Elon Musk’s X now officially allows pornographic content on its platform but says it will block adult and violent posts from being seen by users who are under 18 or who do not opt-in to see it.
The company announced on Monday new policies that formalise what is viewable on the platform.
They come as regulator pressure grows for platforms around the world to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content on social media.
Historically X, previously Twitter, has not prevented people posting adult content on the platform. Sex workers who use subscription services such as OnlyFans have used X to promote their work for years.
Users who post adult content, including nudity and implied or explicit sexual acts, have now been asked by X to adjust media settings so that their images and videos are put behind a content warning before they can be viewed. Users under 18 or those who do not put a birthdate in their profile will be unable to view this content.
X indicated it would detect what users were posting, stating that if users do not mark pornographic posts appropriately then “we will adjust your account settings for you”.
Similar rules have been put in place for violent content including violent speech or media, including that which threatens, incites, glorifies or expresses desire for violence or harm.
Teenagers have reported seeing pornographic material more on X than on adult sites. Research from the UK children’s commissioner in January 2023 found that 41% of teenagers aged between 16 and 18 reported seeing pornography on X, versus 37% for dedicated adult sites.
Last week Australia’s online safety regulator, Julie Inman Grant, claimed Apple and Google had financial motives for keeping both X and Reddit on their app stores despite hosting adult content – which she claimed was in violation of both app store policies.
“There’s a huge disincentive right now for the app stores to actually follow their own [policies],” she said.
“They collect a 30% tithe from every transaction that happens on a social media site … Think about the force multiplier of deplatforming an app and what that would mean to their revenue.”
Under Apple’s developer guidelines, apps with user-generated, primarily pornographic content may be removed but apps with user-generated adult content hidden by default may still be displayed. X’s new policy would keep it in line with Apple’s guidelines.
X is also embroiled in a legal battle against the Australian eSafety commissioner over violent content – 65 tweets of a video of the stabbing attack of a Sydney bishop in April, which eSafety has ordered X to remove. The case will be heard in the federal court at the end of June.
X has made the tweets unavailable to users accessing the site in Australia but eSafety has argued in recent court filings that X should also prevent Australian users accessing the tweets via a virtual private network connection.