Join us at the Digiday Publishing Summit from March 24-26 in Vail
Deciding whether or not to censor content is a tricky matter for publishers and platforms. Facebook is notoriously quick to censor content it deems inappropriate (like pictures of two men kissing or women breast-feeding). Now Tumblr is getting in on some censorship action.
Last week Tumblr announced its new censorship policy, which bans “self-harm blogs” that glorify eating disorders. This is tricky territory, of course.
“We are deeply committed to supporting and defending our users’ freedom of speech, but we do draw some limits,” Tumblr writes in a blog post. “As a company, we’ve decided that some specific kinds of content aren’t welcome on Tumblr.”
The company has posted a draft of this addition to its content policy but is also asking the Tumblr community for its input. Do you think this move to censor is appropriate when plenty of other negative/violent/inappropriate content (like fat-bashing posts and posts about outward violence) gets the green light, as Johanna de Silento points out in her Thought Catalog article? Leave your stance in the comments.
More in Media
Media Briefing: Publishers use standalone newsletter subscriptions to convert more readers
Publishers like Bloomberg, the FT, Axios and The Ankler are using different kinds of standalone newsletter subscriptions to grow revenue and convert readers around popular products.
How podcasters are tackling the challenge of subscriber churn
As podcast subscription businesses mature, podcasters face a challenge that publishers have grappled with for years: churn. Here’s how they’re working to retain paying listeners.
How YouTube Shorts revenue compares to long-form video revenue for creators
Creators are finding that their payouts for short-form content on YouTube are still dwarfed by the ad revenue they can glean from long-form content.