I actually quite like AWS and its offerings. I’m making this post because I’m genuinely curious how to interpret the AWS Acceptable Use Policy. The static content for this blog is hosted within an AWS S3 bucket. Does saying “Fuck You AWS” constitute offensive content?

The section titled ‘No Illegal, Harmful, or Offensive Use or Content’ says:

You may not use, or encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to use, the Services or AWS Site for any illegal, harmful, fraudulent, infringing or offensive use, or to transmit, store, display, distribute or otherwise make available content that is illegal, harmful, fraudulent, infringing or offensive. Prohibited activities or content include:

Offensive Content. Content that is defamatory, obscene, abusive, invasive of privacy, or otherwise objectionable, including content that constitutes child pornography, relates to bestiality, or depicts non-consensual sex acts.

“Otherwise objectionable” seems to cast a very wide net. One of my three goals for self hosting this blog was ownership. To me part of ownership is being able to express myself freely. I hoped that meant as long as I worked within the confines of the law I would be in the clear.

If this post gets removed then I know I have not fully achieved my ownership goal and it might be time to just host on a pi.


P.S. I posted this to hackernews. It made it to the front page and generated some discussion.