Last Thursday, we posted a draft of a new policy against blogs that actively promote self-harm, along with some PSA-style language to appear next to searches associated with self-injury. The reaction was overwhelming. The post itself provoked more than 25,000 likes, reblogs, and replies; and more than 2,500 of you sent in comments by email. Thank you.
By far, the most common comment was some variation on this:
This is really great, but what about people who just talk about it? They aren’t promoting it in any way, but like some of us just express ourselves through posting about it. I don’t promote self-harm or eating disorders or anything, but I do talk about my experiences with these things. Do those count as something that’s going to be banned?That’s an important concern, so we want to be totally clear: While we won’t allow blogs dedicated to triggering self-harm, we will not act against blogs engaged in discussion, support, encouragement, and documenting the experiences of those dealing with difficult conditions like anorexia, bulimia, and other forms of self-injury. We absolutely want Tumblr to be a place where people struggling with these behaviors can find solace, community, dialog, understanding, and hope.
We will apply this policy on a blog-by-blog basis. There won’t be any wholesale suspension based on tags or text. We’re not under the illusion that it will be easy to draw the line between blogs that are intended to trigger self-harm and those that support sufferers and build community, but, thanks to the tireless efforts of our amazing Support team, we will do our best.
With the benefit of all your input, we’ve written a new draft of this policy, changing some wording and adding some clarifying language:
Promotion and Glorification of Self-Harm. Don’t post content that actively promotes or glorifies self-harm. This includes content that urges or encourages readers to cut or injure themselves; embrace anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders; or commit suicide rather than, e.g., seeking counseling or treatment, or joining together in supportive conversation with those suffering or recovering from depression or other conditions. Dialogue about these behaviors is incredibly important and online communities can be extraordinarily helpful to people struggling with these difficult conditions. We aim to sustain Tumblr as a place that facilitates awareness, support and recovery, and to remove only those blogs that cross the line into active promotion or glorification of self-harm.In addition, we got some helpful suggestions from the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) to improve the language that we’ll start showing alongside searches for tags associated with the promotion of self-harm, such as “pro-ana”, “pro-mia”, “thinspiration” and “thinspo”. Here’s an example of the revised language:
Eating disorders are not lifestyle choices, they are mental disorders that when left untreated, can cause serious health problems, and at their most severe can even be life-threatening. For treatment referrals, information and support, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association’s Helpline at 1-800-931-2237 or www.nationaleatingdisorders.org.We’re working with other health organizations to help us craft similar language around pro-cutting and pro-suicide search terms.
After the jump, we’ve pulled out several thoughtful messages from the community on both sides of this issue:
Reblog, it won’t ruin your blog. Remember those firefighters, police officers, troops, and other citizens that gave their lives to try to save the victims. Remember the victims that were killed in this horrific attack. Remember 9/11.
Five Easy Ways to Show You Don’t Give a F*ck
Click through for additional advice on optimizing the lack of f*cks given
President Benigno Aquino and Vice President Jejomar Binay witness the arrival at the Villamor Airbase in Fort Bonifacio of the slain seven Marines. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ/INQUIRER
Perhaps the whole country is busy dealing with Juaning and Kabayan. Or about the alleged ballot switching at the Batasang Pambansa. Or too occupied praying for Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (whether they pray for her safety and recovery or the opposite, I don’t know). Or still mourning after the loss of the Azkals for their 2014 world cup bid. Or celebrating Eat Bulaga’s 32nd anniversary. Or just doing some other stuff that we failed to notice this another gruesome event at the southern part of our country.
Our marines had an encounter with the Abu Sayaff last Thursday at the jungles of Sulu and five (5) of them were decapitated.
Beheading is not something new for these bandits. Most of us would still remember how they decapitate their kidnapped victims and how they dehumanize our troops by beheading the soldiers they kill in the battle.
Maybe the Abu Sayyaf is making their presence felt. For the past few months, we barely hear a thing about them (or maybe the news agencies are just too busy covering and showing us the other important issues? I don’t know.). This just shows that the violence in the south is far from over and the government has still a lot of work to do to attain the peace in the south.
I can still remember a Catholic priest who was assigned in Basilan who told us his first-hand experience with these bandits and their victims. He was the guest speaker on the (Lipa) Clergy’s monthly recollection when I was still in the seminary. He told us his story when he was assigned to bless the mutilated corpses of the 10 soldiers who were slain and beheaded in Basilan in an encounter in 2007. He could not believe how barbaric these bandits were by doing this hideous crime.
After hearing his story, I was moved and I felt that I was also in front those slain heroes. But he also left a challenge in me if I have the courage to be assigned in a far-flung place with all the perils and dangers accompanying the mission.
Courage. I admire these courageous heroes who sacrificed their lives by defending the country. It is just sad to hear these sad tales about our soldiers in the field amidst these controversies involving the high-ranking officials of the military.
To our heroes in the field, to the thousand nameless and ordinary soldiers who fought to defend our country, thank you for a job-well done. You may have gone but your contribution to the country is priceless and may it always be remembered by the generations to come.
I give you my snappy salute.
Mabuhay ang mga sundalong nagtataya ng kanilang buhay para sa bayan. Viva Filipinas! Padayon!
Name The Burning House
Location New YorkIf your house was burning, what would you take with you? The answer says a lot about your values and background, according to photographer Foster R. Huntington. The Burning House is a living gallery of photographs of the items chosen by people from all backgrounds, from all around the world. “It’s a philosophical conflict between what’s practical, valuable, and sentimental. You’re forced to prioritize and boil down a life of accrued possessions into what you can carry out with you,” Foster says.
Also check out…
The Changelog
A weekly podcast and blog that covers what’s fresh and new in Open Source.Sounds of My City
A collaborative, community-oriented audio ethnography of Toronto. This is what Toronto sounds like.Officials Say the Darndest Things
Cataloging what officials in business and government (and any other centers of power) let slip.
