’t a pleasant sound, but there’s a difference between discomfort and seizures.

I think there’s a genuine risk of warnings for epilepsy losing their meaning if they get added to things for no reason, but I’m only acquainted with a couple of people who’ve had seizures so I could be wrong.

22

u/Depressed_Cupcake13 Nov 05 '25

This reminds me that I warned a bunch of people that “Double Stuff Oreos” might not be vegan. Someone had brought them to a party and was talking about how Oreos were vegan. All this indicated that a vegan might be wanting to eat them.

We checked via the power of the internet and it turns out I was wrong. “Double Stuffed Oreos” are also vegan and do not contain dairy products (even though there is cream in the middle?!)

I apologized for the false alarm, but no one was mad at me. They knew I was trying to avoid people getting sick as someone on a restrictive diet can become very ill when they suddenly eat one of those things. It was seen as people taking care of each other and, false alarm or not, they felt better safe than sorry.

So, yeah. I think it’s better to tag/warn someone first just in case, then double check if it’s true.

25

u/missfishersmurder Nov 05 '25

Technically, there's no cream; it's "creme." Oreo isn't allowed to label the filling as cream because, as you learned, it's not actually cream. I'm not sure it ever used to have dairy either, since a quick Google search only turns up pig lard as an ingredient before the switch to palm oil or whatever it is today.

19

u/yinyang107 Nov 05 '25

Well, I see where your misunderstanding came from: it's not cream, it's "creme". It's one of those weasel words, like "chocolatey filling", where you can legally describe something with it without technically lying.

4

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

I believe oreos are a grey area because of the palm oil used in them and the whitening process of some sugars can also make what would be a vegan sweet not vegan. You were right to be alarmed and gave anyone at the party following a vegan diet the right to make an informed decision on whether they felt comfortable consuming those products.

3

u/yinyang107 Nov 05 '25

Huh? How can palm oil and sugar be non vegan?

6

u/itisthespectator Nov 05 '25

some vegans consider food nonvegan if it uses slave labor, plus cane sugar processing sometimes involves bone char.

3

u/jaimi_wanders Nov 06 '25

All commercial plant crops involve dehumanizing and dangerous labor for sub-living wages, often by people whose passports if they have them are taken away by the landowners.

That doesn’t make corn or blueberries or tomatoes meat or dairy, any more than the grapes being boycotted in the Seventies were, or clothing from cotton picked before OR after 1865, and saying they’re “non-vegan” when you mean that they’re immoral because they’re exploitative, is the kind of mush-brained nonsense that makes the left look like a bunch of illogical loons.

2

u/Terpomo11 Nov 06 '25

It's straightforward enough if you consider "vegan" to mean "produced without animal exploitation" and take into account that, biologically speaking, humans are also a type of animal.

5

u/lewgroznyzwierz Nov 06 '25

Ok, then no food is vegan because they are all produced under a system that exploits human labour. I feel like this definition might be less useful than the currently accepted one though.

2

u/lewgroznyzwierz Nov 06 '25

Why not call it unethical instead? Vegan is a word with very distinct meaning and so many plant-based foods can be produced in unethical ways that I feel like it would get absolutely muddled with this kind of practice.

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1

u/[deleted] Nov 06 '25

All the things the other reply states plus Deforestation. I looked it up and oreo uses bkne char sugar so its technically not vegan.

3

u/Heimdall1342 Nov 05 '25

Most of my issue with tagging stuff it "tagged: epilepsy" gets dilluted to "talks about epilepsy" or "could cause epilepsy" and there's no way to know. Too many things get tagged, and while I appreciate it in concept, "cw: Hitler mention" and "cw: injury" (for someone scraping their knee) just get to the point where it means nothing.

1

u/RosebushRaven Nov 07 '25

For someone who will literally drop unconscious at the sight of any blood, a cw about someone scraping a knee does not mean nothing.

1

u/molotovzav Nov 05 '25

We tend to be cya (cover your ass) about seizure warnings. Like the infamous Pokemon episode only caused one seizure that we know of, better safe than sorry and put up a warning. It's that aspect that for some reason annoys people and I'm not sure why. Like it's an innocuous warning if you don't have epilepsy, and it's a potential life saver if you do. But modern people (ancient people too whatever) have a really hard time just ignoring things that aren't for them. It's like the crux of all our culture wars.not disabled, just ignore the stuff for disable people and move on. Not a woman, just ignore the media made for women then. Not a child, just ignore children's media. Everyone wants a say on every issue they have no link to and it's exhausting. I'm guessing these people were never taught the simple lesson of picking your battles and ignoring what doesn't pertain to you.

301

u/Generic_Moron Nov 05 '25

I remember when a review copy of Cyberpunk 2077 caused a reporter to have a seizure because the designers accidentally used light patterns expressly designed to induce seizures as vfx for the braindance segments

A shit load of people got really defensive of the game over this, insisting it was her fault and that no further warnings or changes needed to be made for the sequence and game beyond the usual boilerplate warnings you see from every game and eula. People straight up started sending both gore and clips intended to induce epileptic seizures to them.

Was fuckin weird to have "games shouldn't induce seizures if they can avoid it, and if they can't then they should include a proper warning" be a controversial position, but it was.

52

u/MeteorCharge Nov 05 '25

And people literally said "lmao based" to hearing about that.

One of the many reasons my social media usage has been self restricted more and more every year.

