Tumblr has announced an upcoming ban on adult porn content, and their users aren’t happy about it.
The changes to the social media and blogging site are an attempt to eradicate porn-related communities on the platform, after Tumblr app was pulled from the Apple iOs app store for child pornography last month. While these changes are a response to crackdowns on child pornography, the reality is, a significant portion of Tumblr members used the platform to engage with adult content (at least 22% of Tumblr users followed and reblogged accounts that posted pornographic content as of 2016).
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The ban will include photos, GIFs, and videos of "real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content that depicts sex acts,” Tumblr wrote.
Tumblr clarified that depictions of so-called 'female-presenting' nipples related with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth, and health related situations, including mastectomy or gender confirmation surgeries, are permitted, along with nudity in art, whether sculpture or illustration. Still, artists who are members of the Tumblr community have voiced concerns with purging and content removal.
Tumblr has already started sending notices to members of their community to let them know if their content has been flagged as adult. Starting December 17, if a post is flagged by the algorithm, it will be automatically revert to a private setting so that the content is only viewable by the user. For users who feel their content has been flagged inappropriately, they will be able to appeal decisions through the site or app.
While posts will be flagged algorithmically moving forward, entire blogs have the potential to be flagged as "explicit." Tumblr said that these blogs will be overlaid with a content filter and users under the age of 18 will not be allowed to click through to see the hidden content. Further, content from these blogs will not appear in search results.
Tumblr users were quick to voice their disapproval, with many claiming that this type of adult content was a huge part of their reason for using the site in 2018: “Tumblr is going to be irrelevant starting December 17,” one Twitter user wrote. “It’s the only reason why people still use it so good luck to them,” another user tweeted. Given this how many Tumblr users use the site to access adult content, it remains to be seen how this decision affects Tumblr’s bottom line, and the viability of the platform moving forward.