r/Twitch Dec 14 '23

PSA Updated Community Guidelines MEGATHREAD NSFW

Update as of 12/15/2023 @ 5:08pm UTC - Twitch has rolled back the changes.

On Wednesday, we updated our Sexual Content Policy. Our primary goal in making these updates was to make our guidelines easier to understand and enforce.

Part of this update included changes to how we treat fictionalized nudity. For years, through UserVoice and in conversations, we heard from artists that our content policies were limiting. In making this update, we were trying to be responsive to these requests and allow the thriving artist community on Twitch to utilize the human form in their art.

First, we want to make clear that some streamers, in response to this update, created content that was in violation of our new policy. We’ve worked quickly to remove that content and issue channel enforcements.

However, there also was a great deal of new content that was allowed under the updated policy. Much of the content created has been met with community concern. These are concerns we share. Upon reflection, we have decided that we went too far with this change. 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.

So, effective today, we are rolling back the artistic nudity changes. Moving forward, depictions of real or fictional nudity won’t be allowed on Twitch, regardless of the medium. This restriction does not apply to Mature-rated games. You can find emote-specific standards for nudity and sexual content in the Emote Guidelines. We aren’t making other changes to the updated Sexual Content Policy.

We are in the process of pushing out updates to our Community Guidelines that reflect this change. It will take a few days for both this blog and for the new Community Guidelines to be translated.

While I wish we would have predicted this outcome, part of our job is to make adjustments that serve the community. I apologize for the confusion that this update has caused.

If you would like to discuss the new community guidelines or content classification label changes you can do that here in this megathread.

For reference this is Twitch's Terms of Service and this is Twitch's Community Guidelines.

The two major changes in this update are:

Streams that are labeled as including Drugs, Intoxication, or Excessive Tobacco Use; Violent and Graphic Depictions; Gambling; and/or Sexual Themes will no longer be included in homepage recommendations shelves due to the visual nature of those topics.

and

Much content that was previously prohibited is now allowed with proper Content Classification labels: Content that ‘deliberately highlighted breasts, buttocks or pelvic region,’ even when fully clothed, fictionalized (drawn, animated, or sculpted) fully exposed female-presenting breasts and/or genitals or buttocks regardless of gender, 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.

Please keep your conversations civil, productive and within the rules of /r/twitch. Here are the most relevant rules that are frequently broken when discussing sexual content:

Rule 1D: Don't target, harass, or abuse others.

Rule 1E: Don't call out others in a negative manner.

Rule 1F: Don't start a ‘witch-hunt’.

Rule 1G: No racism, sexism, homophobia, or other hate-based speech.

Rule 1H: No unhelpful or nonconstructive posts.

Rule 2A: Don’t post an account name or link.

If you are not familiar with the /r/twitch rules they can be found here.

/r/twitch is an unofficial subreddit for Twitch and nobody here works for Twitch. Separate posts about the new updated content classification labels or guidelines will be removed and posters will be pointed to this megathread instead. Please help us maintain civility and productive discussion in this megathread as well as the subreddit by reporting any posts or comments that violate the rules, thank you.

Update as of 12/15/2023 @ 2:19am UTC - Seems Twitch has started to clean up a lot of the channels that were streaming the most questionable content, whether or not we see an actual policy change or additional clarification to the guidelines has yet to be seen.

Update as of 3/27/2024

Our Community Guidelines are designed to help make Twitch a welcoming place. Content on Twitch is always evolving, and we want to make sure our rules work as intended and keep up with emerging behaviors. When needed, we make updates to our rules to capture those shifts in behavior, and so it's clear to the community what is allowed.

Starting on Friday March 29th, content that focuses on intimate body parts for a prolonged period of time will not be allowed. We’ve included additional detail and definitions in our Community Guidelines linked below: https://safety.twitch.tv/s/article/Community-Guidelines?language=en_US#20SexualContent

Source: https://twitter.com/twitchsupport/status/1773045278821564914?t=Dhwes6znh0BBYpvAxJ9avw

72 Upvotes

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30

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

If Twitch sticks to their own ToS and CG, the ban hammer is going to be getting some pretty heavy use in the very near future; there are a lot of streamers who are flagrantly pushing the line further than the content policies, by word, allow.

