Tumblr made the shocking announcement today that it is kicking all forms of pornography off its platform and Apple’s strict rules could be to blame.
Starting on December 17, Tumblr will no longer allow porn on its site. Tumblr says the change has come after several months of serious thought on who it wants to be, but its recent ban from the App Store is probably the biggest reason why.
Apple removed Tumblr’s app from the App Store on November 16 because of child pornography on the site. Tumblr’s community guidelines have never allowed child pornography. Instead of stepping up its game on content monitoring though, it appears that the company has decided to press the nuke button on all porn.
Tumblr’s Porn Ban
“Today, we’re taking another step by no longer allowing adult content, including explicit sexual content and nudity (with some exceptions),” the platform posted on its blog. “We recognize Tumblr is also a place to speak freely about topics like art, sex positivity, your relationships, your sexuality, and your personal journey. We want to make sure that we continue to foster this type of diversity of expression in the community, so our new policy strives to strike a balance.”
Tumblr has been a popular destination for NSFW content for years because it offers a way to anonymously curate porn based on a user’s tastes. This gives Tumblr fans a different experience than on algorithm-based porn sites. Supporting that community though has put Tumblr in Apple’s crosshairs as it tries to maintain the iPhone’s squeaky-clean reputation.
Community members with porn will get a notification from Tumblr in advance so you can either appeal or preserve content onto a different platform. Most of the changes won’t happen overnight on December 17 and will likely take time to implement.
The changes are a big win for Apple’s disdain for porn, however, it adds weight to renewed accusations that the iOS App Store is a monopoly. Tumblr’s spokesperson has said the move isn’t related to the iOS app ban, but it certainly seems to have helped push the company to this move.
Twitter is already ripe with tons of tweets slamming the new policy. Tumblr’s algorithms for explicit content appear to have some serious problems so far and a lot of non-pornographic content is getting caught in the crossfire.
A fully clothed woman. Flagged by tumblr as explicit. pic.twitter.com/MvwaZbyEuT
— Ray-Norr (@raynorrofficial) December 3, 2018
