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I don't think this is necessarily a slippery slope. AFAIK (I may be wrong though) this isn't due to external pressure or some PR fiasco (coughreddit), this is

I don't think this is necessarily a slippery slope. AFAIK (I may be wrong though) this isn't due to external pressure or some PR fiasco (coughreddit), this is something Tumblr has decided did not reflect their company ethic, and wants off their platform. The difference between this and reddit's last run-in with offensive content is that Tumblr has shown no weakness here, whereas Reddit more than proved that a sufficiently large PR catastrophe is all it takes to change site policy. What Reddit has encouraged is more boycotts and more PR shitstorms from 3rd parties hoping to affect change on the site. Tumblr, by acting proactively, has not opened these doors (yet). They are still their own arbiters of good taste, as opposed to opening the floodgates of mob-rule.

drivebyacct2 15y ago
Inventing a new company policy in response to something you found distasteful and then enforcing that upon your existing user base screams slippery slope. Especially given there is even less of a brightline standard of what violates Tumblr's policy than when we were considering reddit. It's much easier (not to trivialize it) to determine if something is child-related and sexual of nature than the entire realm of things contained in "self-injury". As I implied in my other comment, things like "self-injury" are very arbitrary and vary person-to-person. (Not that I should have to disclaim this, but I don't think things like suicide or eating disorders are "good" or healthy).
- potatolicious 15y ago
  > "very arbitrary and vary person-to-person" Sure, but the point of this is that Tumblr is the ultimate arbiter of what falls into and out of the content policy. And honestly, I expect "Tumblr staff" as a group to be a lot more focused and a lot less fickle than the internet community at large. Compared to a reactionary response to external pressure, a la reddit, where you've essentially handed the reigns to third parties. By acting proactively instead of reacting to PR pressure, Tumblr has basically drawn a line where their content policy lies, and they shown that they will determine what does and does not violate it - not some angry blog, community vote, or other mob-based "democracy". Giving a small group of people editorial control is unlikely to lead to a slippery slope. Giving everyone editorial control certainly does, as special interests emerge and find out they can play the system.
  - drivebyacct2 15y ago
    >By acting proactively instead of reacting to PR pressure, Tumblr has basically drawn a line where their content policy lies, and they shown that they will determine what does and does not violate it - not some angry blog, community vote, or other mob-based "democracy". I don't think you understand how/why the reddit decision went down. Reddit was under pressure because users were trading CP behind the scenes or asking for it in comments. They responded by simply saying "No more sexual pictures of any nature under 18, child pornography or otherwise". Still a new policy being implemented on their user base, but at least there is something somewhat defined in terms of criteria for disallowed content. Ultimately, "We will ban anything we deem self-injury" is far from a bright line in my opinion. The fact that Something Awful started the reddit discussion and Tumblr did this themselves is barely important in my opinion, at least from the angle I'm coming from. I'm obviously no more happy with a mob in charge of determining "appropriateness", but then again, I'm not really happy at all with someone arbitrarily telling me what is or isn't appropriate to say. Hence why I host my own blog.
    - potatolicious 15y ago
      It's a far brighter line than "we will ban anything that presents a PR threat". Let's back up and clarify. The traditional claim of slippery slope is that today we're going after suicide blogs, tomorrow we'll be going after offensive lyrics, talk about drugs, and we will continue sliding down the slope of banning ever more and more types of content. I just don't see this happening here. There is some play in the way the policy has been defined, but it certainly isn't a wide gaping hole. The definition of "self-harm" can only be stretched somewhat before you hit its limits. Compare with what Reddit has been dealing with - which is in my view a real slippery slope problem. They've basically announced to the world that they will alter site policy to ban any content that can muster a large enough PR catastrophe. This creates a huge incentive to groups to do exactly that and see their pet peeve content types banned. And indeed we saw that - no sooner had the CP subreddits disappeared did people start calling for the banning of dead baby pics, talk about beating women, etc. Reddit has lost that game, permanently. The line between acceptable and unacceptable is now drawn by a community of millions, instead of the focused judgment of a few, and is subject to movement based on the whims of the masses. Tumblr doesn't suffer from this.
kstenerud 15y ago
I seriously doubt people will quit Tumblr en masse over the site falling afoul of someone's pet cause. This is Tumblr as a company applying its morality upon the blogs it hosts. And in doing so it is completely within its rights.
- pjscott 15y ago
  Yes, of course Tumblr is acting within its rights. I've checked over the thread, and I don't see anybody suggesting otherwise.

