Well, that didn’t last long.
Just two days after announcing a slew of new policies loosening the reins on artistic nudity and “sexual content,” Twitch has decided some mistakes were made.
“Effective today, we are rolling back the artistic nudity changes,” Twitch CEO Dan Clancy wrote in a statement. “Moving forward, depictions of real or fictional nudity won’t be allowed on Twitch, regardless of the medium.”
The prior update allowed for “fictionalized (drawn, animated, or sculpted) fully exposed female-presenting breasts and/or genitals or buttocks regardless of gender,” along with several other policy adjustments making room for content deliberately highlighting fully clothed “breasts, buttocks or pelvic region,” “body writing on female-presenting breasts and/or buttocks regardless of gender,” and erotic dances.
However, Clancy specifically pointed to concerns over AI-generated nudity when addressing the quick reversal, noting that it “can be hard to distinguish between digital art and photography.”
“Much of the content created has been met with community concern. These are concerns we share,” he wrote. “Upon reflection, we have decided that we went too far with this change.”
In the two days that streamers were able to test the limits of Twitch’s new sexual content policies, NBC News notes that the platform was flooded with “pornographic drawings and animation,” seemingly including graphic depictions of minors. Considering the legalities between actual photographs and art showing minors in sexually suggestive situations often differ, being unable to differentiate between the two thanks to AI could certainly create a host of problems for Twitch.
The sexual content guidelines were initially adjusted in response to backlash over policies that “resulted in female-presenting streamers being disproportionately penalized,” specifically referring to the banning of content highlighting fully clothed breasts.
“Streamers found it difficult to determine what was prohibited and what was allowed and often evaluating whether or not a stream violated this portion of the policy was subjective,” the initial blog post read. The updated policy allowing for this type of content, but requiring it to carry a Sexual Themes Label, will stay in place.
Twitch’s entire current policy for sexual content and adult nudity can be found here—provided it hasn’t shifted again by Monday.
