Twitch pushes back after nudity changes: ‘We’ve gone too far’

Two days after live-streaming platform Twitch is reverting to its old rules banning “artistic” and “fictional” nudity, CEO Dan Clancy wrote Friday that some streamers have gone too far with the newly loosened rules.

“Some streams, in response to this update, have created content that violates our new guidelines. We worked quickly to remove that content and issue channel enforcement,” Clancy said on Twitch. Blog post.

However, there was also a lot of new content that was allowed under the updated policy. Much of the content generated is linked to community concerns. These are concerns we share,” Clancy added.

of New rules regarding nudity The “artistic” or fictional meaning, which was briefly established this week, allowed streamers to broadcast any form of nudity as long as it was done by an artist. But some streams quickly Distribution content It can be considered. Borderline pornography, Disturbing nudity contentOr they fall under the category of what some call “.hentai” (an anime-style depiction of profanity).

Twitch viewers posted a screenshot “Art” category is broken Those with obvious stream titles like big dicks, breasts and naked characters – or things like “How is this allowed?!” Others, like shipping firm Cloud9, cracked jokes about the reduced restrictions.

A Twitter user a Suggestive meme Twitch effectively promotes porn with its new rules. And other Twitter users have accused such “artistic” nudity content of being “recommended” on the platform for users under the age of 18.

“On reflection, we've decided we've gone too far with this change,” Clancy said in Friday's update. “Digital images of nudity pose a unique challenge – AI can be used to create realistic images, and it can be difficult to distinguish between digital art and photography.”

With the rise of generative AI art tools like Midjourney this year, artificial intelligence has been used to generate nude images all over the internet – images that can range from cartoons to photographic models. Deep liars who do not agree of real people.

Under Twitch's more lax rules, which were briefly instituted earlier this week, AI-generated “artistic” nudity could have been licensed to other streamers without their permission, while technically following Twitch's guidelines on artistic nudity. But since Twitch's Community Guidelines broadly prohibit “deeply spoofing images of an identified person,” a gray area between art and reality soon emerged.

Twitch, like TikTok, TwitterAnd the rest of social media is based on audience attention, often labeled “”.Focus economy,” to be successful. Over the years, several surprising, headline-generating “metas” or trends have emerged. TremblingEspecially among female-label streams, it is part of the effort to stand out from the pack.

from Hot tub streams to the Ear-licking ASMR trendsTwitch recently saw a “Topless” trend. In it, the creators appear to be bare-chested—but without showing their nipples.

After a while “Topless” Twitch streams are bannedplatform It has released extensive updates. On its sexual content policy, which allows artistic and fictional nudity, as well as behaviors like swinging and pole dancing—as long as it's not in a nudist club.

Twitch CEO Mary Kish said in October. Decrypt It is what he said. Twitch is a “very safe” platform Like Kik – but compared to Kik's rivals for creators Community guidelines Similarly, banning “pornography”, when implemented, requires 18+ content warnings, and prohibits any acts of “discrimination” or “hate speech”.

Under Twitch's Friday update, the platform appears to be rolling back its subsidy of nudity in art and fiction — mature games with nudity will still be allowed on the site.

Twitch has yet to respond. DecryptRequest for additional feedback.

Edited by Andrew Hayward.