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Nerdy, written erotica doesn't need Tumblr to survive
If you lose your copy of Brave New World, it's simple to replace the entire story, word for word, by buying a new version of the book from Barnes & Noble or borrowing one from the library. If your home is burglarized by a bibliophile and every book you've ever owned suddenly disappears in the dead of night, you'd still be able to rebuild that collection with relative ease. There might be a few you couldn't replace -- an old, strange tome that once called your name in the back of a dusty second-hand bookstore; faded covers stamped with out-of-print authors; the only copy of your grandmother's memoir. Barnes & Noble doesn't stock these stories in its back rooms. They're lost forever.
The internet war on sex is here
During the Great Internet Sex War, that began in the United States during its Facebook Era, people were forced to stockpile their porn. Lube was bought by the drum and hidden in bunkers, alongside vibrators and air-gapped computers holding valuable troves of accurate, non judgemental sex information. Gimp suits were stored upright, oiled, and ready for doomsday's call. Explicit gifs became a black market commodity, and there were rumors of a Thunderdome ruled by cam girls. Every sexual identity, except the singular one deemed safe by the corporations, went into hiding. Fear prevented even the mere mention of sexual pleasure on the networks and in communications.
Tumblr will start blocking adult content on December 17th
Tumblr has announced that it will no longer allow adult content beginning December 17th. The site, which is owned by Engadget's parent company, says that content includes "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." The move comes just after Tumblr's app was removed from the App Store, reportedly because of images of child sexual abuse that made their way onto the site.
Tumblr reportedly pulled from App Store over child exploitation
When Tumblr for iOS suddenly vanished from the App Store a few days ago, neither the social network nor Apple issued an explanation for it. According to Download.com, though, the tech giant removed the app because some images depicting child sexual abuse got past Tumblr's filters. The website says it confirmed the cause of the app's disappearance with Tumblr (owned by the same company as Engadget) after learning about it from independent sources. It presented its findings to the platform, which admitted that it had discovered content on its website that haven't been added to the database of known child sexual abuse material yet.
Tumblr for iOS disappears from the App Store
You won't want to rush to get Tumblr's iOS app at the moment... because you can't. Users have noticed that the social network (part of Engadget's parent company Verizon) has been unavailable on the App Store. It's not certain what prompted the disappearance or who was responsible, but the outfit has talked about addressing an "issue" with the iOS release since November 16th. We've asked the company for comment.
Tumblr fixes security flaw that exposed account info
Tumblr just fixed a flaw that could have revealed much more than bloggers were comfortable with sharing. A security researcher talking to the social site (which is owned by Engadget's parent brand Oath, and thus Verizon) discovered a security hole in the "recommended blogs" module that let you obtain sensitive account information. If a blog showed up in the module, you could use a debugging tool to obtain someone's current and past email addresses, their obscured password, their name and the IP address from their last sign-in. You could also see their self-reported location, although that hasn't been an option for a while.
Tumblr revamps its rules to clamp down on hate and violence
If Alex Jones thought he could catch a break after steering his followers to Tumblr... well, he might not want to get too comfortable. Tumblr (owned by our parent brand Oath) is revamping its Community Guidelines with stricter policies, most notably against hate speech and violence. It's starting by dropping "gray area" statements from its anti-hate policy that implied users should only report hate speech when it's "especially heinous." It wants users to bring up any instance where Tumblr users promote hate or violence, whether it targets race, religion, gender identity or other factors.
Alex Jones gets a week suspension from Twitter
More than a week after other services pulled the plug on Alex Jones and InfoWars, CNN reports that Twitter has given the personality a one-week suspension. The move came after a Periscope video session where Jones told viewers "now is time to act on the enemy" ahead of a "false flag" attack. His ability to tweet and retweet is gone for now, although the @RealAlexJones account is still visible and he can read things on the site. After Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Vimeo dumped InfoWars content people have pushed for Twitter to do the same, however it has declined despite being notified of tweets that broke its rules. One site where Alex Jones remains fully active is Tumblr (which, like Engadget, is a part of Verizon-owned Oath) where InfoWars continues to post basic links to content that lives elsewhere. Still, the availability of its app via the Google Play and Apple iTunes stores means that followers can still receive the content if that's what they're interested in. That reality hasn't stopped the host from continuing to complain of censorship, a battle that seems likely to go on indefinitely. Meanwhile the @InfoWars account is unaffected.
Tumblr and Etsy among those posting ‘red alerts’ for net neutrality
Fight for the Future has announced another day of action aimed at encouraging support of a Congressional vote to overturn the FCC's removal of net neutrality protections. In December, the FCC voted to overturn Obama-era net neutrality protections, a decision that was published in the Federal Register on February 22nd. The Senate has 60 days from that date to overturn the decision, as per the Congressional Review Act, and Democrats are planning to take the procedural step to force such a vote on May 9th. Between May 9th and the vote, BattleForTheNet.com is calling for websites to "go red" as part of its Red Alert for Net Neutrality Campaign.
Facebook has removed hundreds more Russian troll accounts
Throughout investigations into Russia-backed efforts to sow political discord in the US during the last presidential election, US officials have said that the Internet Research Agency (IRA) played a major role. Last month, the US Department of the Treasury instituted sanctions on the IRA and 13 individuals who are believed to have assisted the Russian group in some way. In February, a federal jury indicted 13 Russian nationals connected with the IRA on various charges related to alleged efforts to interfere with the US election. Facebook has been working to remove all IRA-produced content from its platform and today it took down 70 Facebook accounts, 65 Instagram accounts and 138 Facebook Pages all believed to be controlled by the group.
