Tumblr: What’s the Space Like Two Days Post-Porn?

Tumblr’s “porn ban” went into effect on Monday of this week – December 17. Two days into their new community guidelines, what are things like over there?

Well, first Tumblr issued an apology for their… er… bumpy, clunky announcement and implementation. They wrote:

First and foremost, we are sorry that this has not been an easy transition and we know we can do a better job of explaining what we’re doing. We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy task and we appreciate your patience as we work through the challenges and limitations of correctly flagging tens of billions of GIFs, videos, and photos.

They also added that they will be “hiding – not deleting – posts that contain GIFs, videos, and photos from public view that are in violation of [their] policy.” So, essentially, a version of shadowbanning?

Then, they gave a breakdown of a few key points they wanted to clarify. Allegedly:

1. “Tumblr will always be a place to explore your identity.”

“Tumblr has always been home to marginalized communities and always will be. We fully recognize Tumblr’s special obligation to these communities and are committed to ensuring that our new policy on adult content does not silence the vital conversations that take place here every day.”

Sure, just as long as those conversations aren’t about sex.

2. “Your content will not be deleted.”

“If your post(s) are flagged under the new policy, they will be hidden from public view and will only be visible to you… Your blog won’t be deleted if you’ve posted adult content in the past, and there is nothing you need to do if you have interacted with adult content up until now – it will just be flagged and not publicly viewable. Don’t forget too that you can download your content. It’s yours after all, and we don’t take that lightly.”

So, all it takes is an arbitrary flag to disappear content? Because, after all, who decides what’s sexy and erotic and what isn’t? In response to that, there was a third point…

3. “What is still permitted?”

“Written content such as erotica [So, Tumblr didn’t go full Instagram here – good to know.], nudity related to political or newsworthy speech [Who decides what’s “newsworthy,” etc?], and nudity found in art, specifically sculptures and illustrations [So, ancient art depicting fucking is okay? Also, good to know…], is also stuff that can be freely posted on Tumblr.”

They went on to re-emphasize that “photorealistic imagery or photography – images, videos, or GIFs – with real humans that include exposed genitals or female-presenting (yeah, we know you hate this term) nipples or depict sex acts is not allowed per our guidelines.”

As a significant aside, isn’t it just ridiculous how preoccupied we are with certain forms of breasts on certain forms of humans in certain stages of their life courses? Because that’s what this whole nipple thing is really about…

Finally:

4. The automated tools will improve.

“Having a post mistakenly flagged as adult totally sucks; we understand and agree that there have been too many wrongfully flagged posts since we announced the policy change. With tens of billions of GIFs, videos, and photos to review and millions of new posts every day, we really need your help to get it right.”

Again, who decides?! I don’t think there’s anything pornographic about “female-presenting nipples,” though I admit I am not your “average” viewer – but who is? Literally, who is average in this conversation — because that person’s standards are presumably controlling Tumblr.

They ended the whole post with a heart — because Tumblr loves us <3

Love the reviews that @tumblr is getting. Maybe I can just read these and I won’t notice the time slipping by while #tumblrpurge is going on… pic.twitter.com/KVYtXz4MbK

— Mira-Rai (@BrewickLive) December 17, 2018

PC Mag wrote about the “new” Tumblr, too. They said that users most infuriated by the porn ban include “erotic artists, free speech advocates and members of the LGBTQ community” who say Tumblr is effectively banning certain sexual content from the mainstream internet. Tumblr disagrees (obvs). I find it funny that PC Mag is blissfully unaware of another group who is also probably super pissed about the ban: content pirates.

Though I one hundred percent agree with the fury over banning erotic expression, so much of it related to sex and gender expression that is not “mainstream,” Tumblr was also a huge hole-suck-pit of exploitation. Content piracy exploits the labor of those that create it, many of who are sex workers and/or hire sex workers. “Curation” spaces on Tumblr also contributed to that exploitation.

You see, even if your heart is in the right place (what?) and you’re trying to make a wonderful inclusive place for sexual expression on Tumblr, if you are doing that via content that doesn’t belong to you — and this includes ad and affiliate monetization, as well as cultivating “social cache” — you are also exploiting sex workers. And Tumblr did not give a shit about that.

So though Tumblrs’s TOS changes here are frustrating on one hand, it’s also important to remember that the site wasn’t exactly beneficial to sex workers either. That mixed-bag quality is very important to remember.

A new Tumblr-like space will emerge. And guess what: If that new space is not explicitly adult-friendly, this will likely happen again. In the meantime, if you want to export your content from Tumblr, go here to learn how.

Suffice it to say I’m not planning on returning to #Tumblr.. pic.twitter.com/fAZqMvFPXl

— Z e e Z e e~♥ ►►► (@TehZee) December 18, 2018

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Erika is a sex positive people watcher (and writer). Email her at erika@ynotcam.com.