Policy changes go into effect next month.

Online retailer Etsy will prohibit sales of most sex toys, content that depicts sex acts and genitalia, and more starting July 29.

The indie seller published its Adult Nudity and Sexual Content policy yesterday, which states that sales of adult toys that are insertable, “applied to the genitalia,” or “designed for genitals to be inserted into them” will be prohibited. That pretty much runs the gamut — dildos, vibrators, rings, plugs, and the like will be banned.

  • talEnglish
    521·
    6 months ago

    Hmm. If the concern is the Etsy brand value, I’d just spin it off into a new company that does permit it. If you’ve already built a network of people selling and buying stuff and the software to do so, terminating it just sends the value of that to zero.

        • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
          23·
          6 months ago

          Yet again, failure to enforce antitrust law is a big part of the problem.

        • greenskye@lemm.eeEnglish
          141·
          6 months ago

          The government has ceded the entirety of modern currency exchange to private companies, which is still crazy to me, but I honestly don’t see people even question it that often. As if it’s just a given that online purchases (the increasing majority of all economic activity) is subject purely to a ToS and not the laws and protections granted to us by the government.

          • treadful@lemmy.zipEnglish
            72·
            6 months ago

            As if it’s just a given that online purchases (the increasing majority of all economic activity) is subject purely to a ToS and not the laws and protections granted to us by the government.

            What? Of course they’re still subject to laws. There’s so many laws and precedent based around banking that it requires specialized lawyers.

        • kent_eh@lemmy.caEnglish
          12·
          6 months ago

          They shouldn’t be, but they have a long history of doing exactly that.

    • breadsmasher@lemmy.worldEnglish
      143·
      6 months ago

      Could be liability? Someone sells a poorly made toy which breaks inside someone. Is etsy concerned they maybe held liable for that sort of thing being allowed to be sold? I don’t know - thinking out loud

      • talEnglish
        271·
        6 months ago

        Ehh. I mean, if they were just banning sex toys, I could believe something like that, but doesn’t explain why they’d ban stuff other than sex toys simultaneously:

        Etsy is also banning nudity for human models, including “gluteal clefts and female nipples/areolas.” If you’re selling a sexy item of clothing, for example, you must censor body parts, use a mannequin, or opt for just photographing the clothing.

        “Sexual language” concerning incest or “referencing familial relationships” will also be banned now. The examples Etsy lists are “Daddy’s slut” and “Choke me Mommy.” As of publication, these terms are still searchable on Etsy, and so is nude content. Searches for “porn” come up blank.

      • greenskye@lemm.eeEnglish
        12·
        6 months ago

        Even like ‘real’ dildo manufactures tend to claim the toy is for novelty use only and don’t recommend actually using the thing as an insertable object. Adult toys aren’t really regulated, because that would mean legitimizing them which is icky to the government. So they’ll never really be regulated for health and safety

    • Rookwood@lemmy.world
      64·
      6 months ago

      Companies don’t spin-off new competition. That would get everyone of the executives and the board fired. They kill competition. That’s why it’s mergers and acquisitions. Not spin-offs that meet the needs of consumers.