Streaming platform Pull out recently announced a change to its sexual content policy that allows some forms of fictionalized nudity – such as digital characters, sculptures or drawings – as long as they are properly identified. But now, just a few days later, it is reversing those changes and has apologized to the community.
Earlier this month, a new Twitch trend sparked a firestorm of discussions and angry men shouting about women. Some women streamed themselves from specific camera angles to appear topless. This new “topless meta” –like the whirlpool meta from before– saw some women successfully try out the trend on the streaming site, some got banned, and a A lot more guys get very angry about this. In response, Twitch stepped in on December 13th And has updated its sexual content policy, hoping to clear up some confusion and keep properly labeled adult content off the homepage but still on the site. It also officially permitted digital and fictional nudity. And two days later, Twitch seems to regret this specific decision.
In a post from December 15thTwitch CEO Dan Clancy admitted that the new policy changes allowing fictional nudity had led to a slight increase in the number of people creating content that broke the rules, but also led to an influx of nudity , which complied with the rules. The community reaction to all this new, completely permitted artistic nudity was strong and not entirely positive, leading to Twitch reversing its changes.
“That’s why, starting today, we are reversing the artistic nudity changes,” Clancy said. “Going forward, depictions of real or fictional nudity will no longer be permitted on Twitch, regardless of medium. This restriction does not apply to age-rated games. For emote-specific standards for nudity and sexual content, see the Emote Guidelines.”
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Pull out suggested that the company had gone “too far” in changing its nudity policy. It went on to explain that digital nudity presents a “unique challenge” because AI-generated images can look photorealistic, but are still technically digital, fictional characters.
While Twitch is rolling back its artistic nudity policy, the company clarified that the other changes that affect exotic dancing, body painting or content focusing on specific clothed body parts will not be rolled back.
“While I wish we had anticipated this outcome, part of our job is to make adjustments that serve the community,” Clancy said. “I apologize for any confusion this update has caused.”
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