Tumblr to ban adult content from December 17: Details here
Popular microblogging website Tumblr is finally making a move against adult content. The site has updated its community guidelines, noting that all pornographic content shared on the platform will be banned starting December 17. The action comes after Tumblr's removal from Apple's App Store over child pornography and is applicable to all users of the service, regardless of their age. Here are the details.
Tumblr's stance against adult content, nudity
Starting December 17, Tumblr will delete all realistic photos, videos, and GIFs depicting nudity, human genitals, or sexual acts. However, it would allow birth/breastfeeding-related content, "written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art". The site has already started flagging existing sexual content, with the goal of removing as much of it as possible.
Tumblr is notifying users about explicit content
In the days leading up to December 17, Tumblr will change the viewing settings of flagged posts to private, so that nobody but the poster could see it. Plus, the company will email the poster, guiding them to review the content in question and preserve it outside Tumblr or appeal against the ban, if they think it was wrongly flagged.
What happens after December 17
After December 17, when the new policy comes into effect, Tumblr's algorithms will automatically flag and delete explicit photos, videos, and GIFs, just like how it works on Facebook.
However, Tumblr won't remove accounts
Tumblr has launched a crackdown against explicit content, but it is not removing the accounts posting that content. According to The Verge, the site wanted to give these users a chance to post appropriate content instead of taking their power to share. Notably, concerns still remain over content-filtering as many users have reported that the site had even flagged their inoffensive posts.
Still, the move will change how Tumblr is used
Since its inception in 2007, Tumblr has had a tolerant attitude toward explicit content, but the latest move will change how the site is used. "We've realized that in order to continue to fulfill our promise and place in culture, especially as it evolves, we must change," CEO Jeff D'Onofrio said in a blog post, noting they have given serious thought to this matter.
