The implied nudity meta on Twitch is getting a nerf as streamers will no longer be able to use black censor bars or camera positioning to imply or suggest full or partial nudity after today’s latest content policy update.
The policy update officially goes into effect today. Streamers are not permitted to be fully nude or partially nude, including exposing genitals or buttocks, nor are they permitted to “imply or suggest that they are fully or partially nude, including, but not limited to, covering breasts or genitals with objects or censor bars.”
The policy specifically addresses women-presenting streamers, telling them to make it “clear that the streamer is wearing clothing.”
The changes are a direct response to a wave of streamers using black censor bars or camera positioning to cover the aforementioned areas listed above. While women-presenting streamers were the majority of streamers using this practice, male streamers like Tectone and Boogie2988 got attention by doing the same, with Boogie2988 receiving a three-day ban.
Ironically, it was streams with implied nudity in early December of last year that originally got the conversation started about how sexual content on Twitch should be handled. Later that month, Twitch rolled out some changes to its sexual content policy that actually opened the door for previously prohibited content like erotic dancing, body painting, and games that feature nudity as long as it’s not “the core focus or feature.”
Twitch, however, did restrict content with sexual themes so that it doesn’t appear on the homepage and eventually did roll back the “artistic nudity” changes following an onslaught of softcore and AI pornography. In today’s update, chief customer trust officer Angela Hession said the implied nudity restrictions were a result of an increase in “disruptive thumbnails” on category directories.
Twitch still has other hurdles to overcome to make the platform safer for underaged viewers, including the glaring lack of viewer age verification.