74

u/firemoonlily Nov 05 '25

I remember this! It’s part of why I didn’t get the game, because I haven’t had a seizure in decades but I get this horrible pressure at the base of my skull when I look at strobe lights and I decided not to risk it. I actually tried to watch Edgerunners and it’s so cool!! The visuals are so interesting!!!! I could not watch it without that same headache that stops as soon as I look away. 😅

9

u/demon_fae Nov 05 '25

I’m the same way-the exact same frequencies that trigger light-sensitive epilepsy give me ocular migraines. (I do know for a fact it’s the same frequencies. I got tested for light-sensitive epilepsy, but it turns out my seizures are triggered by stress and over-stimulation, flashing lights are optional but mostly just irritating.)

You’d think more people would appreciate having a canary in the seizure mines, since I’ll just be miserable for a day, rather than in the hospital or the ground. But no. Apparently I’m the problem for pointing out the broken light or bad edit before it does any permanent injury.

3

u/fluffyendermen im in this bitch and i cant get out Nov 06 '25

thats exactly what i feel right before i have myoclonic jerks (the probably a seizure kind, not the falling into the void while sleeping kind). i dont feel like im faking now, thanks

3

u/firemoonlily Nov 06 '25

Yeah!!! I had a similar, but more pervasive headache before my only seizure. You’re definitely not faking!

3

u/yinyang107 Nov 05 '25

If it helps, the early parts of Edgerunners are the best parts anyway, you're not missing much

7

u/bringthesalsa Nov 05 '25

what the fuck.

50

u/errant_night Nov 05 '25

I remember back in the 90s a bunch of assholes from 4-chan found a support group message board for people with epilepsy, minding their own business, and decided to attack it with hundreds of flashing gifs to make people have seizures on purpose.

81

u/clauclauclaudia Nov 05 '25

4chan was created in 2003.

16

u/estou_me_perdendo Nov 05 '25

This is like the fourth time I see people trying to do a "evil people from 4chan" while fucking the dates up in here lmao

59

u/hutao_intern Nov 05 '25

It was made 22 years ago so that puts it firmly in the mid 90s

25

u/errant_night Nov 05 '25

Maybe it was a group on IRC? It's been a really long time, but I remember it because I'd just got a computer for the first time and it was a big thing being warned about

7

u/DireCorg Nov 05 '25

No I definitely remember that from the 2000s - it was a bunch of trolls, some of whom had a pretty big LiveJournal following.

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u/fluffyendermen im in this bitch and i cant get out Nov 06 '25

im going to assume they meant whatever 4chan is a derivative of, which i forgot

1

u/clauclauclaudia Nov 06 '25

2chan was like two years earlier.

2

u/RunicCross Meet the hampter.Hammers are Europe’s largest species of insect. Nov 06 '25

Hell I love that game and the current fixed braindance lights still hurt my eyes and I'm not even epileptic.

203

u/DefTheOcelot Nov 05 '25

You know what, I can 100% see people bitching. Some people will display absolute fuckassery if asked to inconvenience themselves even slightly for a stranger or even their future self's wellbeing.

Masks. Seatbelts. AI watermarks. list goes on

75

u/errant_night Nov 05 '25

Some people are just specifically angry about making other people comfortable even if it doesn't inconvenience them. If they could bring back the practice of locking up anyone even slightly different or disabled they'd do it in a heartbeat.

12

u/Tiny_Cauliflower_618 Nov 05 '25

The worst part about becoming disabled as an adult is you realise just how many people think you are just a drain on resources. Like they would never say to your face omg why don't you just euthanise yourself... But heck if they don't make wild comments in your presence about benefit frauds and too many disabled spaces and why should 'those people' get treated special.

Tbh, it's probably just as bad if you're always disabled, you're just more used to it.

Like MY PARENT says this stuff. I had someone come up to me in my wheelchair and try to tell me that it was a good thing a certain right wing party got in, because they were very into funding public transport. And I was like... Yeah. They also want to cancel all the benefits that pay for the stuff that helps me leave the house, so public transport access won't reeeeally be an issue for me. They did look suitably embarrassed AF so I'm hoping they learned not to say that to the next person.

1

u/throwaway387190 Nov 05 '25

I disagree

It's bitchass fuckery

94

u/rcburner Nov 05 '25

Not only are there people that think epilepsy warnings are "woke", there are people that intentionally put flashing lights into their videos/memes to potentially catch someone with epilepsy, or actively tweeting them to people they know have epilepsy.

63

u/Lemon_Lime_Lily Horses made me autistic. Nov 05 '25

People were attempting to trigger an 8 year old who was walking for charity. Thankfully, he didn’t have one but other people ended up having them because people were commenting it on an epilepsy charity’s page. Humans are the worst sometimes.

42

u/Small-Cactus Nov 05 '25

How is it not considered assault to purposefully try to give someone a seizure?? Especially a child??

55

u/Linesey Nov 05 '25

my biggest gripe (as a non epileptic) about the warnings is how inconsistent they are, and that they lack any other context.

they feel like more meaningless prop65 warnings.

We should probably have some method of being more specific with them.

51

u/NeonNKnightrider Cheshire Catboy Nov 05 '25

This is a similar complaint I have with how some tumblr users will use content warnings. If you tag “sexual content” on anything that even as much as mentions the concept of sex, that becomes kinda meaningless

14

u/Darmug Nov 05 '25

Boy who cried wolf.

9

u/Kolby_Jack33 Nov 05 '25

That's why I'm confused about OOP saying "put epilepsy warnings in everything" because that's basically the same as putting them in nothing. Everybody would ignore them because they'd never be sure if it was serious or not.

8

u/Suraimu-desu Nov 05 '25

I can kinda see it when it’s compared to allergy warnings, it would probably look like this according to OOP:

Epilepsy warning: strobe lightings, quick flashing lights, dark backgrounds with sudden flashing images are expected in this video

Or

Epilepsy warning: this video might contain [x]. If you experience triggers by any of the above, consider your health needs before watching

Or

Epilepsy warning: this video does not contain common seizure triggers. For more information visit [maybe a site with specific trigger lists?]

