- The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Verizon was trying to sell the blogging site Tumblr.
- PornHub’s vice president told BuzzFeed that the porn site was interested in acquiring Tumblr, which banned adult content in December to the dismay of many users.
- PornHub says it would revoke this ban.
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With Verizon said to be preparing to sell Tumblr, one company has already expressed an interest in buying the blogging site.
PornHub’s vice president, Corey Price, told BuzzFeed in an email that PornHub was interested in acquiring Tumblr, with a view to revoking the adult-content ban Tumblr introduced in December. The ban angered some users, who viewed the site as a haven for more marginalized sexual groups.
“Tumblr was a safe haven for those who wanted to explore and express their sexuality, adult entertainment aficionados included,” he said.
“We’ve long been dismayed that such measures were taken to eradicate erotic communities on the platform, leaving many individuals without an asylum through which they could comfortably peruse adult content.”
Tumblr had a reputation for hosting pornography for young women and queer people - groups whose interests are often ignored in mainstream pornography. PornHub seized on the ban at the time:
https://twitter.com/Pornhub/status/1069984706521747458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Verizon was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Business Insider.
While PornHub is touting itself as the knight in shining armor to bring porn back to Tumblr, TechCrunch's Josh Constine cautioned against the company's public-relations offensive.
"Given Pornhub parent company MindGeek's record of exploitation of adult performers, that could be a disastrous proceeding for the world of kink," Constine wrote. MindGeek also owns YouPorn and RedTube.
Constine argues that by acquiring Tumblr, MindGeek would be able to monopolize and exploit porn bloggers.