LOS ANGELES—Tumblr made a big announcement today—as of December 17th they are banning adult content on their site. Looks like another social media site gives in to anti-porn pressure. This always causes a level of panic because people start asking “what about the other social networks?” So far, we have not heard about any other social network taking new direct action against adult users. The typical restrictions continue to apply, with Facebook and Instagram continuing to be the strictest.
This change in policy comes on the heels of the Apple Store removing the Tumblr app because their filters didn’t catch the child porn on their site. Tumblr has always had a zero-tolerance policy regarding child exploitation and abuse. They scan all content loaded to their site for possible abuse issues and cross reference it with a database of known child sex abuse material. However, it appears their filter was not catching everything.
The new guidelines ban “photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content—including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations—that depicts sex acts.”
The following will remain permitted, “exposed female-presenting nipples in connection with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth moments, and health-related situations, such as post-mastectomy or gender confirmation surgery. Written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art, such as sculptures and illustrations, are also stuff that can be freely posted on Tumblr.”
We always joke that on Instagram you can’t post a photo of a cat and then text that says, “I love it when you tease my pussy.” Well, according to the new community guidelines on Tumblr, it looks like you can. Even with the upcoming ban, they are still not as strict as Instagram and Facebook.
Tumblr will be using their API to identify adult content posts. Considering it was their filter API that got them into trouble in the first place, it will be interesting to see how successful they are at pulling content. Since it will be removing posts that have already been posted they are likely broadening their filter and searching through hashtags, comments, photo recognition tools, user behaviors (aka. Reposts, engagement) to determine what is adult content. If your content gets unduly flagged you can appeal the flag. This blog post will tell you how to see and appeal your flagged posts.
Tumblr said they are taking the time to email users who have adult content on their page to let them know that this is happening.
If you are concerned about your content you can download all of it off Tumblr so you don’t lose anything you posted. Read this blog to learn how to download your content.
In a post by the Tumblr CEO, he recognizes that this will not be an overnight process and that it will take time to go through all the content on Tumblr and remove it. But it does start on December 17th, so you have twp weeks to safeguard your content.
Though a lot of people left Tumblr a while ago, there are still many people in adult that find success through Tumblr that will be left scrambling for an alternative. We recommend Twitter and Reddit as the two best places for adult content on social media.
If you are interested in learning about Twitter or Reddit, or how 7 Veils Media can help you with your social media management, please email [email protected].
Lauren is the founder of 7 Veils Media, a social media solutions company that manages your social marketing to help you get the best ROI, as well as keep you up to date on the changes in social media.
