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Tumblr and Porn: How social networks handle content 18+

Last week, Tumblr announcedthat from December 17 will block any content with a rating of 18+. The ban turned out to be photographs, videos and gifs depicting sexual acts, "the genitals of real people or female nipples" - the only exception is for works of art, images of breastfeeding, childbirth, various operations (for example, mastectomy) and images related to the transgender transition.

The Tumblr management took a course for change at least in November, when the application was removed from the App Store due to the fact that child pornography was discovered on the site - that is, completely illegal content. There were other prerequisites: in 2013, when Yahoo acquired the platform, many assumed that advertisers would in principle be scared away for “adults” (let alone talk about the image of sexual violence). And although Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer promised that targeting would help avoid clashes with advertisers, after five years, the situation has changed. Following Tumblr, users turned their attention to Facebook and Instagram: both social networks quietly changed the rules, and not only illegal content was at risk, but also, for example, sex education blogs - several authors told about their blockages. We understand how social networks treat pornography and photos of naked people - and what changes can mean for Tumblr and the Internet as a whole.

TEXT: Anna Sinitsyna

Restrictions and control

Many social networks set restrictions like the ones that Tumblr has developed, but it was this platform that for a long time had a different policy. Moreover, the site was known as a non-mainstream porn resource, sex-positive, body-positive and LGBT blogs - and, apparently, the changes will hit primarily those who led them. Many authors do not yet understand where to transfer the contents of the pages: a resource similar in its openness is difficult to find.

Social networks fit intimate photos and porn in different ways. What Tumblr plans to do is closest to the rules of Facebook and Instagram (the first social network owns the second, so it’s not surprising that their practices are similar): both sites prohibit the publication of images of naked people and are known for their irreconcilable attitude to nipples - and only for women. Facebook does not hide the fact that moderation often raises questions among users. As a result of conflicts with the audience, the company even gave an explanation: “Our rules regarding nudity images have become more elaborate and flexible over time. We understand that such images can be published for various purposes - including to protest, raise awareness of or for educational and medical purposes. When such intentions are obvious, we allow the publication of such content. "

Now on Facebook and Instagram you can post, for example, photos of breastfeeding, scars after mastectomy and works of art. Errors, however, are inevitable: for example, last year a user from Australia was banned for two weeks on Facebook due to the fact that she published a link to an article allowed by the rules about the difficulties of breastfeeding - moreover in a closed group. Moreover, in the autumn the social network updated the rules. The paragraph on sexual harassment banned not only harassment, but also hints of sex - "sexually provocative slang", as well as "hints with sexual overtones", which the social network includes descriptions of preferences of sexual partners, masturbation, sexual acts and even " sexualized parts of the body ": chest, groin, buttocks. Representatives of the social network explained to The Verge that this applies not only to public posts, but also messages in the messenger, as well as closed groups - however, in order for content to be removed, a complaint must first be received on it.


In 2017, Twitter Rose McGowan was blocked for several hours due to the fact that she told him about violence

Facebook says that change does not affect talk about sexual orientation (in the section on implicit sexual harassment there is a point of "sexual preferences (including in relation to partners)"). The rules, however, are vaguely worded - for example, several Russian sex bloggers complained that educational pages with completely neutral content were removed due to unclearly written guidelines.

Other sites choose a different path. For example, Twitter is struggling not with porn in principle, but with the placement of other people's intimate photos without proper consent, as well as with images of naked bodies sent without request (in other words, dikpikami). In the social network you can not use intimate photos as an avatar or to create an account, but in tweets they are completely allowed - the user should mark them as containing "sensitive media files." At the same time, the social network has separate rules regarding pornography, and images posted without the consent of the person depicted must be deleted - however, for this, the victim will most likely have to contact support. With moderation, not everything is perfect either: in 2017, Rose McGowan's account was blocked for several hours due to the fact that she told him about Weinstein's actions, violence and harassment. In addition, the social network is regularly criticized for its inability to stop cyberbullying and bullying users.

Two years ago, several third-party Reddit offers disappeared from the App Store - apparently due to the fact that it was easy to find materials for adults there. After that, Reddit launched the official application for the iPhone, where it became much more difficult to find such content. Similarly, it filters information and the VKontakte application for iOS: for example, it is difficult to dig up porn in video recordings through it - on the website, it’s enough to do a search on video recordings "without restrictions". "All materials and communities that are intended for people over 18 years old, contain a special internal mark and are not displayed in minors," - say the press service of the social network. Moderation takes place both automatically and manually - however, the VKontakte approach to this process has also been repeatedly criticized. One of the most notorious such stories associated with the group "Sleeping Sex", which discussed the rape of women in a dream. At first, the social network refused to block the group, since it did not detect incitement to violence there, but after a complaint to Roskomnadzor the group was closed. However, a year later, the group was unblocked.

