This Is Why I'm Leaving Tumblr

A post that was flagged for “adult content” by Tumblr.

I’ve had my keithboykin.com website on Tumblr for several years now, but once Tumblr announced last December that it planned to ban adult content, I knew I would be leaving. I don’t even have adult content on my site, but I find it offensive that Tumblr would restrict adult content for adults.

To be honest, the adult content ban has not directly affected my site…until today. Today I went to post a video on my website from my CNN appearance yesterday discussing Donald Trump’s fake national emergency, and there on the Tumblr dashboard I saw a notice that I have two posts that have been flagged and hidden from the public because of alleged “adult content.”

The first flagged post is a link to an article on Gawker showing unarmed people of color killed by police. The second is a piece I wrote years ago called “Anatomy of A Media Frenzy,” which examines how the mass media got caught up in the “down low” narrative that closeted black men were chiefly responsible for spreading the AIDS epidemic to unsuspecting black women.

Both articles that were flagged address serious issues in our community. Neither article includes any image on nudity or sexually explicit behavior, and neither is adult content in the sense of something that should be banned. In fact, these are issues that responsible adults should be discussing on social media, blogs and everyday conversations. And both articles address important issues affecting marginalized communities, especially communities of color and LGBTQ communities. If Tumblr wants to create a Disney-fied platform simply for unprovocative, bland straight white content, count me the hell out.

This is why I’m leaving Tumblr.

I am now in the process of moving my site off Tumblr and onto a new platform. Stay tuned for updates to come very soon.