Why Are Tumblr Users Making Memes About Cars And Hammers? Tumblr CEO PhotoMatt's So-Called 'Meltdown' And Controversy Explained

Tumblr seems to have exploded with memes about cars and hammers seemingly overnight, and many people are pointing fingers at the company's CEO for this sudden meme wave.

When Tumblr CEO Matt Mullenwe was pressed about why the site's moderation team banned Tumblr user Predstrogen this month, he cited an instance in which the user wrote that she hoped he would explode in a fiery explosion involving cars and hammers.

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But many Tumblr users pushed back on this characterization of Predstrogen's ban, saying that her threatening post was born out of frustration with the site's supposedly unfair content moderation practices, one that many believe exhibits a bias against trans women. The backlash resulted in an influx of car-hammer-related imagery on the site.

Here's a recap of how the threat and controversy on Tumblr led up to the car-hammer meme fest that is transpiring online.

What Did Tumblr's CEO Say About Predstrogen's Ban?

Yesterday, on February 20th, 2024, Tumblr CEO Matt Mullenwe (whose online handle is PhotoMatt) made a series of posts addressing questions and criticism levied against him by some of his site's users. People were concerned about Tumblr's content moderation practices, claiming that the site unfairly censors trans women while ignoring bigoted content on the site.

PhotoMatt specifically spoke about the banning of Tumblr user Predstrogen, saying that she was removed from the site for posting a threat against him. The post in question read, "I hope photomatt dies forever a painful death involving a car covered in hammers that explodes more than a few times and hammers go flying everywhere."

In an email correspondence with Know Your Meme on February 21st, 2024, Mullenweg stated that the account was not suspended for a single threat. When he reached out, Mullenweg listed the reasons for Predstrogen's suspension as follows:

• Mis-tagging adult content against Tumblr's community guidelines, repeatedly.
• Harassment of numerous other Tumblr users, not just me.
• Multiple threats of violence, not just the one I shared.

Mullenweg also acknowledged that his sharing one example of Predstrogen's "multiple threats of violence" may have confused readers and that he considers the phrase "I hope photomatt dies forever a painful death" a "very scary thing to read."

Additionally, some Tumblr users also shared screenshots of what they claimed to be PhotoMatt personally messaging them to argue about his company's content moderation practices.

How Did Tumblr Users Respond To PhotoMatt's Posts?

Various Tumblr users criticized PhotoMatt's response as the controversy spread, saying that it failed to address the perceived issue of anti-trans moderation shared by Predstrogen and her followers.

A post shared by Tumblr user stratomod yesterday became a widely shared example of how Tumblr allegedly censors trans voices and opinions, gathering over 190,000 notes in a day.

Other users encouraged their followers to report Tumblr to the New York City Commission on Human Rights, given that PhotoMatt had previously settled a lawsuit with the NYCCHR regarding similar anti-LGBTQ+ bias in its moderation.

Why Are People Sharing Memes About Cars And Hammers Exploding?

Referencing the post by Predstrogen, various internet users began sharing jokes and memes about exploding cars that send hammers flying everywhere in the aftermath of PhotoMatt's response (which some labeled a "meltdown"), with many bloggers condemning Tumblr and its CEO for supposedly overreacting to what they saw as a joke.

For the full history of the Tumblr CEO transphobic moderation controversy*, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.