drivebyacct2 15y ago

Inventing a new company policy in response to something you found distasteful and then enforcing that upon your existing user base screams slippery slope. Especially given there is even less of a brightline standard of what violates Tumblr's policy than when we were considering reddit. It's much easier (not to trivialize it) to determine if something is child-related and sexual of nature than the entire realm of things contained in "self-injury". As I implied in my other comment, things like "self-injury" are very arbitrary and vary person-to-person. (Not that I should have to disclaim this, but I don't think things like suicide or eating disorders are "good" or healthy).

potatolicious 15y ago
> "very arbitrary and vary person-to-person" Sure, but the point of this is that Tumblr is the ultimate arbiter of what falls into and out of the content policy. And honestly, I expect "Tumblr staff" as a group to be a lot more focused and a lot less fickle than the internet community at large. Compared to a reactionary response to external pressure, a la reddit, where you've essentially handed the reigns to third parties. By acting proactively instead of reacting to PR pressure, Tumblr has basically drawn a line where their content policy lies, and they shown that they will determine what does and does not violate it - not some angry blog, community vote, or other mob-based "democracy". Giving a small group of people editorial control is unlikely to lead to a slippery slope. Giving everyone editorial control certainly does, as special interests emerge and find out they can play the system.
- drivebyacct2 15y ago
  >By acting proactively instead of reacting to PR pressure, Tumblr has basically drawn a line where their content policy lies, and they shown that they will determine what does and does not violate it - not some angry blog, community vote, or other mob-based "democracy". I don't think you understand how/why the reddit decision went down. Reddit was under pressure because users were trading CP behind the scenes or asking for it in comments. They responded by simply saying "No more sexual pictures of any nature under 18, child pornography or otherwise". Still a new policy being implemented on their user base, but at least there is something somewhat defined in terms of criteria for disallowed content. Ultimately, "We will ban anything we deem self-injury" is far from a bright line in my opinion. The fact that Something Awful started the reddit discussion and Tumblr did this themselves is barely important in my opinion, at least from the angle I'm coming from. I'm obviously no more happy with a mob in charge of determining "appropriateness", but then again, I'm not really happy at all with someone arbitrarily telling me what is or isn't appropriate to say. Hence why I host my own blog.
  - potatolicious 15y ago
    It's a far brighter line than "we will ban anything that presents a PR threat". Let's back up and clarify. The traditional claim of slippery slope is that today we're going after suicide blogs, tomorrow we'll be going after offensive lyrics, talk about drugs, and we will continue sliding down the slope of banning ever more and more types of content. I just don't see this happening here. There is some play in the way the policy has been defined, but it certainly isn't a wide gaping hole. The definition of "self-harm" can only be stretched somewhat before you hit its limits. Compare with what Reddit has been dealing with - which is in my view a real slippery slope problem. They've basically announced to the world that they will alter site policy to ban any content that can muster a large enough PR catastrophe. This creates a huge incentive to groups to do exactly that and see their pet peeve content types banned. And indeed we saw that - no sooner had the CP subreddits disappeared did people start calling for the banning of dead baby pics, talk about beating women, etc. Reddit has lost that game, permanently. The line between acceptable and unacceptable is now drawn by a community of millions, instead of the focused judgment of a few, and is subject to movement based on the whims of the masses. Tumblr doesn't suffer from this.

kstenerud 15y ago

I seriously doubt people will quit Tumblr en masse over the site falling afoul of someone's pet cause. This is Tumblr as a company applying its morality upon the blogs it hosts. And in doing so it is completely within its rights.

pjscott 15y ago
Yes, of course Tumblr is acting within its rights. I've checked over the thread, and I don't see anybody suggesting otherwise.