Twitch is a popular video live streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming, and then there is this issue here.
Operated by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., the company has long disallowed streamers to be fully or even partially nude. But in an updated policy, the platform started allowing "artistic depictions of nudity” and “body writing” and “body painting” on “female-presenting breasts and/or buttocks regardless of gender.”
What follows is quite predictable.
Streamers who were once shy in exposing their skin, scared of being banned, started appearing topless, and even entirely naked.
But to ensure that their nudes are "allowed," some streamers used a cropped frame above their breasts to circumvent the platform’s terms of service while attracting viewers.
Others went even further, by using pixelation and also censor bars to cover their breasts and genitals.
So again, back to square one, because Twitch quickly reversed the policy, after acknowledging that things simply "went too far."
Only two days after the policy change, the platform reverted everything, and announced that it's immediately "rolling back the artistic nudity changes."
"Moving forward, depictions of real or fictional nudity won’t be allowed on Twitch, regardless of the medium," Twitch CEO Dan Clancy wrote in a blog post.
Clancy explained the decision to reverse course, writing that the policy was updated in response to user requests that Twitch "allow the thriving artist community on Twitch to utilize the human form in their art."
However, soon after the policy was changed, Clancy said that an unquantified number of streamers "created content that was in violation of our new policy."
Furthermore, Twitch also received complaints about other uploaded content "that was allowed under the updated policy," but sparked concerns that Twitch shared.
"Upon reflection, we have decided that we went too far with this change," Clancy wrote. "Digital depictions of nudity present a unique challenge—AI can be used to create realistic images, and it can be hard to distinguish between digital art and photography."
Clancy confirmed that there are currently no other changes to the sexual content policy recently announced that briefly allowed more nudity after years of banning mostly female-presenting streamers who were penalized for violating sexual content policies that Twitch now admits were too confusing.
The platform also confirmed that its policy banning nudity was sexist.
In a blog post, Twitch Chief Customer Trust Officer Angela Hession wrote that Twitch "received consistent feedback from streamers that our current policies around sexual content are confusing and that it can be difficult to know how their content will be interpreted based on these policies."
Hession confirmed that Twitch's policy prohibiting "content that ‘deliberately highlighted breasts, buttocks or pelvic region,’ even when fully clothed" was indeed confusing.
"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," Hession wrote.
Combined with another policy that restricted "sexually suggestive" content, Twitch's former policy was found to be "overly punitive" and "resulted in female-presenting streamers being disproportionately penalized," Hession wrote.
In order to eliminate the confusion, Twitch announced that it had consolidated two separate policies that addressed sexual content under Twitch's community guidelines into one single sexual content policy.
That policy "specifies the types of sexual content that are prohibited on Twitch" and clarifies enforcement.
Another key part of the policy overhaul.
Twitch said that it has also begun allowing some sexual content that was previously restricted, but only as long long the appropriate Content Classification Labels (CCLs) indicating sexual themes are applied.
With the change, labeled content is allowed that features "body writing on female-presenting breasts and/or buttocks regardless of gender" and "erotic dances that involve disrobing or disrobing gestures, such as strip teases."
Content with a focus on fictionalized (drawn, animated, or sculpted) sexual body parts regardless of gender are allowed with a Sexual Themes Label.
However, fictionalized sexual acts or masturbation remain prohibited.
“I think, honestly, a big part of that is due to the outrage,” Morgpie told Dexerto. “Because we are within TOS. Their TOS are very open-ended. Nobody is breaking the terms of service. Me standing here like this, it’s just my shoulders."
As a platform where streamers thrive, Twitch has experienced struggles in this area.
And this time, things are no different.
This is why Twitch said that it's seeking feedback, and that it will "continue to explore adding more personalized viewer settings in the future."
"We believe that accurate content labeling is key to helping viewers get the experience they expect, and now that we can enable appropriate labeling of sexual content using CCLs we believe that some of the restrictions in our former policies are no longer required," Hession wrote.
"In addition to providing clarity, these updates will also reduce the risk of inconsistent enforcement and bring our policy more in line with other social media services."
:While I wish we would have predicted this outcome, part of our job is to make adjustments that serve the community," Clancy wrote. "I apologize for the confusion that this update has caused."