I’m A Spark That Won’t Go Out

A few weeks ago, a small but higher-than-normal number of accounts were mistakenly suspended. The suspensions were quickly reversed, but our response wasn't good enough, and we want to say more.

We're sorry it took us this long to address this. Trust and safety issues are difficult to discuss publicly, and we can’t share details about specific individuals or how our systems work without exposing Tumblr to bad actors. But caution led us to say too little, too late.

We’ve heard from members of the trans community on Tumblr that they were disproportionately impacted, and that deserves a direct response. According to 3rd party researchers, Tumblr’s userbase has the highest proportion of LGBTQIA+ folks on social media, so it makes sense that when something goes wrong, those communities might feel that disproportionate impact.

One thing we want to emphasize is that we do not moderate people's identities. We moderate behavior. We know that identity shows up across a Tumblr profile in many ways, from followed topics to the flags people put in their bios, and more. However, these signals play no role in how our moderation systems make decisions. We monitor those systems for evidence of bias and take corrective action when we find it.

We understand that the communications sent to affected users, and our broader silence to the community, didn't meet the standard people expect from us. That feedback is fair, and we apologize. We've updated the messaging sent to people impacted by these incidents. We are also overhauling our process with a goal of responding to mistaken suspension appeals within 24 hours, and have instituted an ongoing internal review of how suspensions and appeals are handled.

Going forward, we're committed to finding a better balance: being more transparent with our community about issues that matter, even when we can't share everything.

Tumblr belongs to everyone. We take that seriously, and we intend to earn back your trust. We are not afraid to have tough discussions with you or make updates based on your feedback, though on occasion, it might take some time.

To the people whose accounts were affected, and to the members of our trans community who felt targeted: we are truly sorry.

a small but higher-than-normal number of accounts were mistakenly suspended

Two hundred within five minutes.

The suspensions were quickly reversed

Some suspensions were reversed.

We’ve heard from members of the trans community on Tumblr that they were disproportionately impacted

Correction. All members harmed but one were trans women, specifically, not just "members of the trans community".

We moderate behavior.

All members terminated were terminated after following one specific blog, created a few hours before. The "behavior" you moderated was following a trans woman's new blog.

However, these signals play no role in how our moderation systems make decisions.

Then explain why trans women are disproportionately banned on false grounds. What happens if someone gets mass reported by transphobic userrs? Why have you chosen to restore the account of a kiwifarmer, known hate group, and ban yet more trans women? Explain your decisions.

We are also overhauling our process with a goal of responding to mistaken suspension appeals within 24 hours, and have instituted an ongoing internal review of how suspensions and appeals are handled.

Going forward, we're committed to finding a better balance: being more transparent with our community about issues that matter, even when we can't share everything.

Since this event, trans women have been terminated at greatly accelerated rates, on more and more openly false grounds. Their appeals have been denied often without any human oversight, recieving a denial within seconds, or not recieving any answer.

To the people whose accounts were affected, and to the members of our trans community who felt targeted: we are truly sorry.