We know it's been a long time, and that this community mattered a lot. The decision to shut it down was not made lightly. So, in the interests of transparency, here's a full account of our reasoning and our thoughts for what a community could look like for TBDLs in the future.
NUK The World was a Discord community and forum for teens with paraphilic infantilism. That's a fancy way of saying teens who like diapers and being babied. There are countless thriving online communities for adults with paraphilic infantilism (usually called Adult Babies or ABDLs) but providing the same thing for teens was always tricky. NUK The World was our attempt at building a home for teens with infantilism that was truly safe.
We were known for being one of the stricter communities out there–one Disboard review made us chuckle when it said “no horny or the mods will ban your ass”–but we also really think that's why we lasted so long. We didn't allow any diaperpics, questionable art or stories, or mature roleplay; and we had a great mod staff who didn't let any unsafe teen behavior stand.
These things never happen for one reason. There are several.
1.) Deplatforming and the constant threat of it. Being former TBDLs ourselves, we understand that this doesn't go away and that teens need someplace safe to talk about it online. Unfortunately, the world–and specifically, large internet communities–does not see it this way. Reddit banned our subreddit in 2019 under its “sexualization of minors” policy despite our careful and strict enforcement against any sexual content at all. We had taken over that subreddit from someone else who didn't moderate it at all, and we had just finished cleaning house when this happened.
We never got banned from Discord. We were reported and investigated several times, but a Discord support rep who was very committed to their job took the time to read our responses, check out our rules and our moderation practices, and concluded that we were worthy of staying. To that support rep, thank you. We continued on for another four years after you checked things out and added a note on our server for other support/abuse staff in case we ever got investigated again.
Unfortunately, Disboard (a third party site to list, search and review Discord servers) did not address us with the same level of dedication, and we were told there's no way around Disboard's ban. Likewise for Discord.me, which banned us in December 2024.
While promoting our own server is possible, it's more work than it's worth to us, and doesn't give us the same reach. Advertising on other TBDL servers is also tricky, because that requires there to be other TBDL servers, and they have to at least not stretch the rules so far that we would be willing to publicly associate with them.
Unfortunately, there's not many other options here. We believe that at present, ABDL/TBDL are not well-understood enough to be seen as a valid cause that would protect a well-moderated community from the risk of deplatforming.
2.) A lack of adults to help run the place. There is a dearth of responsible adults in the ABDL community who both care enough to defy the “NMIK” (“No Minors In Kink”) crowd, and have enough integrity to not abuse the access they have. An adult who meets both of those initial selectors also needs to have enough financial stability, time, technical knowledge, people skills and motivation to run such a community. Those are a lot of qualifications.
We don't really have any adults with these traits right now. The last owner of the place doesn't have the time to really invest in this community to the level it needs and deserves, especially if we are to build something that really ticks all the boxes.
3.) Quitting while we're ahead puts us in a position to restart strong. Other TBDL communities went down in flames after scandals, got banned from every platform they ever established themselves on because their rules were too lax, or turned into adults-only spaces and have no hope of really ever going back.
By quitting now, without any scandals or drama to trash our reputation, we are hoping to preserve the chance to start afresh in the future. While we have no current plans or dates to share, nothing has been permanently deleted. We've preserved our Discord server, forum, and all code, tools and internal documentation in the event we choose to relaunch in the future.
NUK The World started life as /r/Teen_ABDL and later /r/TBDL. From those two humble little subreddits was birthed a community that helped give hope to several hundred teens during years of their lives that were tumultuous, confusing and sometimes traumatizing.
NUK The World was about far more than just teens who liked diapers. In our server, we saw life-long friendships take form. We saw real support and caring take place. We saw gender identities and orientations get figured out and affirmed for the first time, stories of broken homes exchanged, career hopes and dreams shared, and newly minted young adults confidently step into the fullness of life.
The beauty of the formation of identity, and with it self-confidence, that NUK The World facilitated is not lost on us–and we hope that you, whoever you are, will take a moment to appreciate this beauty too.
These types of interactions only take place in a context where teens feel safe, and so we first want to thank everyone who was ever a member of staff. To that group of wonderful humans: you created this. You built and kept up that safe place. It was sometimes very emotionally and mentally taxing work, but hundreds of insecure and lonely TBDLs around the world are now young adults who believe in themslves because of your work. And you defied norms and conventions for this cause.
Our efforts are on pause right now, but the mission has not ended. Some day, ABDL will be just as normal as being gay or trans, and major platforms will allow support communities for teens to exist. Hopefully during our lifetimes. When that happens, we'll be here, ready to welcome you.
NUK The World admin