Indonesia lifts ban on Tumblr following concession to block porn from its platform

Users in Indonesia can access Tumblr again, after the government lifted its ban on the micro blogging service.

Tumblr is back on in Indonesia, after the country’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) banned the micro blogging site for nine months due to the pornographic content on its platform.

KrAsia states that the Directorate of Informatics Application Control at Kominfo has verified Tumblr’s official statement regarding its commitment to the issue and confirms its change of policy on pornographic content on the popular site.

KrAsia reports that Indonesia takes a tough stance against adult content, leading to the ban of video-sharing site Vimeo and content aggregator Reddit in the country.

Tumblr was pulled from the Apple App Store in November, due to Tumblr’s failure to filter pornographic content that involved child exploitation.

Apple reversed the ban on Dec 14, after Tumblr’s decision to prohibit pornographic content from its service.

Tumblr stated that its service is committed to helping build a safe online environment for all users and has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to media featuring child sexual exploitation and abuse.

It also adopted a more stringent approach to adult content – including photos, videos, GIFs and illustrations – deciding to apply a blanket ban with exceptions.

“Examples of exceptions that are still permitted are exposed female-presenting nipples in connection with breastfeeding, birth or after-birth moments, and health-related situations, such as post-mastectomy or gender confirmation surgery. Written content such as erotica, nudity related to political or newsworthy speech, and nudity found in art, such as sculptures and illustrations, are also stuff that can be freely posted,” it says.