Tumblr hits users with new censorship rules

The social networking site has updated its list of censored tags, now barring words such as ‘girl’ and ‘single dad’

Tumblr's latest update to its iOS app, released on Tuesday, has censored a long list of seemingly harmless words to comply with Apple's new strict safety guidelines for programs featured on the tech giant's online store.

The expanded list of censored tags is apparently intended to protect users from sensitive content when searching through the platform, or when looking at its ‘Stuff for You’ and ‘Following’ sections.

As a consequence, posts containing tags that are now censored are less likely to appear when users are looking through Tumblr, reducing search results and returning a note that says, “This content has been hidden.”

Among the words and phrases that have been recently censored are ‘girl’, ‘sad’, ‘single dad’, ‘single mom’, ‘testicular cancer’, ‘me’, and ‘my face’, among others, according to lists compiled by users and cited by The Verge.

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Defending the terms added to its blacklist, Tumblr claims it only took the steps so that the social network would “remain available within Apple’s App Store” and to “comply with their guidelines.”

To improve the user experience, Tumblr said it is working on “additional features for a less restricted iOS app experience,” but it did not provide a timescale for when those might be released.

The list of restricted terms marks the latest move by Tumblr to address concerns Apple has about content on the company’s social networking site. Earlier concerns from Apple saw Tumblr ban all adult content from the platform, marking a significant reversal from the company’s previous position on allowing sexual posts.

Apple has not yet publicly commented on the situation following Tumblr’s update.