Moderation errors

From December 17, all posts and blogs that do not fit into the new Tumblr policy will be personal - only those who post content will be able to see them. For now, the site simply marks individual posts or entire pages. The way this happens already raises questions, including those who are not on the defense of candid content. Users complain that completely innocent images, such as pictures of cookies or footage from anime, are also suspected. “Filtering this type of content (say, political protest with images of nudity or the statue of David) is not easy to implement on such a large scale,” explains the Tumblr team. “We use automatic tools to identify content for adults, and our employees are involved in improving and controlling systems. We understand that mistakes are inevitable, but we have done everything possible to create and enforce policies that recognize the breadth of expression we see in the community. "

Situations where moderation by mistake does not miss something in accordance with the rules of the site are not uncommon, and they arose long before the appearance of social networks. In 1996, residents of the English city of Scunthorpe were faced with the fact that they could not register with AOL - as it turned out, due to the fact that in Scunthorpe there is the same combination of letters as in the English swear word. Such failures began to be called "Scunthorpe's mistake" - not so long ago, journalist Natalie Wiener (that is, Wiener), who could not register on the site under her last name, ran into her. In the comments to her post, similar stories are shared by people with the names Medick and Butts, but Philip Sporn says that he set up the name Spron on his computer. In 2016, Facebook banned the October Drift group from promoting a post about performing in Scunthorpe. Similar cases occur with images. For example, in 2016, the instagram blocked the account of the British woman - apparently, for a photograph of the cake, which the system took as a picture of a naked chest. Of course, any such situation can be challenged, and the moderation mechanisms will improve over time - but it is still impossible to imagine an ideal process that works without the participation of people and avoids mistakes. Moderation hardly takes into account the context: for example, in the fight against harassment and bullying, LGBT activists are often affected, who are banned for speaking ironically using offensive words.

Why do you need moderation

Of course, the main task of any moderation concerning the content of "18+" is to fight against illegal actions: trafficking, involvement in sex work, distribution of photos of naked people without their consent, and so on. Nevertheless, to say that this is the only reason, of course, is impossible - especially considering that the “usual” moderation does not always work. Writer and journalist Leah Williams tweeted how she tried to force Tumblr moderators to block a man who ran a BDSM blog and tried to get acquainted with teenage teenage girls, but her complaint was rejected because the man did not insult her personally. She later turned to the FBI, and it turned out that the man was on the official list of sex offenders — after which his blog was immediately blocked. Williams believes that the changes in the Tumblr policy have nothing to do with the protection of users and are associated only with blocking the social network application in the App Store.

It is also important to understand how much since 2013, when Yahoo acquired Tumblr, the global environment has changed. In the spring, Donald Trump signed the FOSTA-SESTA (Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act and Stop Sex Traffickers Act) package of laws to combat sex work and Internet traffic. Laws punish websites for promoting sex trafficking and stipulate responsibility for announcements about sex work - at first, it was only about sites like backpage.com, where there were corresponding special sections, but then SESTA provisions extended them to the entire Internet without exception. Many suspect that FOSTA-SESTA will hit not by traffic organizers, but by independent sex workers, who will not be able to verify clients online.


Few people doubt that social networks need serious moderation, but the current scenarios for now leave much to be desired

In the light of FOSTA-SESTA, many sites and services have begun to act proactively and block content and sections that may be affected. Craigslist ad service removed the section "Personal", where users got acquainted; Reddit closed several sabreddit where sex workers communicated. Perhaps the same is connected with the tightening of the policy of social networks - in October, a woman who wished to remain anonymous, filed a lawsuit on Facebook: according to her, she was involved in the sex business using a social network. Now, even phrases like "I want to have fun tonight" are banned on Facebook because of "sexual connotations"

We cannot deny the influence of advertisers, who may be against the content of "18+" - and, as a result, these materials may be more difficult to monetize. The Verge compares the possible fate of Tumblr with what happened with LiveJournal: the decline in popularity of the second service is partly associated with the fight against child pornography, which has hurt users not connected with it - for example, those who draw erotic fan art about underage characters.

Few people doubt that social networks need serious moderation, however, the current scenarios still leave much to be desired: this is either a restrictive policy prohibiting any talk about sex or discourse on sex work in principle, or, conversely, more free space, principles the construction of which prevent time to stop and prevent harassment and bullying. One thing is clear: a direct ban on porn, leading him "into the shadow" to special subject sites, is unlikely to help direct conversation about industry problems. Silence will not help women suffering from violence - but to make the problem less visible may well.

Images: Tupungato - stock.adobe.com

Watch the video: 30% Of Tumblr Users See Porn (March 2024).

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