Here we go again, this time it's Tumblr
We can all sleep safer in our beds at night, on December the 17th Tumblr will join a long list of sites that got rich and popular through adult content but then turned their back on it. Yes, Tumblr is the latest site to join the Pornopocalypse by banning adult content.
But it will protect the children I hear some people cry. No, no it won't, this drives things further underground. Worse excellent content from marginalised groups will be censored, and this could actually cause harm to people looking for answers. This latest capitulation is just another in a long line of sites doing the easy thing instead of tackling problems on their systems. Punish everyone for the crimes of a few that seems to be the answer. Tumblr was recently removed from Apple's app store because of a child pornography case. I applaud shutting down that sort of thing, but big blanket bans help no-one.
Sex workers who are finding it harder and harder to earn a living safely are struggling to find ways of advertising their services, and they are being put in danger through the guise of saving them. Why not try actually listening to them but no-one does.
I am taking steps of my own to disassociate myself with Tumblr now. I am closing my accounts on there even though I don't post XXX content there, why should I let myself be another medium through which they can make money through ad sales. I also have a couple of vanilla blogs on there that I will also be removing, and I hope that others follow suit. Yes I am only one person, but I refuse to support companies that persecute others, and so I want nothing to do with them from this point forward.
Fuck You Tumblr!
Yes, I am upset as a few of my friends will now have to struggle even harder to make ends meet because fat cats shy away from their responsibilities to their users. Rant Over.
How can you help sex workers? Support them, follow them, re-post their posts and appreciate them for who they are, real people struggling to enjoy the job that they chose and love.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this latest pornocalypse, is Twitter next? Let me know your thoughts by using the comments form below.
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I'm also upset about the Tumblr crack down. It is really unfortunate that money has to be the driving factor behind everything in our world. No Apple store means, at least in the theoretical world of dollar signs, half as much revenue. The reality is that by kicking out like 85% of their user base, this will very likely be the latest in the long series of companies that Verizon (who owns Oath, who owns Yahoo, who owns Tumblr) has run into the ground. Tumblr has been my favorite place to peruse niche kink porn for years, alas no more.
I also agree that sex workers are being hurt by all of these porn crack downs. It's only the oldest profession in history, but society still looks down upon them for some reason. I continue to hold the belief that old white men shouldn't get to decide what women can and can't do with their own bodies. Pro choice, pro legalization of prostitution, and pro making a panel of women to make decisions about women's rights (if there has to be some regulations on it at all...).