Reddit announced this week that it will allow users to upload NSFW images from desktops to communities limited to adults.
As TechCrunch initially reported, the feature, which was already available on Reddit’s mobile app, comes days after image-hosting site Imgur said it would ban explicit photos from May 15.
In its announcement on the r/modnews subreddit, Reddit said this about the feature: “This now gives us feature parity with our mobile apps, which (as you know) already has this functionality. You must set your community to 18+ if your community’s content will primarily be not safe for work (NSFW).
RedditMeanwhile, Imgur’s decision to ban adult uploads came in order to “protect the future of the Imgur community” as explicit content formed a risk to the image hosting site’s “community and its business.”
The move by Reddit to allow NSFW uploads contrasts with an April decision by the social media company to limit access to mature content via its Data API. At the time, Reddit said the decision was part “of an ongoing effort to provide guardrails to how sexually explicit content and communities on Reddit are discovered and viewed.”
When asked by a user about whether allowing NSFW desktop uploads would mean a U-turn on uploading mature content via Reddit’s API, an admin said it was something that the company was “still discussing.”
