eBay To Approve Ban On Sexually Explicit Materials Starting June 15

American multinational e-commerce corporation, eBay expressed its commitment to maintaining a safe and trusted marketplace by banning the sales of most sexually explicit material starting June 15, 2021.

Items showing sexual content or sexually suggestive poses will no longer be allowed on eBay.com. The “Everything Else > Adult Only” will no longer be available as a category. No new listings will be allowed in the Adult Only category.

eBay’s new policy classifies sexually explicit materials as “showing any part of male or female genitalia, anus, or female breasts where the areola or nipple is visible.” It goes on to say that those same bits don’t get a pass if they’re covered by see-through material or confined by tight clothing. The policy also classifies “people engaged in sexual contact or activity” as nudity.

The company declares that “most adult-only items are prohibited” and includes “sexually explicit anime, comics, books, films, animation, manga, hentai, yaoi” as among the things considered adult only.

The policy, as written, would appear to ban the sale of Game of Thrones, where “sexposition” was all the rage, as well as films like Blue is the Warmest Color. Your favorite romance novel would be safe (images, not words, appear to be the problem) but Alan Moore’s epic comic collection Lost Girls, where Wendy from Peter Pan and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz just really go at it in more pages than I personally wanted to see, would not. Explicit comics, explicit manga, hentai, and yaoi, which a pedantic might say are all the same thing, would be forbidden under the policy as well, theverge reported.

The policy does, however, carve out an exemption for Playboy, Playgirl, Mayfair, and Penthouse. Tasteful nudes sold in the Art section would also be allowed provided poses are acceptable and there are no sexual acts. What that means for prints of any version of Leda and the Swan is up to eBay.

The same would likely go for the complete works of Katsushika Hokusai. The artist is best known for his woodblock print series featuring Mount Fuji, but was also known for his extremely explicit woodblock print erotica—including one of the earliest instances of “tentacle porn”.

Sex toys with packaging that are not sexually explicit will be allowed because this sex toy package is not opened or exposed.