Tumblr settles with NYC Commission on Human Rights over adult content ban – The Verge

Tumblr and New York City’s Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) have settled discrimination allegations related to the company’s 2018 adult content ban, which city regulators say disproportionately affected LGBTQ users. The settlement requires Tumblr to revise its user appeals process and train its human moderators on diversity and inclusion issues, as well as review thousands of old cases and hire an expert to look for potential bias in its moderation algorithms. The settlement, which did not involve a formal legal complaint and was signed last month, marks one of the first times that regulators have reached an agreement to change a social network’s moderation policies based on algorithmic bias issues. It resolves an investigation that the CCHR began in December 2018, shortly after Tumblr banned explicit sexual content and nudity — and enforced its rules with a comically inaccurate automated takedown system. In an interview with The Verge, CCHR press secretary Alicia McCauley says the agency became interested after reports that the ban would have an outsized effect on Tumblr’s LGBTQ user base. McCauley notes that New York City’s Human Rights Law provides broad protections against bias based on categories like gender identity and sexual orientation. “If someone is doing…
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