Tumblr's iOS App Returns to App Store as Porn Ban Looms

Tumblr's iOS app has returned to Apple's App Store following the platform's pledge to ban pornographic content starting Dec. 17.

The app was back on Apple's App Store on Wednesday evening. But when you open it up, the software now includes a notice about the upcoming adult content ban.

It isn't clear what other changes were made, but Tumblr appears to have removed an option that let you toggle on or off whether "Not Safe for Work" content can appear in your search results.

The option was probably scrubbed, given that Tumblr has already been cracking down on all NSFW material. For instance, searches for "porn," "hentai," and "boob" return nothing over the iOS app.

So far, Tumblr and company parent Oath haven't commented on the app's return to the App Store. But it was originally taken down in mid-November over the presence of online child pornography.

In trying to address the problem, Tumblr began purging pages belonging to erotic artists, sparking a flood of complaints. Then this month, the platform announced a ban on adult content, saying it was necessary to make the online service a "safe place" for all users. To filter out the porn, Tumblr will rely on automated tools.

Erotic artists and sex workers argue that Tumblr is their go-to platform to promote their projects. Many have also noticed Tumblr's current porn-detecting algorithms are flagging innocent posts as explicit material.

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"Indeed, the Internet is full of porn, the overwhelming majority of which caters to heterosexual men," said the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "But on Tumblr, people created sex-positive spaces on Tumblr that don't exist elsewhere. People created portfolios of their work, all of it, on the platform. Those spaces are going to vanish."

As of today, you can still find porn and erotic art on the iOS app. But presumably, Tumblr will begin filtering out the content from public view on Dec. 17 when the adult content goes into effect.

Whether users will care to continue using the iOS app is another matter; one study published in 2016 estimated that close to a quarter of people who visited Tumblr were there to consume porn. Many content creators affected by the ban are now looking to migrate to other platforms.