LOS ANGELES — Declaring that “protecting our community is now up to us,” free adult video site xHamster has released a statement on the #TumblrGate controversy.
According to xHamster VP Alex Hawkins, now that Tumblr has banned adult content, the writing is on the wall: sites such as xHamster must step up.
Hawkins’ statement is as follows:
“When Tumblr banned porn, it demolished entire communities. Just as they have with Facebook and YouTube and Instagram and Patreon, sexual communities once again find themselves pushed to the margins and silenced.
What happens when Twitter bans adult performers, or Reddit? Our community already maintains tenuous existence online, with shadowbanning and blocked accounts and suspensions with no explanation, no apology, and no recourse.
The rules are vague and selectively enforced. What you can post, and what you can monetize, are different if you are LGBTQ, or into BDSM or a sex worker. They are different [if] you are a porn star, than if you are Kim Kardashian. (And oh! The irony in that!).
We have always considered ourselves a social network, as well as a tube site. We built in functionality like feeds and profiles and community interfaces. Our most valued users aren't those who watch the most, but who use the site as their online home.
Now the closure of Tumblr and the foreseeable closure of the remaining sites present us with an imperative — to build out a truly adult social network. As we speak, we are reviewing our existing functionality, looking at our resources and looking at what we can do to create real social networks for those who work, love and thrive in our industry.
We invite adult performers, fans and activists who don’t already have profiles on the site to create them and begin helping us build. More importantly, to give us feedback on what and how we can build out xHamster to better serve the needs of the community.
We call on other sites to expand their capabilities as well. This isn’t about competition or market share, this is about using our power to provide a safe, stable, powerful platform to communicate with one another, and run their businesses.
Because it’s clear that the tech giants will never protect us. It’s only a matter of time.”
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