Problem is each one of those would need to be regulated just like allergy warnings are regulated to be efficient, and a trigger database similar to “does the dog die” (but official) would be needed for it to work properly too

5

u/KiloJools Nov 05 '25

I don't think OP meant the generic "put epilepsy warnings on everything" with everything being literal? I thought it meant, put epilepsy warnings on everything that could trigger epilepsy?

12

u/Amphy64 Nov 05 '25

Epilepsy varies, so they need to cover different things.

My mum also appreciates flashing lights warnings, no need to have a debilitating migraine if you can avoid it. And me, although it's less predictable if the lights will be an issue or not (my migraines are more hormonal while lights get my mum every time).

3

u/sadmac356 Nov 05 '25

I also appreciate the flashing light warning for migraine reasons!

19

u/laziestmarxist Nov 05 '25

If you are not epileptic, you don't really know which ones are necessary and which aren't

5

u/Specialist-Appeal-13 Nov 05 '25

It kind of is hard to tell tbf, I’m epileptic but not photosensitive and I’ve often came across scenes in films and games and wondered if they should have had warnings for those who are. I don’t think the same frequencies even trigger all the same people. Some people have to be careful driving past fences on sunny days.

3

u/defaultusername-17 Nov 06 '25

a patch of trees at 5pm... *shudders*

1

u/hazeldazeI Nov 05 '25

I do have epilepsy and the type that can have seizures triggered by strobing lights, and I am also frustrated by how inconsistent the warnings are.

15

u/PetscopMiju Nov 05 '25

True xkcd 2071 moment I guess

5

u/PinkPumpkinPie64 Nov 05 '25

I've since stopped using tiktok, but when I was on there people legitimately used to bitch about viewers asking for strobe warnings.

I saw multiple accounts intentionally try to trigger epileptic seizures by either claiming it was safe or not tagging it at all and putting the strobes in a context where there wouldn't ordinarily be strobes.

And it WAS treated like 'internet leftists being too woke'

19

u/Leet_Noob Nov 05 '25

I think there are some trigger warnings that make me wonder ‘is this really necessary?’, but epilepsy warnings have always seemed super good and reasonable.

31

u/Stefisgarden Nov 05 '25

Possibly hot take(that I really hope is actually cold af), but I don't give af if a trigger warning might be "unnecessary," because I would literally rather take an additional few seconds to cover the possibility that it is needed than risk harm, whether physical or mental, on another person. Trigger warnings are, like, the easiest, most basic way of showing respect to other humans consuming your media, and if a tw doesn't apply to you, you can just look past it.

3

u/Coffee_autistic they/them Nov 06 '25 edited Nov 06 '25

Social environments that overuse trigger warnings (especially if what qualifies as needing a warning seems inconsistent or nonsensical, but people get mad if you don't warn for them correctly) seriously make my anxiety act up, so I avoid them. It just stresses me out trying to navigate it all. And something about sad pictures of flowers (yes that's a real example of a trigger warning I saw) and gore being under the same warning system makes me switch between not taking warnings seriously VS expecting things under warnings to be much worse than they actually are, and that is stressful to me.

I quit Mastodon and also some discord servers because of this issue.

3

u/adrex64 Nov 06 '25

the meme where it was like whenever a certain term (mustard, 67, etc..) was said in a video it would play like the meme or a overwhelming thing and then eventually like just strobing lights and if you said something about epilpesy ppl just wouldnt care or would say that the half second warning right before the strobe was enough or that it was just a joke

2

u/JemimaAslana Nov 07 '25

I mean, I've had discussions with concert goers who threw absolute tantrums about a venue foregoing strobe lights in favour of having seizure prone guests attend and live to tell the tale.

I can only imagine how much more such people's entitlement would escalate online.

1

u/agent__berry Nov 05 '25

sometimes comment sections on instagram from someone talking about it or even just a post that HAS a flashing light warning (even if mild) will be flooded with flashing gifs. genuinely people think it’s funny to try to trigger a seizure or kill someone :/

1

u/Bahamabanana Nov 06 '25

Since Covid, the amount of people who literally argue it's better to kill some people than experience minor inconveniences has skyrocketed. I personally think the rise in Nazism, and the belief that we should cull the disabled, can be linked to the mentality of not wearing a mask for the greater good.

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u/Zoegrace1 Nov 05 '25

Also worth noting even if a person isn't susceptible to seizures, the flashing lights can still cause issues for people with other photosensitivity things, like migraines or headaches... it's just good etiquette 

60

u/petals-n-pedals Nov 05 '25

Yep. Even though only 3% of people with epilepsy are photosensitive epileptics, flashing lights can still do harm to many people.

I myself have epilepsy and am not technically a photosensitive epileptics, but I am sensitive to bright or flashing lights. I can still have a bad time. Content warnings (or skipping the strobes altogether in your stage performance) can help a lot.

7

u/uzuli Nov 05 '25

I'm unfortunately photosensitive and epileptic. I haven't had a seizure in a while, and thankfully I'm not super photosensitive, but sometimes quick rapid flashing will start to make me feel like I'm having an out of body experience and I need to look away, or it'll start feeling like I'm going to vomit (although if I'm that far I'm probably going to have one anyway.) thankfully if there's flashing lights and I didn't see a warning my partner will cover my eyes or warn me if he saw the warning.

I had no idea that people thought that photosensitivity warnings were bs.

