Tumblr Removed From Apple's App Store Over Child Porn Issues (theverge.com)

Tumblr has reportedly been removed from Apple's App Store due to child pornography issues. "The app has been missing from the store since November 16th, but until now the reason for its absence was unclear -- initially Tumblr simply said it was 'working to resolve the issue with the iOS app,'" reports The Verge. "However, after Download.com approached Tumblr with sources claiming that the reason was related to the discovery of child pornography on the service, the Yahoo-owned social media network issued a new statement confirming the matter." From the report: In its updated statement, Tumblr said that while every image uploaded to the platform is "scanned against an industry database of child sexual abuse material" to filter out explicit images, a "routine audit" discovered content that was absent from the database, allowing it to slip through the filter. Although Tumblr says the content was immediately removed, its app continues to be unavailable on the App Store. It's still available in the Google Play store for Android users, however.

Comments

No surprise here.

[Anonymous Coward]

Tumblr has always had a lot of questionable content.

What about all the browsers?

[SuperKendall]

Why should Tumblr go, while things like Firefox and Chrome apps stay? Or most of all, what about Facebook and Twitter?

At some point you just have to say, the internet is going to have unclean stuff, and general browsers can't police things. The same is true for any community kind of application like Tumblr.

Re:What about all the browsers?

[Xenx]

But, think of the children!!! Really though, they're taking things too far. As you said, all tumbler and the like can do is their best. We shouldn't be faulting them for the criminals using their services.

Re:What about all the browsers?

[sunking2]

When your business model is to make money off the content you serve then you are responsible for what you serve. I'm tired of people getting rich off of services they provide yet taking no responsibility for what is done with it. Cut your profits in half and do a better job. If you can't do that then go out of business.

Re:What about all the browsers?

[Xenx]

That's a pile of bullshit, within the context of this conversation. Trying to completely prevent the content is an uphill battle. The company has systems in place to restrict the content. The system just cannot catch 100% of it, 100% of the time. Take a look at anti-viruses, or spam filters, or any other number of filter systems. They aren't fucking magic.

Re:What about all the browsers?

[Narcocide]

Tumbler isn't a web browser. That's a false equivalence fallacy and you don't deserve any mod points for it. Feel shame.

Re: What about all the browsers?

[malkavian]

You realise youâ(TM)ve effectively said âoeshut down the internetâ right?

Re:What about all the browsers?

[jodokast98]

Wait, where's the proof that /. is going out of business?

I know it pales in comparison to it's former glory in the late 90's & early 2000's and is no longer "News for Nerds"; back when goatse.cx used to be shocking and not some typical photo you'd find on Tumblr or most porn sites these days.
Ahhhh...the good o'l days when programmers actually had to keep track of memory, pointers, file handlers, network sockets, etc. and weren't dumbed down to the point of calling some API or 3rd party library that did all the "hard" work. Back when Linus Toravalds could get away with his crap and not be bullied by emotionally stunted children and RTFM didn't make someone cry. Good Times! Good Times!

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A
My oh my what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headed my way
Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Zip-A-Dee-A

Re:What about all the browsers?

[Tom]

Yes, but within reasonable limits.

People will find ways to post stuff on your service. Back in BBS and FIDOnet times, we had ASCII porn, and it was impossible to filter it out by hand. Today we have machine learning and child pornography database but that a) still doesn't give 100% coverage and b) if you didn't stop for a second there to think about what it means that someone runs a business that provides a database of child pornography, you blinked at the wrong moment.

You should be responsible for your service, to reasonable extent. If you openly and even aggressively invite criminal activity, like some services that already got way too much free publicity here, you should be liable for it. But if you actively discourage it, disallow it int your rules of conduct, and actually act against the cases brought to your attention - what more can the law expect from you?

And why do we have unelected gateholders and worship them? Apple App Store, Google search, Amazon book store, media giants - all of these entities have way too much power over what is available to the general public and what isn't.

Re:What about all the browsers?

[AmiMoJo]

Actually that's a pile of bullshit. Google doesn't expect or demand absolute perfection (after all, it's own services would be quickly banned if it did). It requires a decent effort to be made, and in this case Tumbler admitted that they failed to properly maintain their databases. They didn't demonstrate their competence or dedication to the task.

Re:What about all the browsers?

[Cinnamon Beige]

Actually that's a pile of bullshit. Google doesn't expect or demand absolute perfection (after all, it's own services would be quickly banned if it did). It requires a decent effort to be made, and in this case Tumbler admitted that they failed to properly maintain their databases. They didn't demonstrate their competence or dedication to the task.

Looking at it, it's not a case of 'admitted that they failed to properly maintain their databases' as much as 'discovered new stuff for the industry database.' It doesn't maintain itself, y'know.

Re:What about all the browsers?

[supercell]

Sounds like Apple or it's partners is about to come out with an Tumblr clone. I have never seen any CP or anything close to it on Tumbr. I have seen a lot of porn on Tumbr, might there be a CP image out of the billions maybe, but it smells like Apple has other motives than CP on an app in its app store.

Re:What about all the browsers?

[Xenx]

First, as mentioned by others, from what we know Tumblr was doing their job. They just found content that wasn't present in the database. Second, Google hasn't pulled their app, only Apple. Apple is a bit militant when it comes to apps on the app store. They seem quite ready to pull apps over any controversy.

I guess no O'Brian at work

[t0qer]

I guess no O'Brian at work until this gets sorted.

Re:"an industry database of child sexual abuse mat

[fafalone]

I know it ruins the jokes but the database is stored as hashes, using something like PhotoDNA that survives basic alterations, they don't keep the actual material.

Re:"an industry database of child sexual abuse mat

[quenda]

Step 1) Access and steal the official comprehensive database of all existing CP.
Step 2) Offer it up for bids to darkweb pedos
Step 3) Retire to Tahiti

If it was that easy, it would be copied so many times there was no profit.

