Is Twitter Planning to Ban Porn in 2020?

Over the past year, we’ve brought you several stories about social media platforms deciding to increase censorship of adult content, from Instagram mass deleting pornstars and other sex workers to Tumblr’s ill-conceived porn ban over a year ago. Reports from sites like The Daily Dot and Gizmodo sounded the alarm that Twitter would be the next site to begin eliminating NSFW content in 2020.  

I know what you’re thinking. How could 2020 get any worse, right? But we are now halfway through and it seems like some of these reports may have been a bit hyperbolic. Have there been any changes? We at coupons have the latest info on Twitter’s current “Sensitive Media” Policy.

The Threat of Change

Last July, XBiz - a news site focused on the adult entertainment industry - penned an article complaining of changes in Twitter’s adult content policy.  They claimed that these changes marked an overall increase in censorship of adult content. They said, “this is the groundwork for the full censoring of sexual material from the one massive platform where sex workers build community.”  

A Twitter spokesperson said that this simply wasn’t the case.  They released a statement saying, ““Accounts that simply post adult content either to express their sexuality or their interests will not be suspended,” Their statement explicitly promises that your favorite pornstars will continue to have a home on their platform.  

In fact, according to Out Magazine, the company did not have any changes to their Sensative Media Policy, and that adult content would be handled the same way in 2020 as it was in 2019. So when they made changes to their Sensitive Policy 4 months later, many media outlets began reporting that the end was neigh, when it came to porn on Twitter. 

What is Twitter’s Sensitive Media Policy

This policy governs violent and sexual content on Twitter. While XBiz took issue to these two types of content being lumped together, that is hardly new. The policy does, in fact, forbid certain types of adult content.  You are not allowed to post non-consensual “revenge porn,” or any nudity without the consent to the model, and you are not allowed to post sexual violence.  These are the only things that are simply banned.  

If you post other types of adult content, you must mark your account as sensitive.  Basically, this means anyone who wishes to visit your profile must click on a button acknowledging that you share adult content, and they are willing to view it.  You are not allowed to Livestream adult content, post it in your profile picture or header.  None of this is new and has, in fact, been Twitter policy for several years.

So What Exactly Has Changed?

The short answer is not much. The new clause that sent Xbiz into a tizzy was, “We may also remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services, limit distribution or visibility of any Content on the service, suspend or terminate users, and reclaim usernames without liability to you.” While this was written as part of a general update to Twitters Terms of Service which went into effect January 1st, 2020, Twitter says this has always been their policy.  The only change here is slight clarification of the wording. 

And that update we mentioned that was implemented back in November? It turns out the only change there was in the instructions on how to report content that violates Twitter’s Sensitive Media Policy, i.e. what a user should do if they spot revenge porn on Twitter, etc. 

The Bottom Line 

No, Twitter has no imminent plans to ban porn in 2020.

How Twitter Has Benefited From Other Platform’s Mistakes

After Tumblr banned all adult content in December of 2018, users abandoned the platform as promised.  Over 20% of daily users simply stopped visiting the site after they announced their NSFW content ban, causing the platform to barely survive its first porn-free year.  While the platform continues to struggle, so too have the former users.  

While some new platforms have emerged to try to fill the gap, they remain relatively small.  Twitter, as the last major social media site where one can freely share NSFW content, absorbed many of the users fleeing Tumblr, especially those of us in the Adult Industry. 

How Twitter’s Porn Policy is Perceived?

There was initially some concern in the adult industry when Twitter decided to ban images that normalize sexual violence.  While we here at Coupons care deeply about consent, like others in the business, we feared that this policy could be applied too broadly and used to exclude BDSM and other genres that those outside the industry may incorrectly interpret as violent.  

However, these fears appear to have been somewhat blown out of proportion, as bondage still propagates the site pretty freely. Overall, this approach seems to have been a pretty good compromise for Twitter.  Even some anti-porn organizations applauded this decision, saying that an outright porn ban would be unnecessary as long as non-consensual revenge porn and images depicting sexual assault were prohibited.    

Twitter has shown that it is possible to balance the interests of the adult entertainment industry, the community we serve, and people who wish to avoid sensitive content altogether.  Let’s hope the media hysteria around their insignificant wording changes have hammered home for them their importance to us in adult entertainment, as the last major platform available for users like us to build our communities - and how swift the backlash would be should they ever really choose to ban porn.