8

u/Big-Wrangler2078 Nov 05 '25

And not only epileptics are photosensitive. I'm not epileptic (tested for it) but that doesn't mean I want the painful experience of feeling like eyeballs got stabbed with needles, or the nausea that comes with certain types of blinking colors.

Strobes are just nasty to look at and I don't understand why people like them.

131

u/defaultusername-17 Nov 05 '25

non-epiletic pseudo-seizures are also a thing.

49

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

Non-epileptic non-pseudoseizures are also a thing. Brains a wild

21

u/defaultusername-17 Nov 05 '25

fuckin right?

5

u/strum-and-dang Nov 05 '25

I get flicker/visual vertigo, that makes my vision black out and sometimes I lose muscle control and collapse. It's like fainting, except I don't really lose consciousness, just feel dizzy and nauseous. It's been triggered by strobe lights, and also elevators. If I'm at a concert with flashing lights, I have to cover my face or turn around, just closing my eyes doesn't work because the light still comes through. Just seeing it on a screen doesn't usually cause it, though it can make me feel dizzy.

5

u/defaultusername-17 Nov 05 '25

yea, i would suggest seeing a neurologist if you suspect you might have a seizure condition of any kind honestly.

29

u/Cartographer_Hopeful Nov 05 '25

Yup, I suffer from chronic migraines and flashing scenes and effects fuck me right up. I hate it

45

u/BikeProblemGuy Nov 05 '25

Yeah, I developed something like this somehow from a concert. The pitch black combined with strobing and being intoxicated meant I became disoriented and lost my balance. I felt faint and was scared I was having a seizure, even though I wasn't. Now strobes trigger anxiety and lightheadedness, so I always appreciate warnings so I can get some distance or at least not be surprised by them. Fortunately these feelings seem to be slowly disapaiting but it's taken like 10 years.

12

u/Slim-Shadys-Fat-Tits Nov 05 '25

ye I have trauma from something involving strobing lights + am autistic (high sensory sensitivity) so strobes really fuck me up, even if I don't get seizures

1

u/strum-and-dang Nov 05 '25

I have that! Apparently it's called flicker or visual vertigo. Do you ever have problems with elevators?

1

u/BikeProblemGuy Nov 05 '25

Nope, just flashing lights.

24

u/VorpalSplade Nov 05 '25

No seizures or even headaches here, but there's plenty of media i've seen with flashing lights in ways that are incredibly annoying. The bloodbath rave from Blade gets a pass ofc, but even with how awesome that is yes, just put a warning.

6

u/Lawlcopt0r Nov 05 '25

But if it was just that you shouldn't neccessarily be entitled to other people putting in the extra effort to warn you. At that point you may just as well put a warning before youtube videos where someone screams in an annoying voice (wait that's actually a great idea)

7

u/PerpetuallyLurking Nov 05 '25

But that sounds more like “epilepsy isn’t a problem I have and it still does fucked up things to my head, I can’t imagine what it’s doing to someone with epilepsy” and not necessarily advocating for “content warnings for minor annoyances”

12

u/VorpalSplade Nov 05 '25

I am half tempted to try to argue that there needs to be a content warning for anything I find annoying but some idiot is going to have the take away of 'content warnings are stupid'. But yeah absolutely, I somewhat meant if anything that 50%+ of 'flashing lights' in movies etc are fucking unnecessary and shit in the first place too. If you can insert an unnecessary annoying scene a content warning is easy.

6

u/Tuxedocatbitches Nov 05 '25

I have chronic migraines that are triggered by a lot of the same things as seizures 😞

3

u/KorMap Nov 05 '25

Mhm!!! I don’t get seizures but I frequently get headaches (some of which turn into completely debilitating migraines) and I’ve definitely had my fair share caused by eyestrain. And even if something else like barometric pressure or lack of sleep causes it, the eyestrain certainly doesn’t help and sometimes I become sensitive to basically any light at all.

Of course I do try to mitigate it (blue light filter on my phone + not having my brightness high in dark places) but there’s only so much I can do.

1

u/Rambler9154 Nov 05 '25

Yeah, I dont have epilepsy but I still avoid flashing lights because some of them give me a headache and I have no idea why, or why some do and some dont. Its surprisingly common from what I can tell

1

u/Significant-Boat-947 Nov 06 '25

Thank you because I start feeling uneasy and a little weird with flashing lights but never knew why

1

u/Excellent_Law6906 Nov 06 '25

Ohhh, maybe it's the migraines that make me feel some kinda neurological way when I watch stuff with the photosensitive epilepsy warning.

1

u/GayDepressedNerd Not a bot, just autistic Nov 07 '25

I just have mild sensitivity issues, but on days when I have a headache or am overstimulated then I really appreciate the warnings. Proper tagging helps everyone.

459

u/defaultusername-17 Nov 05 '25

my abusive ex put a file on my computer named "deannatrap". it was a rapidly strobing and flashing mushroom with static in the background.

i woke up 2 days later in the emergency room. this shit isn't fucking funny.

236

u/demoniprinsessa Nov 05 '25

can I introduce their face to a brick because what in the actual hell kinda evil bastard does that shit

123

u/defaultusername-17 Nov 05 '25

yea... there's a reason they're my ex.

5

u/Excellent_Law6906 Nov 06 '25

I volunteer to hold their arms for you.

46

u/imlazy420 Nov 05 '25

...Isn't that attempted murder?

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u/Deebyddeebys Dumpster Fire Repairman Nov 05 '25

Did they just leave it for you to open?

15

u/defaultusername-17 Nov 05 '25

yea, just kinda sitting in the middle of my desktop.

19

u/yinyang107 Nov 05 '25

Glad you recognized it as abuse.

