In 2018, Tumblr banned all porn from its platform (Picture: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images)
Tumblr is bringing back nudity on its platform with a new ‘Community Labels’ feature.
Now, users can tag posts with labels indicating topics like drug and alcohol addiction, violence and sexual content. This would effectively allow people to filter out sensitive content that they might not want to see.
‘We now welcome a broader range of expression, creativity, and art on Tumblr, including content depicting the human form (yes, that includes the naked human form),’ said Tumblr in a statement.
In 2018, Tumblr banned all porn from its platform after child abuse images were found on the site.
The move faced backlash from many of Tumblr’s most active users who posted and consumed legal adult content. A month following the ban saw site’s views plummet by 100 million.
Porn is still banned on the platform (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The ban had some non-sexual exceptions, such as a woman’s nipple while breastfeeding and health-related situations.
However, Tumblr’s latest decision to allow nudity on the platform is in no way a reversal of the 2018 ban.
‘Visual depictions of sexually explicit acts’ aka porn still remains off-limits on Tumblr, according to a statement from the platform.
Still, users can now post content with nudity, mature subject matter, or sexual themes under the appropriate Community Label.
Matt Mullenweg, the CEO Tumblr’s parent company, Automattic, took to the platform to explain why Tumblr’s ‘Go nuts, show nuts’ policy from 2007 on porn was no longer feasible in 2022.
He listed out credit card companies, app store policies, government regulations and the complexities of verifying consent and age in the age of smartphones as some of the reasons.
‘I do hope that a dedicated service or company is started that will replace what people used to get from porn on Tumblr,’ said Mullenweg.
Community Labels might be a step towards more freedom of expression on Tumblr but a return of the platform’s porn era isn’t happening anytime soon.
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Tumblr will allow ‘the naked human form’.