A Response From A Tumblr User
This is a lie. you are lying.
You didn't hear from the general trans community, you heard from transfeminine community. The system of moderation is discriminatory towards transfeminine people.
This also was not limited to a couple weeks ago, this is happening currently. As of yesterday, April 14, 2026, it has been ongoing.
It will not 'expose Tumblr to bad actors' if you explain your moderation policy, because your moderation is -already- being abused by bad actors. you are implying that your system isn't currently being abused, this is a lie.
You imply the trade off of transparency wouldn't be worth the increase in labor. Actually, it would allow us to address it on -our end- and take steps to prevent the harassment that stems from the current abuse.
"According to third party researchers", your moderation policies disproportionately affect the trans and queer community. This is a matter of public record. your claim, that it will seem disproportionate but actually isn't, is unsubstantiated. you are lying.
Source: https://www.nyc.gov/site/cchr/enforcement/2022-settlements.page
(is your Classifier OpenAI? https://www.404media.co/tumblr-and-wordpress-to-sell-users-data-to-train-ai-tools/ not relevant this one its just being petty rn.)
You actually don't "moderate behavior", you respond to reports. You have yet to give any reason to take you at your word on the process itself. Transmisogynistic moderation was lied about for months if not years. Users only got confirmation during Matt's public melt down.
You know your *policies* fall short. You've stated as such in 2024, when you wiped your hands of responsibility for a staff member stalking and harassing a user.
Source: https://www.tumblr.com/staff/743224389484625920/a-message-from-a-few-of-the-trans-staff-at-tumblr
If you punished behavior, your CEO would not be allowed to have an account on this website.
But this is to deflect the issue raised, which is that transfeminine people are being disproportionately affected -even compared to other trans people- for "BEHAVIORS" that NON transfeminine people aren't. Identity has little, if nothing, to do about it. The moderation system is sexist. it produces misogynistic outcomes, therefore is misogynist.
This Is the exact reason people were angry at PhotoMatt.
From: https://mashable.com/article/tumblr-transphobia-matt-mullenweg
Once again, you are missing the point by conflating transfeminine/trans women/"TMA" people, ("those communities" as you call us) with the broader and less discrete LGBTQIA+ community.
Your Auto flagging system, which has been the source of a significant amount of reports and subsequent bans is not addressed at all. This is a lie by omission.
Address the issues raised and not the ones you can think up a clever thing to apologize for. You make more work for yourself when you obscure the issue. It does not matter if you are doing this intentionally.
And the most erogenous part:
"Tumblr belongs to everyone. We take that seriously, and we intend to earn back your trust." -Lie, its belongs to Automattic and the investors of such.
Source: https://www.tumblr.com/policy/en/terms-of-service
In Conclusion,
"We are not afraid to have tough discussions with you or make updates based on your feedback, though on occasion, it might take some time." -Lie, you do not address the issues and the time it takes to respond is due to backtracking and taking more time on framing this than investigating the substance of reports.
To Quote Judge Maya Gamble "You believe everything you say is true, but your beliefs do not make something true, just because you claim to think something is true does not make it true."
