With the rise of deepfakes, virtual reality porn that can resurrect dead loved ones (could be some problems there!), and Starbucks coming along to remove pornographic content from their coffee shops, porn is having a bad year, y’all. But in what might be the biggest blow of all, Tumblr announced Monday that starting December 17, all “adult content” would be banned from the site.
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In its updated “adult content” section, the company warns that material including “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” will be banned. To them, it’s all porn.
It may come as a surprising turn for some, as Tumblr has emerged as the most explicit of mainstream social media platforms because of its lax guidelines on what can be posted. But those same guidelines have landed Tumblr in hot water as of lately, namely for its inability to ensure that all adult content was free of child pornography. When that issue came to light, the app was temporarily unavailable in the App Store. Now, in a post titled, “A better, more positive Tumblr,” CEO Jeff D’Onofrio writes, “Let’s first be unequivocal about something that should not be confused with today’s policy change: posting anything that is harmful to minors, including child pornography, is abhorrent and has no place in our community.”
What that boils down to is that Tumblr has been ignoring its horny base of users for so long that they can’t really track down what porn is good ol’ NSFW porn and what porn is legally and morally abhorrent. Tumblr has long been known for its sexual content, with users being able to essentially curate their own porn feeds from specific users who cater to even more specific interests. But beyond users who use Tumblr as a source of, well, inspiration, the news also affects sexually explicit artists who use the site as a portfolio. With the news of a content purge on the horizon, many took to social media to ask: so… what’s left?
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It’s unclear what will exist on Tumblr after the sexual content is gone. Maybe just a collection of “thank u, next” GIFs. But one thing is certain: your highly curated Tumblr porn feed will be devoid of content. So enjoy it while you can, because starting December 17, you’re just going to have to find your human genitals and female-presenting nipples somewhere else.