Tumblr Is Now Banning Innocuous Tags To Appease Apple

Three years ago, Tumblr banned adult content on the platform in order to remain on Apple's App Store, a change that effectively killed the platform. Now, what remains of Tumblr is getting hit with even stricter guidelines, as the site is now blocking innocuous tags in the hopes of appeasing Apple.

On December 21st, Tumblr's official blog announced they would be making changes with the site's iOS app to conform to Apple's guidelines.

"We want to make sure Tumblr is available everywhere you would like to access it," the blog post stated. "In order for us to remain in Apple’s App Store and for our Tumblr iOS app to be available, we needed to make changes that would help us be more compliant with their policies around sensitive content."

The extent of these changes includes a lengthy list of blocked tags that have made it almost impossible to post on the platform from iOS. Unbelievably, one of the blocked tags is "submission," a tag that Tumblr automatically applies to any submitted post published on the site.

they blacklist the tag "submission", presumably because there's a bunch of BDSM posts with it

— foone (@Foone) December 26, 2021

Tumblr users are maintaining a Google Doc cataloging the incredibly extensive list of banned words. Some of the more ridiculous banned words include, "About Me," "Anxiety," "Ask to tag" and "Arms" … and that's only under "A."

At present, the ban only affects users on the iOS app, but the damage has certainly been done for general users of the site, who are taking a typically Tumblrian attitude towards the farcical nature of Tumblr's bending towards Apple.

In an effort to soothe potentially angry users, Tumblr's blog post included a short paragraph about how it is working to get Apple to loosen its strict grip on the site.

"While we don’t have an exact timeline for how long these changes will be in effect, we are working on additional features that will allow for a less restricted iOS app experience," the blog read. "We anticipate this work to be ready in the near future and we will keep you all updated on our Changes blog as that work continues."