Want To Know Why Tumblr Is Cracking Down On Sex? Look To FOSTA/SESTA
by Cookie Cyboid
Tumblr and Facebook are choosing to punish sexual content on their sites because of a pair of laws that spell danger for sex workers, the queer community, and anyone who uses the internet to get laid.
Last week both Tumblr and Facebook announced changes to their terms of service, severely limiting sexual expression. Tumblr opted to remove adult content, while Facebook amended their policy on sexual solicitation to effectively ban talking about sex at all on their platform. As a queer person and a porn producer/performer, it has been a scary week. But what’s behind it? Is it Apple’s removal of the Tumblr app from their store, Is it payment processors again? In part, but I don’t think that’s the whole picture.
I’ve been in this line of work three years and have seen platforms cave into demands to remove sexual content from payment processors. This feels different to me. Facebook already didn’t allow sex workers on its platform, and I don’t believe Tumblr is beholden to PP’s the same way sites like Patreon are, because they aren’t charging their user base the same way. So why clamp down now, and why did the announcements come so…
