X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, is testing a feature that lets users create or join communities focused on ¡°adult content¡± or other ¡°not safe for work¡± material.
Users who create a community within the app can specify in the settings that their group ¡°contains adult-sensitive content,¡± according to screenshots uncovered by Daniel Buchuk, an analyst at Watchful, which tracks apps¡¯ development testing. The X groups will then feature an ¡°adult content¡± label. Users who fail to label their community could see some of the content being filtered out or removed, according to the screenshots of the rules.
Communities on X can be private, though it¡¯s unclear if the social media network will ultimately require age verification for groups that feature adult content. X¡¯s policies currently restrict ¡°graphic media, adult nudity, and sexual behavior for viewers who are under 18 or viewers who do not include a birth date on their profile.¡± A spokesperson for X declined to comment.
US lawmakers have made protecting teens and other young people online a key focus in recent months, including at a contentious Senate hearing in January that featured the chief executive officers of several social networks, including X¡¯s Linda Yaccarino.
Openly offering ¡°NSFW¡± groups may be another way for X to try to differentiate itself from other mainstream social networking services. Adult material lived on Twitter long before owner Elon Musk took over and changed the company name, and Twitter¡¯s former executives even considered building an OnlyFans-style subscription offering for adult content creators. Twitter scrapped the project after deciding the company wasn¡¯t prepared to police ¡°harmful sexual content,¡± including child porn, according to The Verge.
Musk has been open about his belief that X should carry almost all content that isn¡¯t illegal. X allows posts about topics such as sexual behavior if users label it as sensitive, but its policies forbid adult content in live videos and profile images. It¡¯s also against the rules to promote those subjects as part of an advertisement.
It¡¯s not clear when the test will go live to a broader audience, and it¡¯s possible the feature could still be scrapped.
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