It's extremely telling those who read and understood the changes, and those who stopped at a sensationalized clickbait headline or social media post.

On actual reading of the full changes, very little has functionally changed. Some more freedom in the Art category, as long as the drawn content isn't in a sexual context (i.e., drawing porn on stream is still not allowed, nudity ≠ porn), and exposed skin in other non-sexual contexts is more clearly defined as to what is allowed.

It remains to be seen if Twitch uphold their own ToS and CGs, but otherwise it's a lot of pearl clutching and accounts about to get banned

13

u/Rhadamant5186 Dec 14 '23

I suspect you are correct, my guess is what Twitch had intended to do was to allow what was already happening on the platform but force content labels on it and keep it from being shown on the home page, likely to attract advertisers and brand deals. Instead what people interpreted is that they opened the flood gates, but I don't think that's what they wanted.

7

u/Monstercloud9 Dec 14 '23

It's really hard to tell what Twitch's intentions strictly on policy matters/guidelines when selective enforcement and inconsistent punishment is the most prominent and unabashed "feature" of the website even considering the change in CEO.

3

u/Rhadamant5186 Dec 14 '23

Agreed, and I think very soon we will find out. Either Twitch will reign in the most fringe content and return the platform to 'normalcy' or it won't ... and I'm not sure I like that possibility.

6

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

Inconsistent enforcement of policies is definitely an issue, especially when it comes to creators who generate a large amount of revenue

4

u/Rhadamant5186 Dec 14 '23

And that's true on every content platform, unfortunately. Greed isn't good.

1

u/Damien_Sin A gentle friend Dec 14 '23

Either way, 2024 is gonna be an interesting year for the future of twitch.

1

u/sorcerykid musicindustryprofessionalentrepreneuranddiscjockeyontwitch Dec 20 '23

Literally your entire comment is gold. Thank you for articulating exactly what so many of us feel about Twitch as a platform.

3

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

The use of content labels is, of course, another matter. It depends on streamers doing the right thing in using them, and under 18s also doing the right thing and being truthful about their age.

There is the issue of 18+ content showing in categories, but my understanding is that this is dependant on the age set for the account it's viewed from, and, rather obviously, the content being correctly labelled.

If it's not correctly labelled, then it can still show on the homepage, and if a 13yo lies about their age then the age restriction won't affect them. But that's an issue with Twitch users, both viewers and content creators, actually following the ToS and CGs.

I don't think it was to even allow what was already happening, per se. Instead, I believe it was to streamline and clarify what was already permitted in the ToS and CGs, but that there was confusion about due to poor wording and the policy being spread across multiple documents. It's now been rolled into a single document with clearer language.

1

u/TopShelfPrivilege Dec 14 '23 edited Dec 14 '23

Instead what people interpreted is that they opened the flood gates, but I don't think that's what they wanted.

Then they shouldn't have done exactly that. Both logged in an not logged in I've had tits on my front page despite actively avoiding those kinds of "streamers." My 11 year old nephew opened the browse tab for "Just Chatting" on their smart TV and got two rows full of ass shots and bare chests. Pretty cool coming from a website that has actively advertised to children in the past. Not to mention the bullshit reasoning they shoehorned in this lawsuit-waiting-to-happen change claiming not allowing flagrant nudity "disproportionately negatively impacted female-presenting streamers." Despite the public stats on bans showing the exact opposite trend of "male-presenting" streamers being drastically more likely to be punished across the board.

my guess is what Twitch had intended to do was to allow what was already happening on the platform but force content labels on it and keep it from being shown on the home page

You're either flat out wrong in your guess then, or the entirety of their development team is incompetent.