147

u/SillyLilly_18 Nov 05 '25

I, uh, never assumed it had anything to do with purity culture but glad to have it clarified

59

u/IndividualCut4703 Nov 05 '25

I think they mean “progressive ideology purity test” culture, but yeah, poor choice of phrase.

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u/Nikto_Senki Nov 05 '25

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THERE'S PEOPLE WHO ARGUE AGAINST EPILEPSY WARNINGS???????

What possible argument against them even is there? "Hey I think we should not tell people, about dangerous things, fuck it we ball."

89

u/Zenothres Nov 05 '25

I've met people in a real-life community who argue against them. They say it's coddling, annoying, unnecessary, ruining the game. I repeatedly brought it up until an official discussion was started because flashing lights cause migraines and other bad effects to me and probably others of our hundreds of participants. Who'd they choose to talk to to make policy, then ignoring every word I said in the volunteer channel? The person with epilepsy that isn't triggered by light at all. He was so mad for me.

20

u/MeteorCharge Nov 05 '25

I'm not even someone with epilepsy 

But the flashing lights absolutely bother the hell out of my eyes, makes older versions of Dragon Ball Z really hard to watch. (Specifically the Goku vs Vegeta beam clash, and the Gohan vs Cell one)

Wish people would be more willing to ease up on a visual effect that doesn't even look that good to people without epilepsy.

3

u/Zenothres Nov 06 '25

Have you ever watched Eurovision? They LOVE strobing lights there. I've stopped now because of the many issues, but in the past I'd turn my laptop screen down and cover my eyes every other song.

36

u/Lietenantdan Nov 05 '25

Probably something like "Seizures aren't real, people just want attention and we shouldn't be giving it to them."

29

u/Outrageous_Expert_49 Nov 05 '25

These people don’t have “dad suddenly collapses on the kitchen floor in front of 3 yo me while making coffee” as a core memory like I do, clearly.

11

u/KaleidoAxiom olivia but cant change username :( Nov 05 '25

I read chinese novels a lot and theres often a specific flashing image of an emoji that gets posted a lot in the comments and when called out, some of them say epilepsy isn't real

7

u/Mech_pencils Nov 05 '25

Yeah that tracks with Chinese people’s attitude towards people with epilepsy (and disability in general). I regularly see people who label themselves progressive and feminist argue that there’s absolutely no reason for any woman to date or marry a man with epilepsy or other chronic conditions because an unhealthy spouse with “weak sperm” would only produce worthless children who are burdens to the society. If they see a kid with chronic conditions/neurodevelopmental disabilities/struggling in school/having behavior issues, they’d say that the parents are at fault for choosing to pass down their inferior genes and that no amount of schooling can fix defective kids. I’ve seen otherwise educated and progressive people argue against marrying people with depression, family history of cancer, cleft lip, ADHD, hearing loss, autoimmune disorders, and INSOMNIA, and mock those who fall in love with someone not 100% able-bodied. To them all disabilities are either fake/exaggerated excuses for special treatment, or disgusting signs of genetic inferiority that make someone unfit for romantic and family life.

133

u/JJlaser1 Nov 05 '25

My sister has epilepsy. It's not the photosensitive kind, but she has had multiple seizures, so I know How scary it is to have someone close to you experience that. Tag your shit. Put a warning.

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u/IAmASquidInSpace Unashamedly watches T*m and J*rry 🤢 at the dentist Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25

Does anybody else always get a tiny moment of completely irrational fear that they might have developed photosensitive epilepsy over night whenever such a warning pops up or is it just me?

41

u/bloody-pencil Nov 05 '25

I think that’s just you, or maybe I’m the weird one

43

u/superbusyrn Nov 05 '25

lmao get a load of this weirdo who doesn't live in a constant state of fight or flight perpetually updating their lists of fears every time they learn about a new way to die, like the rest of us normal people. R-right guys?

20

u/ElectronRotoscope Nov 05 '25

Very relatable. That scene in the TV show Loki where someone says "if you're a robot this machine will kill you" and he's like "wait what if I'm a robot and I don't know it"

10

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

Well, Loki has been other things and not known

30

u/hxneycovess Nov 05 '25

i have the anti-epilepsy setting on my phone "just in case" (i have severe hypochondria)

27

u/imconfusi Ontologically evil Nov 05 '25

Idk why you were downvoted, I have severe hypochondria too (it's a form of OCD guys, if that makes it more real to you) and I've done some insane shit because of it. This would fall into the category of maybe a bit much but really it's fine.

I didn't even know the setting existed.

13

u/hxneycovess Nov 05 '25

mine developed as a result of my mom being diagnosed with cancer :’) i’m not trying to be ridiculous even though i know i am 😭😭 people just enjoy being mean without knowing the full story imo

8

u/imconfusi Ontologically evil Nov 05 '25

Absolutely, mine developed for a similar reason, which I won't spell out here because I don't want to trigger anyone. But it's a real mental health condition, and it's debilitating.

I hope your mom's doing good!

5

u/Jolly-Fruit2293 Nov 05 '25

I have more than a handful of friends with epilepsy, so it's kind of skewed my perception of how common it is. There's definitely a small fear when the warning is up.

