CYBERSPACE — Reddit has announced an update to its Advertising Policy that officially bans all ads for “adult-oriented products and services” on the site.
Reddit posted the update from it’s Admin account today after several users began noticing that their targeted ads were no longer appearing in NSFW subreddits. Reddit responded:
We are updating our Advertising Policy to disallow NSFW ads and targeting on Reddit. Ads for adult-oriented products and services on Reddit are no longer permissible, and Not Safe For Work (typically referred to as NSFW) subreddits will no longer be eligible for ads or targeting.
We began rolling out these changes yesterday, and as of today, NSFW ads on Reddit will be rejected and no longer run. Additionally, NSFW subreddits will be removed from any campaign that may have targeted them previously, and campaigns will no longer accrue clicks or impressions on those subreddits. However, ads will continue to run on Safe for Work subreddits, if applicable.
The post went on to specifically define “adult-oriented” as including “pornographic or sexually explicit content, as well as adult sexual recreational content, products, or services.”
Notably, the ban excludes items that serve a “clinical purpose,” stating that “ads pertaining to products for the prevention of pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted infections, and erectile dysfunction are permissible.”
The new policy follows in the wake of Instagram’s latest announcement that it will begin to demote “suggestive” content, hiding borderline post from its Explore and hashtag pages.
Users have begun to respond to the announcement, some seeming to view the change as a harbinger of larger scale censorship moving into the platform.
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