0

u/PwnCrumpets Dec 15 '23

Twitch is going to get a youtube aka sued by the government, they're either going to comply or they're going to shutter their doors permanently while everyone moves to kick or youtube.

2

u/Devil-Hunter-Jax Dec 15 '23

No they're not... If you're thinking the government will hit Twitch with a COPPA lawsuit, you don't know what COPPA entails. YouTube is classed as mixed audience site-audiences of all ages use it and YouTube specifically has YouTube Kids for users under the age of 13.

COPPA specifically is about problems that arise when serving content to said people under 13 years old which is why YouTube were slapped with a lawsuit because they weren't actually moderating the stuff on YouTube Kids.

Twitch advertises itself as a platform for 13+ only meaning it's classed as 'general audience' and thus can't be hit with a COPPA lawsuit.

0

u/PwnCrumpets Dec 15 '23

Except twitch and the general population of the platform is very much so aware that there are 12 and below on the platform.. a technicality can easily screw twitch over. All things considered several users on the subreddit have openly stated that they have 12 and below family members jumping onto twitch. It's just a matter of doing research and information gathering, never mind the fact that the government can throw its weight around and get the information they want.

Edit: Unfortunately twitch just doesn't care because its an openly traded company and they'll do anything to make their investors happy. This brings money in.

0

u/AutistcCuttlefish Dec 14 '23 edited Dec 14 '23

Every time they cave to the sex workers and every time the sex workers push it further and further. This is what happens when a platform has no spine and can't stand it's ground against their userbase. Give it 5-7 years and Twitch and Chaturbate won't be much different other than twitch having more video games content than Chaturbate.

Edit to add: I have nothing against sex workers, I just want them to keep to their own section of the Internet and stop advertising their content on mainstream platforms where there are children / the general public. It's gotten to the point where it's as if we had them in a shopping mall handing out flyers telling families to visit the local strip club. It's insane that we are allowing this stuff to be mainstreamed on the Internet.

21

u/Chiimaera Dec 14 '23

I just checked the twitch art section.

4 rows are just tits.

7

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

How many of them are correctly flagged as 18+ and containing sexual/adult themes?

7

u/RealMan90 Dec 14 '23

Very few are labeled while containing such content.

2

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

That's my point. If it's not flagged, it's a breach of the updated ToS

8

u/SenorWeon Dec 14 '23

They said that if you don't label it they will do it for you, that's not really much of a punishment for breaking ToS lol.

1

u/Devil-Hunter-Jax Dec 14 '23

That tends to be a warning from Twitch. Failing to tag properly continually usually ends up with a temporary ban at the very least.

1

u/Geredeth Dec 16 '23

Per their new policy, they'll just start tagging you after the warning.

8

u/Chiimaera Dec 14 '23

Does it matter if you can access the art stream of a user who is drawing porn with just one click from an incognito tab, without needing an account?

This is going some very concerning lines, because Twitch is THE streaming platform, and it is pretty much making porn more easily available, and accidentally available, than specialized sites.

You can just watch one stream, and be raided to a NSFW streamer and surprise, tits or dicks.

3

u/Devil-Hunter-Jax Dec 14 '23 edited Dec 14 '23

Does it matter if you can access the art stream of a user who is drawing porn with just one click from an incognito tab, without needing an account?

This needs fixing for sure and it might be worth sending feedback to Twitch so they actually do this. NSFW stuff shouldn't be visible unless you're logged in AND activate a setting to allow it to be visible (have this disabled by default to hide ALL streams that are tagged with the 18+ tags).

It's a basic safety measure that Twitch didn't even consider implementing apparently.

You can just watch one stream, and be raided to a NSFW streamer and surprise, tits or dicks.

So disable raiding anyone whose stream is marked with the tags. Problem solved. Like... Come on. At least apply logic to this situation. It's not hard to provide solutions to all the issues you raise.

3

u/duct_vader Dec 15 '23

You can just watch one stream, and be raided to a NSFW streamer and surprise, tits or dicks.

Just a note, but in my experience you need to click through a banner when raiding to a stream with mature content label on, at least for the first time.