Tumblr confirms 84 Russian accounts were used to spread disinformation
It's not just Facebook or Twitter that were co-opted during the 2016 election. Just a month after accusations from researchers and Buzzfeed, Tumblr confirmed today that it uncovered 84 user accounts linked to the Russian government and its Internet Research Agency (IRA). The company says that these accounts were used in conjunction with a disinformation campaign to influence the elections. Tumblr notified law enforcement, terminated the accounts and deleted the original posts.
Tumblr, Sonos among those backing another net neutrality day of action
A number of organizations and websites are planning an online day of action meant to garner more support for a Senate vote that would reverse the FCC's removal of net neutrality protections. The Senate is currently one vote away from overturning the FCC's decision and the day of action aims to convince one more Senator to vote in favor of protecting net neutrality. Taking place on February 27th, Operation: #OneMoreVote is already backed by companies like Tumblr, Etsy, Vimeo, Medium, Imgur, Sonos, Namecheap and DuckDuckGo.
Russian trolls used Tumblr to influence American voters
If you thought that Tumblr was just fan fiction and monochrome erotica GIFs, then you probably haven't been paying attention. The blogging platform has also, in recent years, become a hotbed of Russian activists seeking to disrupt American politics. That's the charge leveled at the platform by Buzzfeed and Professor Jonathan Albright, an authority on so-called fake news.
Tumblr founder and CEO David Karp resigns
It's the end of an era for Tumblr fans. David Karp, Tumblr's founder, has resigned from his CEO position after 11 years at the job. The company's operations chief, Jeff D'Onofrio, is taking the reins. Karp didn't go into detail about his reasons for leaving, but he told his team that the move came after "months of reflection" about his personal goals. We've asked Tumblr if it can comment beyond Karp's own statements.
Twitter and others warn FCC of 'disastrous' net neutrality reversal
Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit and Airbnb were among 200 firms that signed a letter warning FCC Chairman Ajit Pai not to roll back net neutrality, according to Broadcasting & Cable. Dated on Cyber Monday (November 27th), the letter notes that record Black Friday sales are "a testament to the power of the free and open internet to encourage entrepreneurship, drive innovation, make our lives easier, and to support a healthy economy."
How the internet embraced a 'Simpsons'-'Akira' mashup
In the spring of 2013, Ryan Humphrey was lying on his bedroom floor, searching for inspiration. He had been looking for a way to contribute to the Simpsons Drawing Club, a blog on Tumblr dedicated to unofficial fan art. Run by a tight-knit group of illustrators, it featured colorful, funny and occasionally terrifying depictions of Bart, Homer and the rest of the Springfield populace. Humphrey wanted to be a part of it. He had, at one point, considered an original story about Ralph Wiggum and a dead body that could somehow talk back to him. But he didn't see himself as a comic book artist and slowly cooled on the idea. Suddenly, he spotted a copy of Akira, "Volume 1" in his room. Inspiration struck like a thunderbolt. He would redraw parts of Akira, the iconic Japanese manga series written and inked by Katsuhiro Otomo, but with characters from The Simpsons. By blending the two worlds, he would create something not only truly bizarre and unexpected but also stylish and instantly recognizable. "I just thought, 'This will be funny. This will be such a laugh,'" he recalls.
Google's Gboard for Android gets stickers and Bitmoji
Google announced today that the latest Gboard for Android update comes with support for downloadable stickers and Bitmoji that can be used in any app that supports image pasting. Once you have the latest version of Gboard, Android users will then be able to get the Bitmoji app or download sticker packs from the Play Store. To get to the new features after you've downloaded them, just hit the emoji button on Gboard and then the sticker or Bimoji button.
Tumblr adds three useful ways to post from your mobile device
Tumblr keeps improving its mobile apps, adding to already useful features like photo filters, instant messaging, stickers and GIF posts to keep your interactions fresh and interesting. The microblogging service just announced three new ways to post from the mobile apps, including images in reblog posts, fun new text styles for text posts, and the ability to drag and drop paragraphs and images within blog posts.
Tumblr apologizes for filtering out LGBTQ+ content
Tumblr* says it has fixed the main issues that were plaguing "Safe Mode," a feature it recently launched to hide all NSFW posts from your Dashboard. It's a welcome addition for libraries, schools or parents who don't want to block the social network despite the abundance of porn in it. As users quickly found out, though, Tumblr's Safe Mode has unfortunately replicated the problems caused by YouTube's Restricted Mode: it was also filtering out perfectly innocent LGBTQ+ posts. In the post announcing the problem's resolution, the Tumblr staff said the website's Explicit tag was the main culprit responsible for the issue and that it's "deeply sorry".
Tumblr's safe mode keeps racy material out of sight
There's a lot of porn on Tumblr. Over a fifth of content on the site (disclaimer: it's a sister brand through Verizon's Yahoo purchase) is adults-only, if you ask the analytics firm SimilarWeb. And that's a problem if you're surfing from work or giving access to your kids, since there's a real chance you could see some naughtiness. Tumblr is ready to help out beyond its existing filtering options, though. It's introducing a safe mode to its mobile and web apps that hides sensitive material from view. You can still click to see the content if you're over 18, but it won't be visible right away. Also, Tumblr is keen to add that this includes all "sensitive" material, not just naked bodies.