RIP: Tumblr Is Banning All Porn from the App

In an announcement that comes as a surprise to literally everyone, Tumblr has announced it will be banning all adult content. Yeah. That.

In updated guidelines spelled out in their Help Center, Tumblr wrote, "Starting Dec 17, adult content will not be allowed on Tumblr, regardless of how old you are." The term, according to the same page, encapsulates "photos, videos, or GIFs that show real-life human genitals or female-presenting nipples, and any content -- including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations -- that depicts sex acts." Sadly, it looks like they are taking Instagram's approach to gender discrimination when it comes to nipples.

The move is presumed to be directly related to the platform being pulled from Apple's App Store last month over child pornography issues. At the time of publication, Tumblr was still not available for download there -- meaning it's been 17 days in total that the application has been unavailable. This overall ban will likely remedy that issue.

"It is our continued, humble aspiration that Tumblr be a safe place for creative expression, self-discovery, and a deep sense of community," Tumblr CEO Jeff D'Onofrio wrote in a blog post. "As Tumblr continues to grow and evolve, and our understanding of our impact on our world becomes clearer, we have a responsibility to consider that impact across different age groups, demographics, cultures, and mindsets. We spent considerable time weighing the pros and cons of expression in the community that includes adult content. In doing so, it became clear that without this content we have the opportunity to create a place where more people feel comfortable expressing themselves."

"Bottom line," he continued, "there are no shortage of sites on the internet that feature adult content. We will leave it to them and focus our efforts on creating the most welcoming environment possible for our community."

Adult content on Tumblr is pervasive. So pervasive, in fact, that the micro-blogging service helped popularize a move to more amateur and homemade pornography, which has itself crystalized with the movement to "fan site" content. The niche of gay content on those platforms has become a multi-million dollar business alone. JustForFans is already putting in their bid to pose as a replacement, touting their recently launched "free channel" functionality.

Get your "RIP Tumblr" tweets ready because what else is there to do on the microblogging service if we can't use it as a spank bank?