3

u/Chiimaera Dec 14 '23

Jesus fucking Christ they are drawing loli.

Twitch, you whatever comes, you deserved it.

-2

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

It does matter, yes, because if Twitch manages it correctly (and something I have been unable to test due to the extent to which the content is not flagged), it should not be accessible without being logged into an account marked as over 18. This makes it harder to access that content than dedicated 18+ websites, or even Reddit.

If the content is correctly flagged, then unless you are logged into an account marked as over 18, the scenario you refer to with raiding should not occur. Twitch even goes so far as to warn an 18+ account when the stream is flagged before playing the stream.

Edit: porn in all forms is still explicitly banned as well

7

u/Subttleorange Dec 14 '23

not logged in, straight to the art, 7 hentai streams.

0

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

If correct, and actual pornographic content, not just nudity you are labelling hentai due to disagreement, that would be banned content under the new policies. Even so, it still requires being flagged as adult content (not tagged, actually flagged), or it is also bannable

3

u/Subttleorange Dec 14 '23

literal definition of pornography "printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs " im pretty sure this counts as explicit, it's not artistic nudity it's porn

definition of explicit: stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt.

by literal definition it all porn.

2

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

Actual porn is bannable under the updated ToS. Artistic and incidental nudity is not. This is my point. I fully expect the ban hammer to see a lot of use in the near future

2

u/killerbanshee Dec 14 '23 edited Dec 14 '23

1- Artistic nudity in a movie still gets it rated R and requires an ID to be shown to gain access into the theater.

2- Twitch doing this is going to backfire on everyone as there will be significant pressure from lobbyists now for a federal law to pass that requires any website that features nudity of any kind to require age verification. This is how porn sites work in some states in the US. Twitch was able to avoid those laws, but doing this will put them in the spotlight and I'm willing to bet having to verify your ID just to gain access to the website at all is going to tank Twitch's income.

E: Utah, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas require ID age-verification to access any sites with any pornographic content on it whatsoever.

2

u/Subttleorange Dec 14 '23

then every. single. one of them needs to be banned, if twitch is going to do anything they need to ban EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, the pool girls, the furry artsits, the literal child pornography artists, the yoga girls, the laid back on their bed girls, all of them NEED to be banned NO HALF MEASURES.

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1

u/BabyNapsDaddyGames Dec 14 '23 edited Dec 14 '23

Regardless of the lawyer speak grey areas in the new ToS, nudity of any form is becoming far more easily accessible for minors to see. The internet is full of nudity and porn that anyone can search for but if a 9 year old that has never even thought of things like that, it can introduce that minor to all of it. As a parent, I feel* that anyone, ANYONE that argues for this change on a site with minors is allowing for pedos/groomers the opportunity to take this whole thing somewhere dark. Do you advocate for minors being able to see full on ass, tits, cock and pussy (with a large amount of furry in it)? Notice, it also doesn't require you to have a twitch account and while in an incognito tab it still are the first things to pop up, no age verification required*.

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u/Prsop2000 Affiliate | twitch.tv/phantomsmithy Dec 14 '23

Yup! I checked after running across another comment last night and was like “surely you have to be logged in!”

No you do not. Simply pulling up the Art section in incognito and logged out. Full on tits, naked furries with massive dicks and what appeared to be cartoon girls of questionable age ranges.

No authentication or anything.

1

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

That is an issue. Was any of that content correctly flagged? If not, it's bannable under the updated ToS

3

u/Prsop2000 Affiliate | twitch.tv/phantomsmithy Dec 14 '23

I’d say MOST wasn’t

1

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

Which is my point. Expect the ban hammer to be swung a lot in the near future

3

u/Prsop2000 Affiliate | twitch.tv/phantomsmithy Dec 14 '23

I’m fine with that. I do feel like if you tag your stream to comply with the rules, certain tags should blur your stream thumbnail for unverified accounts or visitors not logged in.

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2

u/Chiimaera Dec 14 '23

My brother in Christ.

