Tumblr is the most recent tech firm to grapple with automated flagging and takedowns which have gone haywire and raised the ire of customers.

In current days, Tumblr customers have complained their content material is being flagged as “mature,” even when that’s not the case. The issue has lowered the visibility of customers’ posts as a result of many individuals on the platform have configured their settings to cover mature content material by default.

In response to quite a few posts from impacted Tumblr customers, posts have been falsely flagged regardless of not being sexual or violent, and these false flags have included every thing from cat GIFs to fandom content to art and even a picture of hands. Some suspect that AI-based automation could possibly be accountable for the problems.

Comparable accusations have plagued different social media platforms in current weeks. As an example, Pinterest lastly admitted that an inner error led to its mass user bans. In the meantime, Instagram this week declined to comment on its own trouble with mass bans that customers stated have been given little protection or consideration outdoors of on-line complaints on apps like X and Reddit.

In each instances, customers suspected that AI-based moderation was accountable, although Pinterest denied that was the case.

On Tumblr, the flagging concern is tied to an replace to the Android app, the place the corporate stated it’s been experimenting with enhancements to its mature content material filtering programs. Particularly, it was testing out a brand new layer of moderation to Content Labels, the corporate informed TechCrunch.

A spokesperson for Tumblr stated the experiments are persevering with and, based mostly on person suggestions, can be improved earlier than the adjustments roll out to different platforms.

“As we work to make Tumblr a safer place for all customers, we goal to respect a various set of pursuits and content material preferences, which may be adjusted in settings. We view this as an ongoing course of as we proceed to fine-tune how we detect and handle mature content material,” a Tumblr spokesperson stated in an emailed assertion.

The corporate additionally acknowledged the problem on its blog, responding to a person’s query concerning the falsely flagged posts. Right here, Tumblr’s staff famous they had been conscious of the “incorrect classification points” and had been actively working to cut back them.

As well as, the publish defined that Tumblr’s enchantment course of was being up to date within the weeks forward to have the ability to deal with a better quantity of instances. (Tumblr didn’t reply to our questions concerning the appeals course of’ deliberate adjustments.)

Whether or not AI or different automation is accountable shouldn’t be clear, as Tumblr wouldn’t converse particularly to the reason for the brand new points. Nevertheless, the lowered staffing on the running a blog service has seemingly additionally performed a task.

Following its 2019 acquisition by WordPress.com maker Automattic, Tumblr has faced layoffs as its employees was reassigned to other projects at the parent company. Final yr, Automattic introduced that Tumblr’s again finish would even be moved to WordPress to make administration simpler and stem its financial losses.