Last week Tumblr announced a new content policy that is aimed at cracking down on Thinspiration websites. 'We are deeply committed to supporting and defending our users’ freedom of speech, but we do draw some limits,' the statement on the Tumblr staff blog reads. 'As a company, we’ve decided that some specific kinds of content aren’t welcome on Tumblr. For example, we prohibit spam and identity theft.'

But their decision to tackle the issue has been met with mixed results. Whilst many have praised the platform to taking such a strong step, bloggers that use these sites have been openly criticised the effect that this new policy will have. One  argued that this will actually make sufferers feel more isolated and alone while another claimed that such sites are actually helpful because others often encourage sufferers to seek help.

The issue has caused so much controversy that bloggers have actually created a petition against the ban. 'We, as the users of Tumblr, often post or reblog content such as this, but NOT for the purposes of encouraging others, or ourselves, to engage in damaging behaviour, or for the purpose of triggering our own or others' mental disorders,' it reads. 'We simply post this content because it is an accurate representation of our own thoughts and feelings that we would not otherwise be able to express: to us it is a form of therapy. We feel that taking this form of self-expression away from us would serve no other purpose than to damage us. This content is not posted with malicious intent: indeed, many of us have "trigger warnings" or disclaimers on our blogs stating this.'

We had a quick search on Tumblr and found that many thinspiration sites still remain and of those that have shut down, they've all simply moved to Pintrest as a result.

So what do you think? Where Tumblr right not to shy away from the issue or is this not actually going to make a difference?