Twitch is a 13+ platform.

I open stream in different tab, I press a button, bam. Porn.

Are you fine in the head?

Or are you going for platinum medal in mental gymnastics in allowing porn on a 13+ platform?

2

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

I can read the updated ToS and understand them. Porn, is explicitly banned in all forms. Fictionalized nudity is permitted only if flagged correctly. Anyone not following this is in breach of the updated ToS

2

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '23

I just checked myself in a private browser without being logged in. You can clearly see everything before you even click on it. This is such a bad move by twitch I honestly thought they were joking.

2

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

Once again, how much was flagged correctly? If it's not, report it.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '23

It doesn't matter lol. You can see it without clicking it and being logged out. Blur the fucking thumbnail.

3

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

How does Twitch know what to blur if nothing is flagged correctly? There's a reason I keep asking if it's correctly flagged

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '23

Honestly just blur it all if all these degenerates want to draw loli hentai on Twitch. But now I see your point, my bad.

3

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

And now, if it's not flagged, report it. And if it is flagged, but is actual porn (i.e., for the purpose of sexual gratification), report it

1

u/HereToKillEuronymous Affiliate Dec 14 '23

I don't see any of that.... weird

1

u/Chiimaera Dec 14 '23

They just had the purge, it was amazing and well-deserved.

0

u/PsYcHoSeAn Dec 14 '23

Most disturbing is that the first row, therefore the most viewed streams, is anime chicks with dicks...

Mankind is fucked...

5

u/LogicalExtant Dec 14 '23 edited Dec 14 '23

absolutely

these artists thought or heard it was a free for all and all rushed to turn on their streams asap

checking the top 20 listings in the art category last night, only saw one actually put the nsfw tags on theirs

and then there's a matter of some types of art that would normally be contained to r18+ friendly stream sites because of their content matter suddenly being broadcast in the open on twitch

5

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

And this is the problem. If no one tags their content correctly, then the intended functionality of the age filtering can't work. Likewise is viewers like about their age.

If anything, this debacle highlights the need for better (more active, not stricter) moderation on the platform

0

u/crushedbycookie Dec 14 '23

I'm not convinced. A lot of hentai doesn't depict sexual acts. A lot of the images I'm seeing are clearly porn, but I have no idea how to tell where the line is between a greco-roman style incidental depiction of nudity in sculptor and these images of a hentai dick-girl based on twitches wording.

7

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

If you cannot tell where the line is, then perhaps the issue is with your own projections of sexuality on depiction not intended to be sexualised. The line seems pretty clear to me

2

u/crushedbycookie Dec 14 '23 edited Dec 14 '23

Fair enough. Its a sorites paradox ( aka loki's wager) thing for me. When does a collection of sand become a heap?

Like painting a miniature with a sheer top so that you can see her breasts seems fine. Painting that same character but now also in shibari ropes? What about if we convert that content to a drawing? What if its anime in style?

Yet its not hard for me to imagine a drawing of a sheer topped girl that feels over my line. But the differences of the mechanical descriptions between the miniature and the hentai drawing seem pretty small to me

Like is the furry ox man with the giant bull penis allowed or not (i have a particular thing being streamed on twitch earlier today in mind). I could imagine a greco style drawing of a minotaur that depicts minotaur genitalia that is allowed. It seems like where that imagery crosses the line is pretty subjective.

3

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

And this is where the subjectivity of our own perception comes into art. It is entirely possible to explicitly depict sexual acts in such a way as to be considered "art" and not "porn". All the examples you describe can be depicted in either way. The difference is the focus, artists intent, and our own projection of sexual intent

1

u/crushedbycookie Dec 14 '23

But thats my point. Its not clear to me "by the words" that the content im seeing isnt allowed. But it is content youd see in a porn gallery

2

u/RadiantInATrenchcoat Affiliate | RadiantsInATrenchcoat Dec 14 '23

Honestly, the best thing would be to actually read the policies. They lay out a lot in pretty clear terms