Tumblr to ban all adult content

Microblogging site says move reflects responsibilities to different age groups

Tumblr will ban all pornography from its service this month, in a move that will alter how the social network is used and shows an increased desire by major media companies to restrict which content appears on their websites.

Unlike most major websites, the microblogging outlet has always had a tolerant attitude to legal adult material since it was founded in 2007, gaining a reputation as a safe haven for adult-themed artists, sex workers and pornographers. As a result adult material has flooded the service, where it sits alongside other fandoms for everything from Harry Potter to anime.