Tumblr, the platform that defined a generation thanks to memes and adult content, is back in the spotlight. After being acquired by Automattic in 2019, the company that owns WordPress, some do not lose hope that everything will return to the way it was before. Unfortunately for them, Automatic has no intention of going back and made it clear that porn will not return to Tumblr.
In a blog post, Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic and co-founder of WordPress, explained why adult content has no place in the current strategy. Mullenweg acknowledges that the policy of allowing porn helped create a niche within Tumblr. However, times change, and it is impossible to have an internet platform with casual porn rules like it was in 2007.
The CEO of Automattic mentions that although they work to be more open, the reality is that it is very complex to monetize a Tumblr like the one of yesteryear. For starters, credit card companies are against porn. Mullenweg gives Mastercard as an example, which a year ago changed the rules and, together with Visa, cut ties with PornHub.
You’ve probably heard that Pornhub can no longer accept credit cards. […] Whatever crypto utopia may emerge in the coming decades, today, if you are locked out of banks, credit card processing, and financial services, you are locked out of the modern economy.
Matt Mullenweg
“Apple and Google are against porn”
Matt mentions another important issue, and that is that app stores like Apple or Google are against porn. “Apple has its own rules about what’s allowed on its App Store, and the interpretation of those rules can vary depending on who’s reviewing your app on any given day,” he said.
The WordPress co-founder goes further and mentions that if Apple banned Tumblr from the App Store, they would have to shut down the service. Those from Cupertino already did it in 2018 due to the detection of child pornography on the site. A flaw in the ranking algorithms led to a suspension of the app store that resulted in the loss of 30% of traffic that year.
Consequently, Tumblr banned adult content at the end of 2018 in a decision that upset most of its users. Images, videos, gifs and all kinds of explicit material were blocked and a system was implemented to classify new content. Jeff D’Onofrio, founder and head of the platform at the time, suggested those who disagreed to look for other sites on the internet to do so.
Tumblr does not have the ability to verify adult content
Although the decision meant the breaking point of a platform that had been in free fall, Tumblr never had the resources to rank content. The algorithm they implemented was so bad that it classified any image, including some artwork, as adult material.
Matt Mullenweg mentions that the rise of smartphones means that everyone has a camera to capture images and video. Not only is it impossible to ensure that all content posted on Tumblr is consensual, but that the company does not have the resources to verify each publication be done on the platform.
Return adult content it would be a deathblow for Tumblr, taking into account the above points. Mullenweg says that 40% of subscriptions and 85% of visits come from mobile devices. In addition, the majority of Automattic’s income comes from people who pay for their services with credit cards.
“If we were to lose the ability to process credit cards, it would not only be a threat to Tumblr, but to the more than 2,000 people who work at Automattic across all of our products,” he said.