It’s already happened on Tumbler, Squidoo, Imgur and many other social media platforms in between and over the years. Brace yourselves. Word on the street is that a ban on all adult content on X/Twitter is now slowly taking effect.
I’m not a journalist or a researcher – so don’t quote me, but it seems this was first brought to light in a big way by a Rolling Stone article in August. Then last week TechCrunch went into more detail, explaining it has something to do with a Twitter/X (I’m just going to call it Twitter) feature known as “Community Notes”:
“Under Musk’s leadership, X has become increasingly hostile toward nudity and explicit content. This week, X started flagging NSFW posts as “sensitive material,” as Rolling Stone reported, and restricting flagged accounts to limit their reach. Sex workers said their engagement tanked and their accounts no longer show up in X’s search, even if they weren’t notified about being flagged.” – TechCrunch
Extent of the Twitter “Porn” Restriction?
Follow the links above to learn more about the specifics, but personally I have a few thoughts on the matter. And so many questions for Elon.
- “Sensitive Material” is a super-vague classification. What will Twitter define as “porn” vs. nudity? Will it allow bare behinds like are still acceptable on Instagram? What about lingerie photos? How far is he going to take this?
- Has Elon given any thought to the legions of adult performers and “sex workers” who utilize Twitter as a major (or their only) revenue stream? I doubt it, otherwise there would have been an official announcement with a timeline attached – as opposed to a slow shadow-banning the media had to call out first.
- Doesn’t this new crackdown go against everything Elon Musk has been shouting from the rooftops in terms of free speech?
- Will this ban have indirect effects on larger issues like the ongoing legal case of Ron Jeremy? As social media platforms tighten their regulations around sensitive content, such cases that draw attention to the adult industry may experience more scrutiny.
Let me be clear about something – children should be protected from many types of sensitive content, and when that restriction is the priority I support it 100%. Twitter, however, isn’t known for that demographic – and anyone under the age of 18 looking for adult material with an internet connection can find it in about 1.3 seconds. Twitter doesn’t even enter into that equation. Drop in the bucket.
We’ve been struggling to strike a balance between ensuring safety and preserving the rights of all users for over 20 years now. So, where will this all lead? How many hard-working adult industry people will have the rug pulled out from under them? And when will Twitter be honest about what they are doing in the shadows?
I’ll keep an eye on it, believe me, and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.