Tumblr has made an announcement to change their Community Guidelines. Starting on December 17, they will no longer allow adult content on the site, outside of select situations. The internet is freaking out.
Tumblr announced the change in a post and elaborated it in a help article. Their terms of service have effectively banned pornography on the site.
The language specifically says:
"What is 'adult content?'
"Adult content primarily includes 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."
This is a strange move, as one of the features of the site was its status as the last remaining major social media company that allowed explicit content. Many people used the site specifically for that reason.
People are wondering why Tumblr has failed to block other harmful content.
Users also found the automated system to flag explicit content wholly inadequate.
Others questioned the use of the term "female-presenting nipples."
Still, the internet was made for jokes. Tumblr shot themselves in the foot and people needed to blow off steam.
Tumblr was acquired by Yahoo for $1.1 billion back in 2013. The users at the time worried about something like this happening, but then-CEO Marissa Mayer announced they wouldn't be banning explicit material. They did initially make it more difficult to find, however.
This change comes after the Tumblr app was banned from the iOS app store for its ineffectual attempts to prevent child pornography on its service.