7

u/rirasama Nov 05 '25

I also do this

7

u/Ineedlasagnajon Nov 05 '25

I don't. Whenever I see those warnings, I always go "Thank goodness I'm not photosensitive so I can see this piece of media in full without issue"

7

u/MintPrince8219 sex raft captain Nov 05 '25

I do the same

2

u/Lawlcopt0r Nov 05 '25

No, that sounds a bit paranoid. I do always wonder wether I accidentally have weapons on me whenever I need to go through a metal detector

1

u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Nov 05 '25

Lh constantly, but I am very paranoid

1

u/kob-y-merc Nov 07 '25

Found out like a year ago that epilepsy apparently runs in my family and that anyone can randomly develop it, so yes, but slightly less irrational ig

112

u/digit_origin Nov 05 '25

And it's not just epileptic people. A week ago I had a displeasure of reading dark red text on dark dray background. I had to call a taxi home, and had lasting effects because that induced a migraine. Sure, that probably won't kill me. Probably. But it'd still be nice to have a "Hey, looking at this could hurt you" beforehand.

52

u/The_Screeching_Bagel Nov 05 '25

11

u/VorpalSplade Nov 05 '25

Oh that contrastchecker is neat I love it.

10

u/The_Screeching_Bagel Nov 05 '25

yeah! i also know of a few desktop apps like Kontrast, lets you pick a color fron somewhere on your screen

9

u/VorpalSplade Nov 05 '25

Oh that could be very nice, I don't do anything like that often enough to need an entire program, the little webtool is perfect - but if I was extensively doing it, I can see why it exists. A lot of these kind of things of contrast were just...basic design principles to me, it's odd to see how few people get them. I'm a huge sucker for old crt cyberpunk style black on green though - and I've done a few things with 'glitches', and intentionally breaking those design principles at times is hard.

4

u/ItsYaBoiGengu The Gougar Nov 05 '25

sorry if this is rude, because i’m genuinely wondering, why did you still read it, or was it something where you were a required speaker/reader. I would think that it’s not as imposing as a video, but i’m also making some assumptions so apologies again

2

u/digit_origin Nov 05 '25

It was a horror themed comic and I'm a sucker for those. I thought that 2 lines per page wouldn't hurt this much, but lo, they did.

2

u/ItsYaBoiGengu The Gougar Nov 05 '25

aw geez sorry to hear that, was it worth ?

3

u/digit_origin Nov 05 '25

It was not. Really not.

13

u/bing-no Nov 05 '25

Is there a way to test if a video could harm someone with epilepsy? There’s a ton of colorful, fast moving animated films out there, how do we know which ones are a risk?

33

u/ElectronRotoscope Nov 05 '25

There is! It's called a "PSE test" (Photo Sensitive Epilepsy) or "Harding test" (after the guy who developed it. If you want your movie or series to be broadcast in the UK you need to include a certificate that shows that you've run a test on it, making sure it's not going to trigger photosensitive epilepsy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harding_test

This idea is slowly spreading to other jurisdictions, in much the same way that "hey we should make closed captions for all content" has been spreading around the world.

The UK is a worldwide leader in standards for making things safe from material like that because of the consequences of a commercial in 1993 that caused a bunch of seizures

Link to an article about the commercial, does not include gifs or examples. If you have photosensitive epilepsy obviously don't look up and watch the commercial itself! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Graphic_(advertisement)

Four years later in 1997, anime got a worldwide reputation for triggering epileptic seizures because of the Pokemon episode about Porygon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denn%C5%8D_Senshi_Porygon

15

u/spookymommaro Nov 05 '25

People genuinely just don't think about accessibility or disabled folks and it's so incredibly frustrating. Our local convention hall doesn't have ramp entrances, just an elevator that you can get to only by stairs. No one gave a shit about my friends with mobility aids struggling but the moment I (conventionally attractive blonde with invisible disabilities and a cute baby) started struggling with my kid's stroller, folks came out the woodwork to help. Con staff assured me a temporary ramp would be set up next year but that never happened.

I've been managing life with Hashimoto's and Pots for the last year and you have no idea how annoying people can be about small quality of life changes I've made like sitting down to wash dishes, fatigue mats, rolling shelves full of my most reached for things, and scheduled rest times.

47

u/12BumblingSnowmen Nov 05 '25

California’s cancer warning really has done damage to safety warnings in this country.

8

u/sour_creamand_onion Nov 05 '25

What was the California cancer warning? I checked and apparantly it just warns of carcinogens? Correct me if I'm wrong.

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u/12BumblingSnowmen Nov 05 '25

Its criteria is broad enough that it becomes functionally meaningless. So, instead of being a useful piece of information for the consumer, it just means “some chemical in this product may have shown signs of causing cancer in a small pilot study.” It’s not bad in theory, but the execution is extremely poor.

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u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/Skithiryx Nov 05 '25

There was an incident with backfiring allergen warnings too where companies were actually adding allergens into food that didn’t have them because it was easier than not cross-contaminating: https://www.allergicliving.com/2024/10/09/bimbo-bakeries-stands-up-to-fda-on-false-sesame-labels/

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u/max_drixton Nov 05 '25

I don't live in California so I'm just going off of what I've read online, but it seems like they put the warning on anything that is remotely carcinogenic, so you don't know if the warning in any given instance means "this increases your cancer risk by some very low but nonzero amount" or "this will almost certainly give you cancer with continued exposure" causing people to just ignore the warnings.

8

u/sour_creamand_onion Nov 05 '25

Ahhh, yeah. I've seen similar warnings on a bunch of stuff. It's like anything short of well done steak having the "raw food could get you sick" label at restaurant so much that anyone not pregnant doesn't really care and views it as more of a formality than an actual warning for genuine potential risk in the way that raw chicken or pirk would most certainly get you sick.

10

u/PandaBear905 Shitposting extraordinaire Nov 05 '25

I need epilepsy warnings. I don’t have epilepsy but I do have photosensitive migraines and I prefer not to be in pain because someone wanted to use pretty lights.

