Flickr is building the world’s first truly safe space for ALL photographers. It is a placer that allows everyone to be inspired, connect with others, and share photography banned on other platforms.

Flickr, the world’s largest independent photographer-focused community, is fundamentally changing the way photographers safely connect with each other, share their art and work, and find inspiration in all its forms. This includes photography often removed or outright banned on other platforms.

Until now, photographers have faced bans and deletion from nearly every online photography community, or at best operated in an ambiguous gray area, including on Flickr. Starting today, that all changes. From now on, photographers are encouraged to discover, share, and interact with photography without fear of removal. Photographers who create work that might otherwise be considered risqué by some will have a safe place online to interact with one another. They can share mutual interests, and put their art into the world. And they can do this without the fear of it being removed or them being banned entirely from the communities they’re a part of.

Updated moderate or restricted content allowance

Photographers who don’t share this passion will discover that all of their favorite Flickr communities have become even safer. There are fewer moderate or restricted photographs showing up unexpectedly. Unlike other photography platforms, Flickr chooses the specific terms, moderate and restricted in order to filter content accurately. They do this in order to destigmatize the actual content of the art from ambiguous, negative, catchall terms. All of Flickr’s millions of communities will be safer and more inclusive, no matter what their focus is.

Flickr users who choose to upload content that falls under Restricted or Moderate categories will be able to post them with a Flickr Pro account. A Flickr Pro account cost starts at $8.25 monthly or $72 yearly.

“This move will enable more photographers to practice their craft fully.”

Don MacAskill, CEO of Flickr

Don also says, “To us, that means they’re not just creating photography that can only live on their camera, but that they also have a home and a community to share those photographs with. By asking members with this type of content to subscribe to Flickr Pro, we can devote more resources to ensuring that their communities remain safe and well-regulated.”

Flickr began in 2004 as one of the earliest photo-sharing sites. It has grown into a community of hundreds of millions of photographers, and millions of thriving communities worldwide. Sister photo-sharing platform SmugMug bought Flickr in 2018.

Flickr Pro users can upload unlimited numbers of photos, but in refining the terms of service. MacAskill points out that “Flickr is a community-first platform, not just a storage solution.”

New terms of service

The new Terms of Service maintain the 1,000 photo limit for free users, with 50 nonpublic uploads allowed. Content that would be considered moderate or restricted per Flickr’s community guidelines is now exclusively part of their Pro membership.

“The same photography that was shocking and edge-pushing 30, 40, and 50 years ago is extremely commonplace today even in safe, regulated places,” says MacAskill. “What was once taboo is now widely accepted. Many online platforms are currently banning and deleting content that will likely stop being controversial someday. We want to be proactive about the audiences we know we’ll be serving well into the future. We also want to preserve the legacy of photography being created today.”

The new terms of service will become effective in the second quarter.