Then They Came for Tumblr: Yes, Tech Totalitarians Can Just Pull the Plug. By Hubert Collins.

On December 3, the micro-blogging platform Tumblr announced that in one fortnight, on December 17, all “adult content” will be permanently removed from its site.

What is Tumblr? It’s just one of the most popular blogging platforms on the planet. So popular, in fact, it often ranks as one of the most popular websites on earth. …

Tumblr is like a cross between WordPress and Twitter. You create your own account/site, which is yours, but is still on the Tumblr platform. The structure of site is such that it is best used for visuals (photos, videos, GIFs, memes) as opposed to longform writing (as in the case of WordPress) or pithy quips and jokes (as in the case of Twitter). …

Just how much of Tumblr is porn? I doubt anybody knows for sure, but the short answer is: “a ton.” VDARE.com is only posting pictures of Tumblr girls in bikinis, but they are overdressed by Tumblr standards. …

Set aside, for just a moment, however you feel about porn, its purveyors, and its connoisseurs. What Tumblr is doing here is really quite incredible. It is purging from its rolls one of its most defining and popular aspects — the ability to post porn. …

Imagine if your Twitter were deleted not because you did anything that violated their terms of service, but simply because Twitter one day decided to change its rules for posting and found that essentially all of your tweets were in violation of their new rules, so gave you two weeks’ notice and then blew it all away. …

But what makes this so interesting, and noteworthy, is that there is essentially no chance this change will make Tumblr’s user base happy. Tumblr has, in effect, grown tired of one huge segment of its users and is purging them.