by Will Henderson

Tumblr this week announced its plans to identify, flag, remove, and ultimately ban “adult content, including explicit sexual content and nudity (with some exceptions).”

Setting aside the fact that its algorithm for ID’ing “adult content” would also determine what content could be exempt from this new Draconian approach to posted content, we were interested in seeing just what type of art Tumblr considers adult and no longer appropriate for the site that, as of April 2017, had more than 345 million registered accounts and nearly 738 million unique visitors worldwide.


10. I guess this is a fetish

Frog and Toad, as in the characters from the beloved series of children books. No dice, says Tumblr, which banned an illustration from one of the books. Maybe Tumblr felt Toad was fat-shaming himself and Frog, since the illustration has both going to town on a bowl of cookies while simultaneously admitting that they “must stop eating!”

9. XXX-Men

Dima Ivanov’s commission of the NEW X-MEN team was “flagged by the Tumblr police,” as were his takes on Black Widow, Poison Ivy, and Mary Janes, according to Ivanov. As tumblr user thestoping-ground said of the flagged NEW X-MEN commission, “Julian’s bare chest is too powerful.”

8. No touching!

A fox and a rabbit walked into a bar… actually, they just are good friends, but something about this strange pairing bothers Tumblr because a series of posts depicting this friendship by @pointedfox were flagged.

7. KNEES!!!

The cover of THE PRINCESS WHO SAVED HERSELF. Was going to guess that Tumblr flagged this cover because of the mushrooms on it, but then I saw the titular princess’s knee and bare feet. We get it, Tumblr; you’re not in if you show some skin.

6. Hulk…smash?

The cover of TOTALLY AWESOME HULK Issue 15, written by Greg Pak with a cover by Stonehouse. Guess Tumblr won’t, er, green light Amadeus Cho’s Hulk nipples as OK. Pak (@gregpak) noted on Twitter that “This may be the most thoroughly I’ve seen a website destroy itself since Patreon changed their fee structure.”

5. Gone to the Dogs

Krypto by @AmanCreates (Aman Chaudhary). In Tumblr’s defense, Krypto is naked save his cape.

4. No more cats

SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN sketch cover, as posted by Brian Keohan. Perhaps the diminutive Beetle got the cover flagged. Or maybe it was the cat. You’ve seen the CAPTAIN MARVEL trailer; you know her pet “cat” is up to no good.

3. BATS!

Issue 37 of SUPERMAN THE MAN OF STEEL, written by Louise Simonson, penciled by Jon Bogdanove, and inked by Dennis Janke. The issue ties in with DC’s “ZERO HOUR” crossover. The sexiest part of the cover? Maybe the font used for the word “BATS!” Tumblr, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do with this one.

2. No more flying for this little pony

Fluttershy, as in the spirited pony with a pink mane and tail and wings that let fly. As @R_A_Wiltshire notes “It’s always the quiet ones. She knows what she did.”

1. Kids watching fireworks?!

Tumblr flagged keiko-chan’s six-panel exploration of a perfect day enjoyed by two friends. They build castles in the sand together. They watch fireworks explode. They visit a park. As @kaltenmorgen wonders, “what is wrong here???”

Bonus: “A better, more positive Tumblr.”

Irony (i·ro·ny)

  1. The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal meaning.
  2. An expression or utterance marked by a deliberate contrast between apparent and intended meaning.
  3. Having your post about plans to flag offensive content actually flagged as being, well, offensive.

 

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