Within the last two weeks of 2018, the social media platform rooted in “creative expression, self-discovery, and a deep sense of community” will eradicate subcommunities. No folks, not the white supremacist blogs that are still alive and well (despite policy changes). The microblogging site, Tumblr, is banning porn.
Beginning on Dec. 17, Tumblr will prohibit all adult content. The company defines adult content as photos, videos and GIFs showing “real-life human genitals,” “female-presenting nipples” and any content depicting sex acts. The move comes a few weeks after the Tumblr app was yanked from the App Store after images of child pornography were found on the site.
Aggressively prohibiting child porn is a no-brainer, but thousands of sites are able to effectively moderate adult content. Though it’s unclear if the content-annihilation stems from pressure from Apple, the company is infamous for sanitizing content. As Steve Jobs said in 2010, “Folks who want porn can buy an Android phone.”
I imagine the site will take a hard hit after the rules are in full effect. About 20 percent of clicks are driven by “adult content,” according to a 2016 TechCrunch analysis.
Should users have to scroll through explicit images? Absolutely not, which is why the site had incorporated a few key features into the platform prior to the most recent announcement. To use Tumblr, a user must be 13-years-old or over. Additionally, all users under the age of 18 have “safe mode” enabled, which filters sexually explicit material. Users over 18 also have the option to censor material for themselves.
Other social media platforms follow the idea of autonomy on the internet. A few months ago, the gaming platform Steam implemented measures allowing users to avoid certain content. Twitter’s policy permits some adult content too, as long as it’s marked as sensitive.
Since 2007, Tumblr has been a refuge for exploration. Sex-focused subcultures within both the heterosexual and the LGBTQ communities have lived in harmony with the rest of Tumblr. Users are able to curate their experiences through the use of tags, which allows them to search for content they want to see and avoid content they don’t.
Bottom line: GIFs of hardcore bondage, domination, sadism and masochism (BDSM) didn’t have to appear on your dashboard. But they could if you wanted them to; because there was the option.
I created a Tumblr for personal use when I was 16. Though I mainly reblogged photos exuding teen angst, I loved the platform because it was a place for me to explore my curiosities in private. When I came of age, it allowed me to explore them further. Nowadays, I don’t use Tumblr too much. But when I do, I’m reblogging art.
Some of the blogs I follow are not suited for work (NSFW) artists, like Ismael Guerrier. He draws and paints both provocative and sexually explicit scenes. Guerrier encouraged bloggers to follow him on Instagram if they want to keep enjoying his art.
Outlets for work like Guerrier’s are already slim and Tumblr is one of the last inclusive places on the internet. The new rules are going to undoubtedly restrict and choke these NSFW artists out out.
About 150,000 people signed one NSFW artist’s Change.org petition to stop the adult content ban.
“Without Tumblr, many adult artists will have no way to share their work efficiently and safely, nor will they have a way to support the works of other adult artists,” the artist wrote on the petition.
I respect the content creators fueling that portion of the site and mourn the loss of their following.
For anyone interested in NSFW art, I guess you have to go searching through the depths of the internet now. If you don’t want to do that, don’t worry, you can still reblog written erotica and some nude art like Michelangelo’s 500-year-old sculpture “David.”
Communities shouldn’t be erased, and Tumblr users should be allowed to engage in adult content if they would like. But who knows … maybe — like the hate speech on the platform — porn will prevail.
