![walking mirage @atomicthumbs universally popular web host @imgur has decided to burn their library of alexandria and destroy every old forum post with images in it, as well as all the p--- hope you didn't like tutorials on how to fix your car Imgur > Safety & Standards > Policies Imgur Terms of Service Update [April 19, 2023] We recently announced some changes to our Terms of Service that will be effective May 15, 2023. This help article aims to provide some clarifications on what this change entails and what those changes mean for Imgur as a whole. This change to our ToS will bring closer parity to our Community Rules and will not change anything for public posts. There are a couple of reasons we wanted to make this change, which we'll outline below. "What are we doing?" : Our new Terms of Service will go into effect on May 15, 2023. We will be focused on removing old, unused, and inactive content that is not tied to a user account from our platform as well as nudity, p----------, & sexually explicit content. You will need to download/save any images that you wish to save if they no longer adhere to these Terms. Most notably, this would include explicit/pornographic content.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/574/871/ef4.png "Library of Alexandria")
2023 Imgur NSFW Ban / Old Content Purge
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Overview
The 2023 Imgur NSFW Ban or Imgur Old Content Purge refers to a controversial update to Imgur's terms of service, which the image-hosting platform announced on April 19th, 2023. Under the new policy and guidelines, Imgur stated that it would be deleting all pornographic content on the site along with all content from old, unused and inactive accounts. These changes are set to go into effect on May 15th, 2023. On Reddit and other social media platforms shortly after the announcement, users expressed concern and outrage about the decision as it garnered widespread discussion and media coverage, as well as being mocked in memes. The ban was also commonly compared to similar actions by other platforms in the past, particularly Tumblr and its adult content ban in 2018.
Background
Imgur first announced the changes on April 19th, 2023, in a post to its community. Arguing that explicit content could pose risks for the site's business model (advertising), the new policy was justified by the company as a way to make Imgur more fun and safe. The barring of pornographic content, the site clarified, would not include "artistic nudity," which (while vaguely defined) would still be allowed. The banning would also extend to private galleries and links. The site also announced that it would delete content from old, inactive and anonymous accounts, similarly leaving this designation loosely defined.
To do this, Imgur said it would use a combination of "automated detection" to find and flag explicit images or old, inactive content and human moderation to double-check the work done by the artificial intelligence or computers.[1] For many online, these changes quickly became a controversial topic.[2]
Online Reactions
As word of the announcement spread on social media throughout the following hours on April 19th, 2023, Imgur's decision began garnering significant backlash.
For example, many online argued that the purging of old content from Imgur was a major blow to web history — with some making comparisons to burning the Library of Alexandria. On April 20th, Twitter user @atomicthumbs (seen below) made this comparison in a tweet that included the announcement post, earning over 13,600 likes in less than a day.[3]
![walking mirage @atomicthumbs universally popular web host @imgur has decided to burn their library of alexandria and destroy every old forum post with images in it, as well as all the p--- hope you didn't like tutorials on how to fix your car Imgur > Safety & Standards > Policies Imgur Terms of Service Update [April 19, 2023] We recently announced some changes to our Terms of Service that will be effective May 15, 2023. This help article aims to provide some clarifications on what this change entails and what those changes mean for Imgur as a whole. This change to our ToS will bring closer parity to our Community Rules and will not change anything for public posts. There are a couple of reasons we wanted to make this change, which we'll outline below. "What are we doing?" : Our new Terms of Service will go into effect on May 15, 2023. We will be focused on removing old, unused, and inactive content that is not tied to a user account from our platform as well as nudity, p----------, & sexually explicit content. You will need to download/save any images that you wish to save if they no longer adhere to these Terms. Most notably, this would include explicit/pornographic content.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/574/871/ef4.png "Library of Alexandria")
Much old internet content (including memes) is notably hosted on Imgur, particularly from Reddit before it introduced its own image hosting in 2016,[7] and will likely be deleted in the course of the terms of service update. This sentiment additionally generated outrage online. For example, on April 20th, 2023, Twitter user @cryptid_on_film pointed out the problems for internet history and cultural heritage which the mass deletion of old Imgur posts could cause, earning over 1,000 likes in less than a day (shown below).[4]
Many compared the move by Imgur to delete explicit content to Tumblr's 2018 adult content ban, which is often blamed for the platform's fall in popularity around that same time. Twitter user @TieflingMelissa made this point on April 20th, earning almost 2,000 likes in less than a day (seen below).[5]
On Reddit, multiple subreddits saw posts sharing news of the change in policy as it spread online, linking to the Imgur post describing the new policy and generally receiving thousands of upvotes alongside criticism in comments.[6]
External References
[2] The Verge – Imgur is banning porn and purging old anonymous uploads
[3] Twitter – @atomicthumbs
[4] Twitter – @cryptid_on_film
[5] Twitter – @TieflingMelissa
[6] Reddit – /r/technology
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![Imgur > Safety & Standards > Policies Imgur Terms of Service Update [April 19, 2023] We recently announced some changes to our Terms of Service that will be effective May 15, 2023. This help article aims to provide some clarifications on what this change entails and what those changes mean for Imgur as a whole. This change to our ToS will bring closer parity to our Community Rules and will not change anything for public posts. There are a couple of reasons we wanted to make this change, which we'll outline below. "What are we doing?" Our new Terms of Service will go into effect on May 15, 2023. We will be focused on removing old, unused, and inactive content that is not tied to a user account from our platform as well as nudity, p----------, & sexually explicit content. You will need to download/save any images that you wish to save if they no longer adhere to these Terms. Most notably, this would include explicit/pornographic content.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/list/002/574/189/d9f "universally popular web host @imgur has decided to burn their library of alexandria and destroy every old forum post with images in it, as well as all the p--- hope you didn't like tutorials on how to fix your car")
