Tumblr Backtracks On Censorship, iOS Users Can Choose Their Preferences

Two weeks after updating its iOS app to block all ‘sensitive’ content to ensure compliance with Apple’s App Store guidelines, Tumblr has announced that censorship will be optional for all iOS users. Tumblr initially blocked hundreds of words and phrases from its iOS app last month to prevent a repeat of the 2018 incident when the app was kicked out of the App Store over child pornography allegations. The app was finally reinstated the following month after the website claimed to have cleaned up its act.

Tumblr has often come under fire for its liberal censorship policies that many argue encourage graphic content on the platform. While that hasn’t typically been a problem on Android, Apple’s strict App Store policies meant that the app often got itself into hot water over its mature content on iOS, necessitating the censorship announced last month. However, as it turns out, the company is backtracking from its stance and will allow iPhone users to access mature content after all.

In a blog post on Tuesday, Tumblr announced that it would introduce a ‘Hide Sensitive Content’ toggle on its platform as part of its efforts to reduce mature content on iPhones without introducing blanket censorship. The toggle will be turned on by default, but users will be able to get the whole Tumblr experience — without any censorship or blocked search phrases — by simply turning it off. According to the company, the default setting will have several safeguards in place to protect users from mature and potentially disturbing content. For example, when the toggle is enabled, posts with sensitive tags will be filtered from recommendations, while blogs with explicit content will also be blocked. In addition, search results that have sensitive words or phrases will also be off-limits.

Workaround For iOS Users

Tumblr is also allowing iOS users to decide if they want an unfiltered experience. For that, users can disable the ‘Hide Sensitive Content’ toggle, which will enable them to search for sensitive tags and get unfiltered results. They will also be able to access explicit blogs and receive recommendations with so-called ‘sensitive’ content.

It is worth noting that although the new ‘feature’ is solely for the iOS app, the app itself will not have the toggle. Instead, the toggle will be available on the Tumblr website, and users will have to log into the site via a browser, either on their computer or on their mobile phone, to switch it off. The change applies to users of the Tumblr app version 22.5.2 and later on iOS.

Source: Tumblr