Tumblr to Allow Nude Images; 'Sexually Explicit' Ones Still Not OK

Blogging site Tumblr will now allow images of nudity, the company announced Tuesday in conjunction with an update to its community guidelines.

"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)," the announcement reads.

The site, however, will continue to prohibit "visual depictions of sexually explicit acts," along with "hate, spam, violent threats, or anything illegal," the company notes.

The decision to allow nudity comes after Tumblr announced in September that it was instituting community labels that let users filter the content they viewed. "It was our first step toward a more open Tumblr," the Tuesday announcement explains.

Tumblr still bans depictions of sex acts because of logistical problems. "Tumblr used to have a policy around porn that was literally 'Go nuts, show nuts. Whatever,'" Matt Mullenweg, CEO of parent company Automattic, explained in a September post. "That was memorable and hilarious, and for many people, Tumblr both hosted and helped with the discovery of a unique type of adult content."

Tumblr, which allows users to post multimedia content to its blogs, previously had been an online resource for many in the porn, LGBTQ, kink, and queer artist communities since its founding in 2007.

Trending stories

Beyond Wonderland's accepting & unifying rave culture is needed more than ever

'White Lotus' S3 finale recap: Here's how each character's story ended

Who died on 'The White Lotus' season 3? The finale, explained.

All 6 rogue Mississippi cops got long prison sentences in 'Goon Squad' torture of 2 Black men

Ranking NWSL teams by how gay the name is

Here's what the 'White Lotus' stars revealed about the season 3 finale

Out and About with Karan Soni

Peaches Christ says she's been 'retraumatized' by police investigating drag icon Heklina's death

Dylan Efron dishes on his sexy back arch & Speedo pics: 'That's what I'm good at!'

'White Lotus' star Arnas Fedaravicius reacts to gays flooding his DMs

Trump's orders prompt CDC to erase HIV resources

Broadway bound: The best hotels in NYC’s Theater District for every type of traveler

Robert Irwin is stripping down & rocking tiny briefs in new underwear campaign

Gerald Garth is keeping people of color happy and healthy through trying times

How LGBTQ+ student loan borrowers can survive a chaotic new era

Elon Musk uses burner accounts on X, doesn’t fact-check: report

Joe Biden has tied the record for most LGBTQ+ judges confirmed in federal courts

Cowboys & Queens U.S. tour by Jane Hilton: A modern American dream

Discover the power of Wellness in your life

France becomes world’s first country to enshrine abortion rights in constitution

The Charles is Pacific Grove's new LGBTQ+ hotel

How climate disasters hurt mental health in young people

Matt Bomer reveals his favorite 'Fellow Travelers' sex scene with Jonathan Bailey

Broadway's best raise over $1 million for LGBTQ+ and HIV causes

Season 4 of The Switch on resilience & radical self-love returns this spring

• 0
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8

In 2018, when Verizon owned Tumblr, it banned much adult content. Now Automattic is opening that up a bit, but allowing certain sexually explicit material runs isn't feasible because credit card companies and app stores won't serve sites that have any content that would be considered pornographic, Mullenweg wrote. He explained that it is also impossible to verify that everyone who sees that content is of legal age and has consented to view it.

"I am personally extremely libertarian in terms of what consenting adults should be able to share, and I agree with 'go nuts, show nuts' in principle, but the casually porn-friendly era of the early internet is currently impossible," the CEO noted at the time.