[Update #2:] DeviantArt responded to the article, stating that they won’t be changing what sort of content is allowed on the platform when DeviantArt Eclipse rolls out.
There will be no change in the type of content allowed on DeviantArt as a result of DeviantArt Eclipse.
— DeviantArt (@DeviantArt) April 21, 2020
However, more cases censorship have surfaced, where fanart of certain characters is being purged from the platform because the moderation staff claims that the characters are canonically “underage”. In some other cases fanart is being purged due to DMCA claims issued by the rights holders. So even if their official terms of service policy isn’t being changed, there’s still a lot of underlying censorship taking place, and it’s best to backup your art if you don’t want it lost in a DeviantArt purge.
[Update #1:] Following the publication of this article Penjelum was permanently banned from DeviantArt on April 20th, 2020. They posted a final edit to the journal, which reads…
As of today, my account has been indefinitely banned for reasons unknown. Most likely an attempt to silence me, and they had taken offense to my journal against them. To any watchers or users who are here because of the journal. Know that I can no longer edit or update that journal, but only update my deviations. This is my last form of communication to you.
[Original article:] “They’re coming for everything you love!” is what we warned people about for years, but those warnings went unheeded as people claimed it was “conspiracy theories” and ramblings of mad men. However, we’ve seen a steady increase in censorship over the years ranging across the media spectrum, with some of the really big censorship cases involving purges on Twitter and Tumblr. Well, there are rumors floating around that later this year when DeviantArt Eclipse rolls out they will be purging content marked Not Safe For Work, or lewd content in general, not unlike Tumblr.
There are no verified reports about this, just someone in the DeviantArt community is warning their followers and fellow artists about the impending changes so that they can migrate their content over to other services and they don’t get blindsided.
DeviantArt user Penjelum penned the warning in a journal post about what was coming down the pipeline that they learned from someone who wanted to volunteer at DeviantArt. The post was published on April 18th, 2020, with Penjelum writing…
“An IRL friend who’s been declined to volunteer at DA informed me they’ve overheard that upon Eclipse full release. A new policy revision will be issued that lewd / sexually suggestive / NSFW / fetish content will be removed. This’ll be done as indiscreetly as possible to scrub the platform clean. Tumblr is the best example of this situation.
“NOTE: Eclipse is expected to be finished by the end of this year, and that is when their new policy revisions will be put in place. You have plenty of time to migrate, organize, and change how your content is made and posted.”
The change allegedly comes down from DeviantArt wanting to change its corporate image in the public sphere in order to increase sponsorships and outside funding.
Some people contended that DeviantArt hasn’t made any official announcements about policy changes or scrubbing the site of NSFW content, therefore it won’t happen. Even still, keep in mind that Tumblr pulled a similar tactic when they went scorched Earth and rolled out the new policy change out of the blue, nuking countless accounts in the process.
Others claimed that DeviantArt already has submission policies in place regarding NSFW content via the “What Is Mature Content” page, and therefore they won’t be changing the terms of service.
Penjelum responded to some of these claims by saying…
“Right, and this much is obvious as of right now, but this depends on the completion of DeviantArt Eclipse. Tumblr had offered the ability to see 18+ content before through an activation slider on the settings section of your profile. They allowed this content before, but now they don’t and they have completely prohibited it all together.
“DA’s plan is to roll out this TOS revision on the day of Eclipese release. To push their public perception away from the idea that it’s a fetish and porn site, and strictly become an art website. I’ll remind you that this information is verbal and comes from a real contact that has overheard and been declined volunteering before at DeviantArt. I have no reason to doubt their words on this, and I am not surprised by this information.”
Keep in mind that this is all hearsay.
We have no proof this is what DeviantArt wants to do and no proof that this is what they are planning on doing.
However, DeviantArt has been incrementally removing certain kinds of NSFW artwork and photography over the years, at first prohibiting any hardcore or explicit art and then eventually prohibiting certain kinds of art that users reported as being “pornographic”.
Many people denied that this was happening, claiming that DeviantArt allows NSFW content, therefore no bans were happening. However, across various DeviantArt journals, it was being discreetly discussed among the community how DeviantArt was ramping up the censorship and banning artists, as outlined in a post from IWishForAFish back on July 5th, 2018.
Simply put: Just because some of the NSFW art or artists you followed or liked weren’t banned didn’t mean it wasn’t happening.
Penjelum points out that the inconsistent bans comes down from incompetent management, writing in the post…
“DeviantArt brushes off a lot due to incompetent management and vague terms of service. Users have the ability to self-moderate with the flagging system, so 95% of all violations that are taken care of are noticed from DA members. However only 10% of those reports are effective, because of the vague policies. Using the flagging system too much results in a permanent account suspension, or they temporarily disable your self-moderation abilities. Reminder that reporting too much can cause this even if it is an accurate report.
“Art Theft is brushed off, because vague policies. They don’t teach you how to file a report ticket to the help desk unless you look it up in a google search. Stolen art will only be removed if it is reported accurately through a DMCA take down. Harassment, and pedophilia are quite easily not bothered with simply because they’re unable to control it effectively. They’re not paying attention as much as they used to, and therefor gotten away with unscathed.
“DeviantArt neglects scams, and point hoarding. In the event you are accepting point commissions from anyone on this platform. Your money is your responsibility despite it being their platform currency. If you are banned and have a lot of points, they will NOT REFUND anyone that has commissioned you, nor will they allow you to repay the commissioner back the money you were given. Essentially your money is lost in the void never to be retrieved again.”
Ultimately, Penjelum is less concerned about the censorship and more about DeviantArts lack of transparency and opaque policies.
At the end of the post they suggest for artists to safeguard their work on other platforms: Newgrounds for hand drawn art and animations, and Furrynetwork, Weasyl, Toyhou.se or Artri.se for 3D scene makers and SFM porn artists, since photography and real people aren’t allowed on Newgrounds. They also suggest 500PX for photographers.
However, the real story here is the broadening censorship of DeviantArt, if it turns out that it’s true the terms of service is being overhauled with DeviantArt Eclipse at the end of the year.
I imagine the Centrists™ will brush this under the rug, as they’ve done every single other time censorship news popped up, downplaying the possibility with deflections such as “My artist friend draws NSFW art, and they’re fine so there’s nothing to worry about” and “Why would DeviantArt purge NSFW content? They would never do that!”. Even if this rumor turns out to fall flat on its face, if there’s even a hint of truth to it then take heed and backup all of your DeviantArt work on the aforementioned services, because it’s better to play it safe than end up as another victim of a Tumblr-tier expulsion apocalypse.
(Thanks for the news tip Dickie Peterson 64)
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