Tumblr accused of censoring shenanigans as users find loop holes

NOTE: For all latest, breaking news related to Tumblr adult content ban as well as its alternatives, head here.

A lot is currently going on over at Tumblr. Of course, that’s not completely unexpected, as the company announced earlier this month that they’ll try to make any and everything NSFW/adult/explicit private (save for some exceptions).

But what’s concerning is that users are crying foul play by Tumblr. For example, this Tumblr user is alleging the company is shadow banning visual artists, even if they have SFW material on their blogs.

The proof? Until some time ago, typing “Johnlock” in the dashboard search bar, I had among the popular results, tons of fanarts from the most famous artists. The fanarts were the most immediate and numerous result of the research, I’m sure you remember this.
Now it has completely changed. These are the search results [pics below] on “Johnlock” search from today. There are almost exclusively text posts, chats, and memes. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against memes or text posts, they are great. The problem is that fanarts, manips, photosets, gifset, and even most of the actors’ photos have disappeared from the research.

They further said:

Is it strange? Not a result from Anotherwellkeptsecret, Reapersun, Bluebellofbakerstreet? How is it possible? Because Tumblr doesn’t want fandom material on its site anymore, and it doesn’t give a toss if it’s SFW or not. You’re a fandom artist? You are punished by becoming invisible

How are users supposed to find new artists to follow, if they’re shadow banned?
How are artists supposed to make themselves known and show their creations, if they can’t be seen?

Hundreds of other Tumblr users either liked or reblogged this post, which indicates all this may be correct. One user even left a comment confirming this development through their own test:

Well, shit! I used “Mystrade” and I got text posts. No fan art to speak of. Folks we know there’s fan art

Ever since Tumblr announced the ban, we have been hearing a lot about Tumblr’s censoring bots flagging non-explicit content. Here’s an example:

Even prior to the announcement, there were reports of blogs (even SFW ones) being deleted.

While Tumblr along with its censoring bots, as users like to say, “are on a rampage,” porn bots are still enjoying their time on the platform. A lot of users have recently reported that their blogs are being followed by new porn bots. Take a look:

https://twitter.com/legitmarilyn/status/1072635947819417600

https://twitter.com/SavrinDrake/status/1072974876162564097

Reportedly, users as well as bots have been taking advantage of a loop hole where-in if a post is tagged as SFW, Tumblr’s censoring bots do not flag it.

https://twitter.com/TorchPerverse/status/1072192168922615808
https://twitter.com/InsomniaArrest/status/1072552139078144000
https://twitter.com/catoleils/status/1072697032895287301
https://twitter.com/art_nado/status/1072997530819010561

We’re not sure if this loop hole still exists or you can still exploit it. But this is not the only one that has come to light in recent times – users have also reportedly managed to fool Tumblr’s algorithm by transplanting an owls image on a pic that was marked as explicit by Tumblr’s censoring bots.

https://twitter.com/ChappellTracker/status/1071099239353249792

Meanwhile, users are leaving Tumblr in droves, and heading to one of the many alternatives that are currently out there. Here’s the list we’ve compiled for you.

Tumblralt, for example, is a new and upcoming Tumblr replacement that has been built by engineers from within the Tumblr community. Then there’s another one, Pillowfort, which has already received quite a lot of media mileage. Oh, and yes, there’s also a secretive platform, details related to which leaked out recently.

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