Tumblr's porn filter blocked Tumblr's images illustrating what Tumblr's porn filter won't block

Yesterday, despite the manifest, glaring problems with its porn filter, Tumblr turned on mandatory porn-blocking for all its users' content, so that anything that its bots identified a pornographic would be invisible.

Tumblr faced a backlash over its announcement that it would ban 'adult content,' and not just because Tumblr had traditionally nurtured communities built around queer and marginalized sexuality -- but also because the company defined 'adult content' in part as being 'female presenting nipples.'

In response to concerns about blocking breastfeeding images, breast-cancer awareness posts, and other 'legitimate' uses of 'female-presenting nipples,' Tumblr put up a post illustrating and explaining the kinds of 'female-presenting nipples' the service would allow: 'exposed female-presenting nipples in connection with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth moments, and health-related situations, such as post-mastectomy or gender confirmation surgery.

The images that accompanied the post? Blocked by Tumblr's porn filter.

When Gizmodo posted the gif to Tumblr ourselves, it was immediately flagged as a potential violation and hidden by the platform’s filter. When the images shown in the gif were uploaded individually, two of the four examples—which appeared to show a breast ultrasound and a pro-choice protest, respectively—were similarly flagged and hidden.

Tumblr's Porn Filter Flags Its Own Examples of 'Permitted' Nudity [Hudson Hongo/Gizmodo]

(via Beyond the Beyond)