Tumblr's Silent Crackdown on VPNs

Right as I started typing this post...

My sister and niece were on their way to the hospital when they got rear-ended and thus ended up at a different hospital. Thankfully, no one was injured but the car got FUCKED! I won't show pictures for privacy reasons, but it looked like someone smashed a tin can. The exhaust was hanging out the back as it got dragged away like it was fucking entrails or something. Good lord. I'm glad my family's ok.

So, about Tumblr

In my previous post, I mentioned the sudden deletion of my Tumblr account. I contacted support, but even over a week later I haven't gotten any sort of official response. I attempted to make a new account but that one was taken out within minutes. At that moment, I thought I must've broken some sort of TOS. Maybe it was copyright infringement, or maybe it was that weird anon who harrassed me over my gender for no goddamn reason a couple years ago.



The fact I hadn't gotten a response was still bugging me today, so I looked up to see who else's accounts have been terminated within the past month. My search led me to r/TumblrAcctTerminated where, sure enough, I got the answer I was looking for.

The Culprit: VPNs, baby

I had my suspicions and I feel so fuckin validated right now. :3 It turns out when Tumblr detects an immediate change in location (as a VPN is known to do), it immediately terminates the user's account. No warning, no explanation. Nothing. To be fair, their TOS does say they don't have to disclose the reason for an account's closure. It's just dumb as fuck. This is an issue that's already happened to multiple users already (1, 2, 3, 4), but Tumblr has made no public statement regarding the error. According to a post made by one of these users, Tumblr support has said that accounts with this type of activity get flagged by their anti-spam measures. The existence of said anti-spam measures are, I think, the most shocking part of this whole ordeal.

So, where does that leave me?

I dunno. Contacting Tumblr support has been as good for me as shoving a stick up my ass, so I guess I'll try the more sure-fire method of getting a response: complaining on Reddit. Doesn't the internet make so much sense?

A word on VPNs

Man... We VPN users got it rough out here lately. First we're potentially facing the Restrict Act and now this. I don't think the Restrict Act will make VPNs illegal, but I think it's one of the most piece-of-shit proposals I've ever bore witness to. And I was in the anime trenches when Bill 156 was passed in Japan! Every day, the US government makes up excuses to make the basic right of privacy illegal. Privacy tools like Tor, VPNs, and encrypted messengers don't deserve any bad rep they get for the potential of crime to happen through them. Some of us bitches just don't want targeted ads!! Fuckers!! BTW, those deep-web assassins you find are probably just edgy teenagers trying to scam you out of your money. Red Rooms don't exist either. OK BYE BITCH