Etsy sex toy and porn purge: Marketplace wields sexual content axe, with changes coming into effect July 29
Etsy is banning the sale of genital-contact sex toys on its US e-commerce site, as well as banning porn and other highly-explicit visual content. The company said it was updating its adult nudity and sexual content policy so it can “continue to keep our users safe”.
The site, founded in 2005, is arguably best known for its arty furniture and vintage-chic handmade knick-knacks, which have become a favorite of AirBnB hosts everywhere. However, Etsy, which works as an online retail platform for third-party sellers, also offers many sextech and other adult-orientated products, which might well have come as a bit of a surprise to many.
For example, a search on the site on July 1, 2024 found huge swathes of vibrators for sale, plus cock ring-style products advertised with explicit photos of a semi-erect penis.
This corner of Etsy is going to be significantly curtailed from July 29, when the new content policy kicks in. Sex toys that are designed to be inserted into the body or applied to genitals will be banned, meaning that vibrators, anal plugs, sex dolls and penis strokers will be among the product styles heading out of the window.
Some non-insertable and non-penetrable adult sex-related toys, which tend to be non-techy, will still be allowed to be sold on Etsy. The site said that items such as handcuffs, nipple clamps, sex furniture and BDSM accessories should be able to pass the new content rules.
However, the new content policy stipulates that sexually explicit or suggestive items such as these will need to be marked as ‘mature content’ by sellers. Etsy says that for items in this category, main thumbnail product photos need to be appropriate for general audiences. Etsy added that in other product photos, “depictions of genitalia or images of sexual wellness items in use must be entirely removed, censored, or blurred when they appear in the first image of a listing.”
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Porn is also set to be banned on the site, along with “printed or visual materials that explicitly describe or display sex acts, sex organs, or other erotic behavior for the purpose of sexual arousal or stimulation.” This includes vintage copies of publications such as Playboy, too.
Etsy clarified that “human genitalia, anuses, gluteal clefts, and female nipples/areolas may not be visible” on the site.
It added that it doesn’t allow “photographs or photo-realistic depictions of sex acts, genitalia or anuses, even if they are obscured in listing images. We do allow photos and photo-realistic depictions of buttocks and nipples, so long as these body parts are obscured in the first listing image.”
Some of the language in Etsy’s adult content clarification made us wonder what the heck was being sold in some of the less-visited corners of the site. The clarification notice states that Etsy doesn’t allow items “bearing sexual language or slogans that contain references to familial relationships”, giving the examples “Daddy’s slut” and “Choke me Mommy” as phrases that would violate this policy.
So, why is Etsy suddenly getting spooked by the presence of penises, vaginas, vibrators, clit-sucking devices, suspect family-related sex phrases, and all manner of other adult content and products? eBay made a similar content policy update in 2021, banning “sexually oriented materials” from the retail site.
Announcing the policy updates, the site didn’t offer an explanation less vague than saying it was “committed to enabling creative expression, while also ensuring content is appropriate for a wide audience.”
In a post on Etsy’s online forum, the site’s Vice President of trust and safety Alice Wu Paulus wrote: “We carefully crafted this policy with the goal of continuing to enable creative expression and the spirit of our marketplace, while taking into account evolving industry standards and best practices so that we can continue to keep our users safe.”
The move comes at a time when many social media sites are cracking down on porn, nudity and other adult content on their platforms. Also in the US, lawmakers in many states are putting pressure on porn sites to ensure that minors don’t access them, by toughening age verification rules for porn site access.
It could well be the case that Etsy, aware of the squeezes, figures that the loss in sextech sales will be worth it if the site can avoid being dragged into adult content battles akin to these.
For many online shoppers, though, the policy change announcement will mark the first time they were aware that Etsy sold such products—and allowed full-frontal nudity to advertise them—in the first place.
We have to admit that we had no idea that a range of [NSFW] Sea Monster Dildos were available on Etsy, among all those lovely home-made lanterns and candlesticks.
Well, available until July 28.
