Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Tumblr Called Out for Flagging Innocent Content

Tumblr has announced that it will be banning all adult content starting December 17, which has led some media watchers to predict the doom of the platform. 


What attracted my attention was the online backlash from users who were amused or upset about innocent images that were flagged as inappropriate. 

There are far too many images on Tumblr for humans to filter, so they have to rely on automated systems to flag banned content. It makes you wonder how their AI filtering systems are programmed, and exactly what features they are looking for. 


The stated rules ban "photos, videos, and GIFs of human genitalia, female-presenting nipples, and any media involving sex acts, including illustrations. The exceptions include nude classical statues and political protests that feature nudity. The new guidelines exclude text, so [written] erotica remains permitted. Illustrations and art that feature nudity are still okay — so long as sex acts aren’t depicted — and so are breast-feeding and after birth photos." 


Read More:
BoingBoing: Tumblr bans all adult content, such as "female-presenting nipples"

2 comments:

A Colonel of Truth said...

So ... The takeaway: AI knows pornography when it sees it.
Not hardly!

SE said...

Aye, I had an abstract work flagged earlier this year. Tumblr's AI somehow found circles overly sensual. It's a hellsite, but it did connect me with customers, yet I wonder how long that'll last. Some 30-something-year-olds sure remember when quizilla.com removed their adult-themed content -it went to a slow death before closing shop because of reduced traffic.