Tumblr is cracking down on hate speech, artificial intelligence-powered pornography, and the glorification of mass shootings.
The Oath-owned blogging platform on Monday announced several updates to its Community Guidelines slated to go into effect on Sept. 10. With this new version, the company is taking a stronger stance against hate speech, violent content, and non-consensual sexual images.
With respect to hate speech, Tumblr is deleting "41 words of gray area" and replacing it with less ambiguous verbiage.
"Don't encourage violence or hatred," the updated policy reads. "Don't post content for the purpose of promoting or inciting the hatred of, or dehumanizing, individuals or groups based on race, ethnic or national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, disability or disease. If you encounter content that violates our hate speech policies, please report it."
Tumblr is also revising its section on violent content to specifically ban the glorification of violent acts such as school shootings.
"Don't post content that includes violent threats toward individuals or groups—this includes threats of theft, property damage, or financial harm," the updated section states. "Don't post violent content or gore just to be shocking. Don't showcase the mutilation or torture of human beings, animals (including bestiality), or their remains. Don't post content that encourages or incites violence, or glorifies acts of violence or the perpetrators."
Finally, the company is getting stricter about non-consensual sexual images with the addition of this line to its harassment policy: "Don't engage in the unwanted sexualization or sexual harassment of others." Tumblr said "the invention of deepfakes and the proliferation of non-consensual creepshots" prompted this change.
Deepfakes, for the uninitiated, are videos created by using a machine learning algorithm to match someone's face to another person's body. It's used in a variety of ways, but celebrities have had their faces superimposed in porn scenes without their consent. PornHub and Twitter have also banned deepfakes.
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