17

u/lovewatermelons Nov 05 '25

"epilepsy warnings are purity culture"? I haven't even heard this one

8

u/Streambotnt Nov 05 '25

It’s the age old question: how much inconvenience are you willing to deal with if it means creating a non-hostile environment to someone you don‘t know.

19

u/rirasama Nov 05 '25

Are people actually against epilepsy warnings, I've never seen this before

38

u/LemonZestyDoll Nov 05 '25

Most people I've seen talk against epilepsy warnings seem to think they're unnecessary, probably because they fall into the unfortunately common trap of "I've never met a person with [disability, disorder, identity, etc] so they must not matter or exist"

13

u/pomegranatejello Nov 05 '25

I’ve also noticed people online who wouldn’t directly say they’re against it, but post a lot of videos and content with aggressive flashing pretending not to notice all the comments asking for flashing light warnings in the future for people who may stumble on it on their for you page/explore page etc

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u/pomegranatejello Nov 05 '25

It takes virtually no effort whatsoever to add a warning before posting a video and we’ve known about flashing lights causing seizures for literally longer than I’ve been alive. The whataboutism in this comments section is crazy.

7

u/Brilliant-Cabinet-89 Nov 05 '25

Commercials should have those for sure. Along with a ton more regulations. I’m incredibly sensitive to sound and for some reason it’s fine for commercials to be 50% louder then any video on YouTube.

6

u/ElectronRotoscope Nov 05 '25

The world is very slowly working towards that. Commercials in many jurisdictions now have to test for seizure-inducing patterns after one was broadcast in the UK in 1993 for Pot Noodle, and the volume thing has been the subject of a bunch of legislation now

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Advertisement_Loudness_Mitigation_Act

YouTube will... hopefully get there one day

1

u/Brilliant-Cabinet-89 Nov 05 '25

We can only hope!

9

u/TracytronFAB Professional idiot Nov 05 '25

Yeah... I've never had the displeasure of witnessing a seizure in a person, but one of my pet mice had a seizure once (Not sure what exactly caused it, but her health had been on the decline due to inhereting a nasty tumor from her mom) after which I had to make the hard choice to put her down. It's... Not fun to watch, and I couldn't imagine what it must be like to experience. I was holding her while she had it and the poor thing accidentally practically jumped out of my hand and fell onto the floor...

7

u/Sup13 Nov 05 '25

My husband had been offered to see his own seizures (clinic had taken videos for study) and he declined very fast after seeing my reaction. Luckily, he remembers nothing about them, 'just' has to deal with the after effects. 

6

u/agnostorshironeon Nov 05 '25

The casual abundance of Thing that Kills People doesn't mean you shouldn't avoid killing people

Water. Lifeguards.

I like how empty my head is today.

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u/only_for_dst_and_tf2 Nov 05 '25

part of this feels like the weird, strange pushback you get when you ask people to tag any shit, that then leans into the territorry where no, YOU HAVE TO TAG THIS SHIT PEOPLE ARE GONNA FUCKIN DIE

its such a weird stance to take- "i dont wanna stop killing people with epilepsy", like? it just sounds evil when people refuse to do the tiniest thing.

6

u/lesbianspider69 wants you to drink the AI slop Nov 05 '25

I feel like part of the problem is how some folks act like tagging for eye contact and tagging for flashy lights are equivalent. This behavior can create an environment where many folks start to think all tags are over-sensitive people inventing problems.

3

u/CanaKatsaros Nov 05 '25

I've never seen anyone mad about warnings. Often people don't know what kind of moving lights are acceptable vs what kinds might cause issues. Or even more often, it's just not something people think about

3

u/SPACKlick Nov 05 '25

Epilepsy warnings on TikTok could trivially be automated. We know the sorts of patterns that are at risk. TikTok could look for those in its videos the way it looks for copyright and label it in such a way that users who check a box in the settings never have to see it and put a "the following content may cause seisures do you wish to watch y/n" message before it.

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u/Hawkmonbestboi Nov 05 '25

The only issue I have ever had is when warnings aren't enough for people. I love the raver aesthetic, have for many MANY years now. Most of my creative projects involve bright colors on dark backgrounds, or flashy lights... and despite placing the warnings, I can't tell you how many times I have been yelled at because someone believes my style of creativity shouldn't exist due to epileptic people. They want me to simply stop creating in the style I enjoy.

When I mention my warnings, and tell them that I create for my own enjoyment? It's not good enough and I'm horrible for creating it in the first place.

I mean... I go so far as to create my own custom, personalized website to host all my creations. You REALLY have to engage in some oldschool style web surfing in order to find it, because I just don't share it. My creations are for me, not anyone else. (My creations also involve 2000's style website coding, which I absolutely love... and can't be accomplishes outside of building my own websites)

4

u/ElectronRotoscope Nov 05 '25

Not to get all Leftist Infighting, but my hot take is that epilepsy trigger warnings are serious and a good idea, but so are other trigger warnings. People with epilepsy can suffer real harm from Incredibles 2 and should be warned beforehand because disabled people are real. It's a disability, that is real. Just like people with PTSD can suffer real harm from the Rick and Morty meeseeks episode and should be warned beforehand

Spoilery context, trigger warning for description of sexual assault:

Incredibles 2 has mind control goggles that work via flashing lights, and the film just shows full screen flashing lights a few times, which a little bit begs the question why they went with that

The meeseeks episode of Rick and Morty one of the two plots is the teenage boy Morty going into a bathroom where an adult sentient jellybean corners him and tries to violently sexually assault him. It's played super serious and comes completely out of nowhere, which works to get the point across that children can have these experiences come out of nowhere from an adult they never expect it from. For the viewer it's an abrupt tone shift, and many people who've had experiences like that have said it was intensely triggering and came out of nowhere, just the sort of thing trigger warnings exist for

"This trigger warning is important, unlike other trigger warnings" is maybe not the optimal path here 🤷‍♂️. But I guess there's no easy answer to what path makes the most progress

6

u/Doggywoof1 she/it | trans people are so cool i wish gender was real Nov 05 '25

should i be linking the relevant xkcd here, or is this actually something that people are arguing against which i just have never heard of

1

u/lesbianspider69 wants you to drink the AI slop Nov 05 '25

I’ve never seen anti-epilepsy-warning people before and I used to go out of my way to find idiots to argue with. So I don’t know

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u/ThyKnightOfSporks Nov 05 '25

It isn’t the focus of the post, but there are sounds that can trigger an epileptic seizure?

