Twitch has recently overhauled its policies regarding adult content, introducing a significant shift by now permitting what it terms as ‘artistic nudity‘, provided it is appropriately labeled to alert viewers.
Games with adult content will be marked with a ‘Mature’ rating on Twitch
Twitch’s Chief Customer Trust Officer, Angela Hession, acknowledged ongoing feedback from streamers highlighting confusion regarding current sexual content policies. Twitch launched Content Classification Labels (CCL) in June to address concerns about content suitability for diverse audiences. They believe that accurate labeling is essential for viewers to have the expected experience.
Leveraging CCLs for sexual content, Twitch thinks that some restrictions in their previous policies are now unnecessary. The platform acknowledges the presence of a flourishing artist community on Twitch and believes the previous policy was overly restrictive and failed to capture the positive impact of such content.
Hence, these kinds of materials that were previously prohibited will be now permitted with appropriate labeling on the streaming site. This involves content featuring fictionalized depictions, be they drawn, animated, or sculpted, of sexual body parts without regard to gender, as seen in activities like nude figure drawing.
The common question arising is, “How does this benefit games?“ In response, Twitch now handles game nudity and mature games on an individual basis by automatically applying a “Mature-rated game” label when users play games with a Mature rating. Hence, mature-rated game streams won’t be removed from the homepage.
To address concerns about mislabeling, Twitch will issue warnings to streamers if their content lacks appropriate labels. This adjustment could potentially result in the reinstatement of previously banned streams, such as Morgpie‘s, who faced controversy for seemingly streaming topless but later clarified that she was wearing a top off-camera.
Twitch rolls back its policy in less than a day
Update (December 15, 2023): Well, that didn’t last long. Twitch reports that some streamers violated the new policy despite permitting new content, and community concerns arose, prompting Twitch to reconsider. Hence, Twitch announced a rollback of the artistic nudity changes, now prohibiting depictions of real or fictional nudity across all mediums, excluding Mature-rated games. Emote-specific standards for nudity remain in place. Twitch acknowledges the need for adjustments and apologizes for any confusion caused by the update.
What are your thoughts on Twitch updating its policies on adult content and artistic nudity? Let us know in the comments below.
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