Twitch Now Allows "Artistic" Nudity

Twitch just made a major change to how it handles sexual content, which will now result in "artistic" nudity being allowed on the streaming platform. Over the past few years, various streamers have continued to push the envelope on Twitch to see how much they can get away with while still falling within the guidelines of what Twitch allows to be broadcast. Recently, this has resulted in a new "topless meta" on the site that has caused major backlash and some quick bans. Now, in response to this new streaming format, Twitch has come back with some huge alterations that 

In an extensive post on Twitch's website today, the streaming giant revealed how it's updating its Terms of Service moving forward. Rather than have two different policies that impact sexualized content on the platform, Twitch says it is now allowing certain forms of content as long as they are accurately labeled. This changes means that "artistic" nudity is now allowed on Twitch if labeled properly, although any nudity that relates to "sexual acts" would still be prohibited. Beyond this, