Twitch Reverses Policy That Allowed Nudity on Platform
By Movieguide® Contributor
Last week, the popular live-streaming platform Twitch announced a new policy that broadened its tolerance for nudity on the site. However, after widespread backlash, the company reversed its decision, reverting to its previous rules.
The new guidelines allowed for “artistic” depictions of nudity, including drawings, animations, sculptures and other forms of art that “deliberately” highlighted breasts, buttocks and the pelvic region. The new policy also allowed for sexual dances such as twerking and pole dancing. Following this change, the platform was flooded with extremely sexual content.
“Upon reflection, we have decided that we went too far with this change,” said Twitch CEO Dan Clancy. “Moving forward, depictions of real or fictional nudity won’t be allowed on Twitch, regardless of the medium.”
The company further explained that its decision to revert its policy came largely from difficulties presented by AI-generated art, which can result in hyper-realistic images.
“Digital depictions of nudity present a unique challenge – artificial intelligence can be used to create realistic images, and it can be hard to distinguish between digital art and photography,” Clancy said.
The reversal in policy by the streaming platform was a wise decision as the user base is largely made up of “children and teenagers who enjoy watching streams of games like ‘Minecraft,’ ‘Fortnite’ and ‘Roblox,'” Forbes reported. Even under the stricter guidelines, sexual content has pervaded the site for years as Twitch streamers look to subvert the company’s policies and exploit their sexuality.
Furthermore, live streamers already face a plethora of sexual harassment, which would have only gotten worse under the new policy as more people came to the site purely for sexual content.
Therefore, reverting the website’s policy on sexual content not only makes the site safer for its younger audience but also protects the streamers on the site who don’t want to leverage their sexuality.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Twitch, a popular live-streaming platform, has made a change in its sexual content policy, broadening its tolerance for nudity on the site.
“There is a thriving artist community on Twitch, and this policy was overtly punitive and did not reflect the impact of the content,” the company said about the change.
Under the new guidelines, “artistic” depictions of nudity – those drawn, animated or sculpted – are now permitted. Artists on the site can now show “fully exposed female-presenting breasts and/or genitals or buttocks regardless of gender.” Art of overt sexual acts – including masturbation – however, remains banned on the site.
The new guidelines also loosened the rules on streamers themselves, now allowing for content that “deliberately highlight[s] breasts, buttocks or [the] pelvic region,” along with body painting on “female presenting breasts and/or buttocks regardless of gender.” Sexual dances, such as “twerking, grinding and pole dancing,” are also now permitted.
- Content: +1Share:
- Content: +1