Presumably, they use some kind of fingerprint or hash to match the images, not just index them. This would only allow a low-res thumbnail to be extracted.

But where do you draw the line? The problem with these stories is, you don't know where they are talking, on the spectrum from physical abuse of babies, to topless tabloid page-3 girls.

ChinaApple

[AndyKron]

Isn't it nice that Apple decides what software you can install on your own device?

Re:ChinaApple

[TheFakeTimCook]

Isn't it nice that Apple decides what software you can install on your own device?

Sorry. Even the First Amendment has limits.

Re:ChinaApple

[mujadaddy]

The Right to Free Speech of course has limits. We limit all kinds of speech, but first we limit it with social pressure.

Delete spree

[Waccoon]

Yeah, I got a TON of messages yesterday from people (mostly artists) who were having their NSFW blogs torn down, even if the blogs were appropriately rated as such. Lots of people had their blogs removed and it has nothing to do with the actual content. Apparently, Tumblr's way of dealing with this problem was to use an automated script to ban a wide variety of blogs with the NSFW tag, and wait for the owners to file appeals.

Also, the real problem was apparently a rash of bots spamming NSFW ads, not specifically child porn. I guess as long as they're Thinking of the Children, it makes the widespread and unfair auto-ban of all NSFW content a bit more PR friendly. Most of the artists I follow that had content removed just draw cartoons, and there's no photos, let alone under-aged art.

Re:Delete spree

[SuricouRaven]

Rumors of the same are circulating in the furry world. Caroo just got banned, and he never posted any photos. Mostly strange fetish drawings, with no child characters. There is clearly something of an automated purge in progress.

Re:Delete spree

[thegarbz]

Apparently, Tumblr's way of dealing with this problem was to use an automated script to ban a wide variety of blogs with the NSFW tag, and wait for the owners to file appeals.

Ironically Tumblr has for the past 2 years been quite anti porn in general, and it's ironic since other than SJW bullshit porn seems to be the only other major content. They have been actively pushing it into the background, restricting results on searches (you're better off searching on Google inurl:tumblr) and have for the past 2 years randomally swinging the banhammer.

The app itself won't even let you search for porn or porn related words with some bullshit answer like: "That search was awesome but the world is not ready for it", you literally have to know the exact blog you want to add to the app beforehand.

Re:Delete spree

[AmiMoJo]

Sounds like they are failing to fix the problem so panicked and went berserk with the ban-hammer. Getting back on Android must be worth a lot to them.

It is a SOCIAL browser

[SuperKendall]

I didn't say web browser, I said browser.

To me something like Tumblr or Facebook or Twitter is not that much different than a web browser, just more segmented in what you are browsing.

In the abstract, A social network is just like a broader network in terms needing software to traverse nodes, and search.

You are still browsing through an unvarnished view of basically any kind of possible thought or image (modulo automated censorship, which we all know fails from time to time).

Tumblr is probably heavier on erotica, but then again that could be totally false - if you follow the right people on Twitter/Facebook I'm sure you could see some things you would rather not see.

Re: "an industry database of child sexual abuse ma

[Luckyo]

Most likely they got canned because tumblr, being the favourite social network for the more depressed and frankly crazy girls of varying ages ended up accepting nudes from some such individuals who were well below the legal age, when they posted them themselves.

Such content would obviously not be on any "CP database", and with mainstream media being in full blown "destroy online social networking" crusade, some WSJ, NYT etc investigator most likely ran into such images while searching for any content that could be used to blackmail the IT majors. It has been done before, and it will keep getting done for as long as IT majors keep bowing to the pressure instead of telling the mass media to take a hike.

Re:"an industry database of child sexual abuse mat

[SuricouRaven]

I imagine they do keep the material, probably in encrypted form such that it needs authorization from multiple people to access. They need to keep it so they have the option of recalculating using alternative perceptual hashes in future.

Re:No independant app store ?

[tlhIngan]

You are not allowed to use an independant app repository when using apple ?
You're sooooo screwed.

Yes you can. Officially there are many independent app repositories, containing stuff not allowed on the app store. It requires a Mac to use them as technically you are only allowed to distribute them as source code. Yes, the applications must be distributed as open-source.

This has been true since iOS 10 or so.

There are unofficial methods to get binaries onto your device, typically as ways to install pirated apps. But these work for both Windows and Mac. The downside is it costs around $20/year to use. They are only unofficial in that Apple doesn't make them. They use the exact same mechanism as the open-source application repos use to sideload applications.

Enterprise users can pay $500 a year for a management certificate which lets them self-sign apps.

Re:I want that job...

[ichimunki]

No. They use systems like PhotoDNA that standardizes the image (resize, monochrome, etc) and then creates a hash from the image file itself using image properties. They are not simply SHA1 hashing the raw file.

The real question gets to be: what images are in that DB that don't belong there? What if an 18+ porn star just looks young? They might look perfectly legal coming from a legit porn site, but still get flagged if someone started posting them on a "Lolita" Tumblr, pretending they are child porn. How about stills from the movie "Pretty Baby"? The movie is available through legal channels, so presumably stills from the movie could be used under Fair Use... perhaps even in a Tumblr post about how the movie is disgusting and should be illegal. And since you can't just download the hashing software and the list of hashes from GitHub (as far as I know), how does the use of this type of system not have a chilling effect? You're taking a pretty big chance if an image falls into a grey area where someone might have included it in this database and you use it and get tagged.

NSFW Fiction vs Non-Fiction

[fubarific]

Since the take down happened new on Tumblr is the option to report art/drawings separately from photos/videos. Allegedly, this separation is supposed to make it easier for scan/checking reported images.