Elon Musk’s social media site X has now officially permitted pornographic content on its platform; however, all adult and violent posts will be restricted from anyone under the age of 18 or who has not chosen to view them. On Monday (June 3), the company published new standards that will formalize what is seen on the social networking platform.
The social networking platform has requested that X users who share adult content, alter their media settings
These new regulations come as governments around the world put more pressure on platforms to prevent youngsters from accessing improper content on social media. Historically, the social networking site X has not prevented users from sharing adult content. For years, sex workers have utilized social networking platform X to promote their profession, which they do through subscription services like OnlyFans. The social networking platform has requested that X users who share adult content, which includes nudity and implied or explicit sexual actions, alter their media settings so that a content notice displays before their photographs and videos are viewed by users.
Users under the age of 18 or who have not provided a birthdate in their profile will be unable to read this content. According to X, it will recognize what users are publishing and state that if users fail to properly mark pornographic posts, “we will adjust your account settings for you”. The platform has previously had similar limits for violent content, which includes aggressive speech or media that threatens, incites, praises, or expresses any desire for violence or injury. Teens have reported encountering more pornographic material on social media platform X than on adult sites.
Last week, Australia’s online safety regulator Julie Inman Grant said that Apple and Google made financial motives to keep both X and Reddit on their app stores even though they host adult content – which she added violated both app store policies. “There’s a huge disincentive right now for the app stores to actually follow their own [policies]. They collect a 30% tithe from every transaction that happens on a social media site … Think about the force multiplier of de-platforming an app and what that would mean to their revenue,” she said.