Ethical Tech

X to Formally Allow Explicit Content on the Platform

  • Reading time: 2 min
x, social media, explicit content, adult content

The new X rules update formally allows explicit content to be posted on the platform.

  • Adult content has been present on the platform since its inception, but it was neither explicitly banned nor formally allowed.
  • The content must be consensually produced and distributed and properly labeled and not prominently displayed.

X (FKA Twitter) is now formally allowing explicit content in alignment with Elon Musk’s Everything app vision, possibly opening itself up to intense scrutiny.

Adult content has been on the platform since its beginning. The company never outright banned, nor did it ever formally allow it. The explicit content was just there if people wanted it.

Now, however, the new X rules state that users “may share consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behavior, provided it’s properly labeled and not prominently displayed.”

The rules also address the fact that the platform will be restricting the visibility of such content for children and any user wishing to opt out of interacting with it.

You can either adjust your media settings, placing all your content behind a content warning, or you can add a one-time one for individual posts. The X platform will not allow minors or users who did not include their birthday on their profile to click and view the content.

The Everything App

The new rules align with Elon Musk’s vision to turn X into the Everything application that caters to every need you might have, replacing YouTube, LinkedIn, FaceTime, dating apps, and banks. The tech billionaire wants X to be the only app you’ll ever need, including when pleasing your baser instincts. This change will attract a wider user base and cement X’s position on freedom of speech and expression. By only allowing ethically produced explicit content, X is allowing its users to express themselves as they see fit while drawing a clear boundary on non-consensual material.

But That’s Just It…

Ethical conversations surrounding porn and other explicit content have always centered around “Have the actors consented to be filmed AND posted?” No sane person with a solid moral compass will knowingly support unethical explicit material. However, it gets difficult to know.

Sometimes, the actors have been coerced or are under the influence and cannot consent, but the video does not show any of that. Even on OnlyFans (OF), which is marketed as giving film stars full control of their bodies and content. There have been cases where the OF model has been forced to pose for the camera. In fact, a Reuters investigation earlier this year identified 128 cases in which people complained to U.S. law enforcement agencies that sexual content featuring them ended up on OnlyFans without their permission between January 2019 and November 2023.

X’s condition to allow explicit content lies in the very same thing that cannot be verified with 100% confidence, which could inadvertently land X in murky waters.

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