This week, Tumblr announced that it would be changing its content policy to allow nudity on the platform.
“We now encourage more expression, creativity, and art on Tumblr, including human content (yes, including nudity),” a Tumblr employee post announced. newspaper.
Content containing “adult, mature or sexual themes” will be sublicensed. However, having the platform allow pornography isn’t a total obstacle, as it notes that “visual depictions of sexually explicit acts are not yet available on Tumblr.”
Why is this decision so important to Tumblr?
In the early 2010s, Tumblr flourished as the leading online blogging platform. It’s pop culture gifs, explosions, and… pornography, all combined into one. Pornography is an important part of the experience for many Tumblr users, but in 2018 the site banned all pornography from the platform. New CEO Jeff D’Onofrio came in and removed all “images, videos or GIFs” or adult material, as well as “illustrations depicting sexual acts“.
It was a disastrous decision for Tumblr.
At its peak in 2013, Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo for 1.1 billion euros. Within a year of the porn ban, Tumblr lost 30% of its visitors and $3 million in revenue alone. From a billion to a million in six years. Porn is illegal? It certainly plays a role.
Backup safe room
At the time of the decision to ban adult content, the majority of Tumblr’s user base was the LGBTQ+ community. Just scrolling through Tumblr will reveal tons of GIFs, as well as images from TV shows and videos, including weird followers. It’s a hub where people can connect with communities they might not otherwise meet in person. It naturally attracts gay people from all over the world. For some in this curious community, Tumblr is the place to find pornography that matches their interests. But for a very vulnerable group, it is a place to openly share sexual experiences. Many transgender people have found a home on Tumblr where they can post stories, share information, and explore transition together. Under the new rules, multiple download accounts are considered open. Oliver Haimson, assistant professor of computer science at the University of Michigan, wrote in an article about Tumblr’s role in the transgender community: “The ban on Tumblr sends a clear message to the transgender community that they are no longer welcome.” posts.
The ban isn’t just for Tumblr. The platform finds itself connected.
A month before the ban went into effect, Tumblr was removed from Apple’s iOS store because the platform contained child pornography. Tumblr has cracked down on adult content, leading to the removal of what many consider acceptable. At the time, there was a lot of confusion in the media about the apparent content of the site. But records from that time show that only 0.1 percent of the site’s content is open. However, Apple did not give in to the ban. They are not allowed to return to the Apple Store until Tumblr bans pornography. However, the damaged and dead Tumblr was one of the stars. As people turned to Twitter and Instagram, the declining number of users became an issue, and the pornography ban was the final nail in the coffin. As CEO Matt Mullenweg explained, Tumblr doesn’t fully accept pornography.
“Even so, no modern web service in 2022 will have the same rules as Tumblr in 2007,”
Mullenweg said.
“I want to start a service or a company to change what people get from porn on Tumblr. Maybe it already exists, I don’t know. They’re against the current system.” But with Tumblr making a comeback and Elon Musk determined to back his latest acquisition, is a Tumblr revival imminent?
