Elon Musk’s social media platform X, formerly Twitter, has officially announced a shift in its content policies, now permitting pornographic material.

In a statement, X announced the launch of updated policies regarding “Adult Content and Violent Content” on its platform. These new policies aim to provide greater “clarity” regarding the rules governing such content and increase “transparency in their enforcement”. 

These policies replace the “former Sensitive Media and Violent Speech policies”, they said, even though the underlying principles of enforcement remain unchanged.

“Users should be able to create, distribute, and consume material related to sexual themes as long as it is consensually produced and distributed. Sexual expression, whether visual or written, can be a legitimate form of artistic expression,” it noted.

We have launched Adult Content and Violent Content policies to bring more clarity of our Rules and transparency into enforcement of these areas. These policies replace our former Sensitive Media and Violent Speech policies – but what we enforce against hasn’t changed.

Adult…

— Safety (@Safety) June 3, 2024

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“We believe in the autonomy of adults to engage with and create content that reflects their own beliefs, desires, and experiences, including those related to sexuality,” it added.

The revised policy will restrict adult content for children and adult users who wish not to see the sexual content. X’s policy also extends to AI-generated and animated content. The platform permits adult nudity or sexual content, including AI-generated, photographic, or animated projections. 

What X means by ‘Adult’ and ‘Violent’ content

They clarified that “Adult Content covers our approach to sharing consensual sexual content and adult nudity,” and “Violent Content covers violent speech and violent media to allow for a more holistic approach to combating violence in all forms.” 

“Adult content” will show full or partial nudity, including close-ups of genitals, buttocks or breasts, as well as explicit or implied sexual behaviour or simulated acts like sexual intercourse.

The move confirms a more accepting stance toward sexual content that existed before Musk bought Twitter in October 2022.

Unlike platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, Twitter has never expressly banned nudity and sexualised content.

Under Musk’s tenure, X has dramatically scaled back moderation on the platform and reinstated previously banned accounts, including those of former United States President Donald Trump and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

Musk has argued that he is upholding freedom of speech, but critics have accused the Tesla CEO of encouraging hate speech and misinformation.