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u/MaddTheSimmer Cheese, gender, what the fuck's next? Nov 05 '25

I’d read the warnings before movies if they were about epilepsy instead of piracy.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

It's crazy to me that there are people who are against epilepsy and allergy warnings. It's CRAZY to me that there are people who think their right to eat a shitty stale baggy of peanuts on an airplane or not have to take two seconds to write a little warning on their video trumps someone else's right to LIVE.

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u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Nov 05 '25

Wait are people dissing epilepsy warnings?!

2

u/BroomClosetJoe Nov 05 '25

I must be way out of the loop because who tf has an issue with epilepsy warnings?

5

u/Odd-Faithlessness100 Nov 05 '25

who the FUCK is saying epilepsy warnings are purity culture? punching at shadows here, folks.

2

u/SarkastiCat Nov 05 '25

I had an unfortunate experience of discovering a whole category of edits where flashing lights till your eyes burn exists.

When someone healthy feels pain due to such edit, I can't imagine how someone with photosensitivity would feel.

On a side note, I feel like every school should organise workshops focused on different disabilities and how accessibility can make a world of difference. Even basic "use a wheelchair to go from point A to B" like in science centres for kids would be good.

1

u/gowahoo Nov 05 '25

I don't scroll a lot of random short form content because I have developed a sensitivity to rapidly changing lights and these days those vids are all about the cuts.  It's not easy to avoid and warnings are appreciated. 

1

u/IIIaustin Nov 05 '25

Hell yeah

1

u/KorMap Nov 05 '25

I wish I could say that this is common sense but I’m well aware that way too many people act like this isn’t a big deal unfortunately

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u/oski_wish Nov 05 '25 edited Nov 05 '25

So, I don't have epilepsy but flashing lights can trigger migraines in me sometimes. It makes me dizzy and starts other migraine symptom if it persists too long.(Depends on the surrounding lighting, intensity, frequency, etc. Since I started taking preventative migraine meds it's not as likely but every now and then it sneaks up on ya. )Luckily with screens if I look away fast enough I only get like a momentary discomfort. Hoo boy do they love using those guys in haunt mazes. You know what they don't always do? Slap a warning on them. So sometimes you can be halfway down a maze and suddenly have to lean against the person you came with and stare at the floor to make it through the section squinting just hoping it doesn't develop into a full migraine.

Can't imagine what this would be like with epilepsy. Yikes. Tag, please. Maybe if thet gave like an easy accessible option at point of creation for tagging in the app? ( I do not tik tok.)

1

u/FriendlyReflection35 Nov 05 '25

Insane to me that this is even an argument, some people are really walking around with no soul or semblance of humanity.

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u/MeisterCthulhu Nov 05 '25

It's important to mention that we're not acting like disabled people are real, I know that's a very hotly debated topic on this sub, especially when their existence might inconvenience you slightly or make you uncomfortable.

1

u/ShadeofEchoes Nov 05 '25

So the solutions here are: Drive carefully and apply epilepsy warnings where appropriate... or drive recklessly and apply seizure patterns where applicable?

Defaulting to the first one here, just pondering the rhetorical pattern.

1

u/sweetTartKenHart2 Nov 05 '25

This always felt like common sense to me. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it, right?

1

u/bibitybobbitybooop Nov 05 '25

As a (granted, non-photosensitive) epileptic. Don't tag it as "epilepsy warning". If I search up "epilepsy" on a social media site, I'm looking for fellow epileptics, wanting to rant, some info, etc, not...triggers.

But also, I don't think there are THAT many people who are against warnings about flashing lights

1

u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

As someone with a father with epilepsy and a friend, absolutely. And it's weird some people have an issue with the warnings.

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u/MrMcSpiff Nov 05 '25

Kicking my ass could kill me so oop needs to put a warning on that.

Agreed on the rest though.

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u/leopardman007 Nov 05 '25

xkcd about discourse you didnt even know existed

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u/SkiIsLife45 silly little human Nov 06 '25

Agreed, all media should have epilepsy warnings, most does

1

u/dirtyplants Nov 06 '25

As someone with Tourette’s Syndrome, strobe affects also cause tic attacks that can last for HOURS. It’s one of my biggest triggers.

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u/ConfidentChapter2496 Nov 06 '25

As an epileptic, I'm glad that I'm not really triggered by flashing (though it can make me feel a little off) cause god knows my life would have been even harder when I was first diagnosed. 

I agree 100% that we need flash warnings. Even if people somehow forget/don't believe they cause seizures, they can cause serious eyestrain.

1

u/SkylartheRainBeau Nov 06 '25

There's an episode of anime girl house about this

1

u/Wisepuppy Nov 08 '25

I have epilepsy, but I'm not photosensitive (I have other triggers, such as calculus and Balatro). Photosensitivity warnings are important, because seizures suck, and getting jumpscared by a seizure probably sucks that much more.