- From: Tantek Ç. <tantek@mozilla.com>
- Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2025 22:21:45 -0700
- To: w3c-ac-forum <w3c-ac-forum@w3.org>
- Cc: www-archive@w3.org
- Message-ID: <CAEV2_WYQFNpNpnTi76NgN6wy95QgpNTREnu6_Z35=criQU8_Zg@mail.gmail.com>
Dear AC:
Summary: The new W3C logo has generated non-trivial public negative
feedback and reactions that are both concerning and may merit action. This
email summarizes the patterns I have seen so far. If you are also a
concerned Member who has, or has heard, negative feedback, please feel free
to email me directly.
The intent of this thread is to document negative public reactions. Please
only reply if you have more negative public reactions to add, with new
public citations (URLs). If you want to make a different sort of comment
please start a new email thread (with new subject) accordingly.
Negative public reactions to the new W3C logo fall into the following
categories (in order of instances found so far):
1.
(17) genitalia
2.
(7) excrement
3.
(6) unclear, unreadable, illegible, confusing, or distracting
4.
(3) body parts (other than genitalia, or in general)
5.
(2) coat hanger
6.
(2) obscenity, perversion, or vulgarity
I believe these public concerns are of broader public W3C community
interest so I have cc’d www-archive for the record.
Sources of negative feedback:
-
Replies to the W3C.social post:
https://w3c.social/@w3c/115299385112878605
-
#W3C hashtag: https://mastodon.social/tags/w3c
-
Reddit posts:
https://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/1o6kl2k/w3c_logo_refresh/
https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1o6kled/w3c_logo_refresh/
-
Hackernews post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45578265
-
Other posts folks shared with me and their replies.
For reference, many of us brought up concerns like these and others in
feedback in meetings this past March:
-
https://www.w3.org/2025/03/13-2025logo-minutes.html
-
https://www.w3.org/2025/03/18-ac-minutes.html
What I am not looking for:
-
Tone-policing. If the discussion of this issue offends you, please do
not reply.
-
Rationalizations. If you feel like defending the new W3C logo, this is
the wrong thread for that. This thread is for gathering public critical
citations.
What I am looking for:
-
If you are an AC Representative (or Alternate) and have similar
concerns, or have received similar feedback from your organization
internally, please get in touch with me.
-
Public citations (URLs) of additional negative public reactions.
Thanks,
Tantek Çelik
Mozilla AC Representative
=====
Citations of specific public reactions:
=====
CONTENT WARNING:
The following may include (partial) text quotes which may have language or
links to images that some may consider offensive.
If you are offended by such words or images, please skip the rest of this
email and do not click on the links provided.
Dates/times are PDT. The letters in parentheses indicate the first letter
of the post’s category/categories, e.g. (b) for “body parts”.
2025-09-26:
-
04:38 (g): https://mastodon.social/@mariejulien/115269925623809543
(paraphrased translation: “does not pass my famously rigorous ‘cock or
swastika’ test)
-
04:39 (b): https://oisaur.com/@kgaut/115269930983516661 (translated: “it
even has a pair of buttocks”)
-
05:21 (g): https://framapiaf.org/@monviolon/115270097219045974 (cropped
subset of logo)
2025-10-01:
-
08:00 (c): https://mastodon.ie/@rotan/115299504262096954
-
08:01 (g): https://mastodon.social/@mariejulien/115299494586267687
-
08:21 (g): https://mastodon.social/@mariejulien/115299585913099113
-
08:24 (g): https://indieweb.social/@jgarber/115299600896573084
-
08:52 (g): https://circumstances.run/@davidgerard/115299709910319727
-
08:59 (g): https://a11y.social/@mikemccaffrey/115302095326319054
-
09:10 (e): https://mastodon.social/@nicofrand/115299779347599598
-
10:28 (e): https://mastodon.social/@davecykl/115300086586476170
-
17:55 (u): https://mamot.fr/@bohwaz/115301843996549479
-
18:59 (g): https://a11y.social/@mikemccaffrey/115302095326319054
-
19:46 (g): https://c.im/@cwilcox808/115302279843647978
2025-10-02:
-
04:50 (u): https://maly.io/@danielmunoz/115304420857752511
-
04:52 (o): https://circumstances.run/@hipsterelectron/115304428218503093
-
07:40 (g): https://social.unextro.net/@ondra/115305075794112412
-
07:42 (g): https://mastodon.social/@tojiro/115305098273087104
-
08:02 (e): https://eliitin-some.fi/@henrik/115305175046397749
-
10:42 (g): https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@aras/115305805942851640
-
20:04 (b): https://front-end.social/@leaverou/115308015280324416
-
(o) https://nyan.lol/@zicklepop/115305222213744940 (deleted)
-
“@w3c@w3c.social perverts”
2025-10-14
-
03:09 (u):
https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1o6kled/comment/njivht3/
-
03:52 (e): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45578474
-
03:56 (g): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45578501
-
09:46 (u):
https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1o6kled/comment/njh3hpu/
-
11:25 (c):
https://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/1o6kl2k/comment/njhnqtk/
-
13:18 (e):
https://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/1o6kl2k/comment/njia9iz/
-
16:31 (eg):
https://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/comments/1o6kl2k/comment/njj9ad3/
2025-10-15
-
00:14 (e):
https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1o6kled/comment/njl0n9t/
2025-10-16
-
01:07 (b):
https://www.reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/1o6kled/comment/njur9s1/
2025-10-17
-
(u):
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7384866217804873729/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7384866217804873729%2C7384901225135390720%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287384901225135390720%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7384866217804873729%29
2025-10-20
-
11:18 (g): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45647233
-
13:14 (u): https://indieweb.social/@zerojames/115408325645554816
-
13:15 (g): https://mastodon.social/@vanderwal/115408326479382068
-
13:18 (g): https://indieweb.social/@johanna/115408340828293280
=====
Received on Tuesday, 21 October 2025 10:00:04 UTC