Basically, because I know Mobile is bad with links, the article points out hat the broad,Ā āsfw only, no titties allowedā wave on the internet in recent years is largely due to Appleās absolute stranglehold on the App Store. Apple has strict guidelines about NSFW content that choke creators right out of mainstream social media, even on sites like Reddit, for users of their products:Ā
But there are fewer and fewer mainstream sites and services that support porn and adult content, and much of that attitude has grown out of Appleās strict controls over the App Store and the iOS ecosystem. Steve Jobs famously suggested that āfolks who want porn can buy an Android phone,ā and Apple has repeatedly leveraged its unprecedented power over millions of smartphones to sanitize the apps that are available on iPhones. Apple does not allow apps āthat contain user generated content that is frequently pornographic.ā In 2016, Apple famously deleted all third-party Reddit apps that allowed users to toggle NSFW posts on and off; even now, it is impossible to access porn on an iOS Reddit app unless you jump through various hoops.
remember though that this anger isnāt about Being Horny On Main, itās about sex workers, their platforms and followers, NSFW creators and their art, and adult content communities that are continually being shoved out of spaces they created in recent years:Ā
Tumblrās leadership seems to believe that the community using Tumblr for adult content is the same as any other porn siteāshowing a serious disconnect with how its users actually interact and connect on its own platform. āWe will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community,ā he wrote.
The value of Tumblr for NSFW creators and fans was in the autonomy to curate something original, and the freedom to express and share what theyāre intoāsomething that canāt be replaced by algorithmically-suggested porn on the rest of the internet.
it was mentioned before somewhere else, but 20% of Tumblrās traffic is brought in by content theyāre now flagging asĀ āadultāĀ
This is yet another example of a platform ignoring adult content when it helps the platform flourish, and then leaving those users out to dry when itās time to crack down for some monetary gain or face-saving. In addition to being a terrible way to treat your user base, banning adult content on Tumblr will stifle a lot of creativity.
and of course, Apple is also one of the companies that has repeatedly come under fire for censoring lgbtq/queer identities on their sites, the app store, and also caved to russiaās anti-lgbtq policies like a stick of rotten bamboo
The communities that will feel this change the most will be the already-marginalized. āTumblr banning adult content is a huge loss for the LGBTQ community, especially those with overlapping marginalized identities,ā Kitty Stryker, a queer porn performer and consent activist, told Motherboard in an email. āFor many, thatās the one place we could find porn that represents us, made by indie performers who created their own content outside of an often racist, transmisogynist, fatphobic industry. Tumblr was where our content could exist without pushing us into the restrictions of a misogynist, male dominated workplace.ā
