In the wake of Tumblr banning porn and the increasing censorship of pornography as well as suggestive material online, many began to flock to Twitter as an outlet to share and consume pornographic content. But this week, a report from XBIZ pointed out that the service's newly updated Terms of Service could put an end to communities that include porn stars, other sex workers and "alt accounts." The social media platform, however, has no plans to restrict such content.
"We recently updated our rules to better demonstrate what is and is not allowed on Twitter," a Twitter spokesperson told Out in an email statement about the changes. "The updates were made to provide more clarity, not to reflect changes in our policies or enforcement practices."
In a section of their Terms of Service titled "Sensitive Media Policy," updated on March 2019, Twitter has, among other things, introduced a few new guidelines. Sensitive media, for the company, includes media that depicts graphic violence, adult content, violent sexual content, and gratuitous gore. This content is not allowed to be shared in profile photos or header imagery. As for "graphic violence and consensually produced adult content," it can be shared within tweets but it will be marked as sensitive and will be available behind a warning. But one new section in particular stood out to many.
"Accounts dedicated to posting sensitive media -- your account may be permanently suspended if the majority of your activity on Twitter is sharing sensitive media," the policy reads. As XBIZ points out, this is a "chilling warning" for all "sex workers, adult companies and even sex educators." But it also extends to communities of "alt Twitters" that have cropped up on the platform.
Following Tumblr's porn ban, over 150 million users left the platform. And of those, many migrated to Twitter to hopefully reassemble their communities. Porn performers, both studio performers and those creating homemade work, have corralled their followers there for updates, sharing previews of upcoming scenes. Other sex workers have also used the platform to share their work or stay in touch with fans. Additionally, users who just share their own homemade content for the enjoyment of friends have spurred communities of "alt Twitter" accounts, sometimes with tags like #TumblrRefugee in their bios -- porn has long had a presence on Twitter so these refugees only added to it, as opposed to having created it. Under this new policy, it seemed even these accounts would be in danger.
"Accounts that simply post adult content either to express their sexuality or their interests will not be suspended," a Twitter spokesperson said.
The site has long allowed adult content on its platform, and according to the company, plans to continue doing that as long as it was created and shared consensually -- creeper shots and revenge porn would not fall under this. They will continue this, providing their customary "sensitive media" screens that can be bypassed with a click.
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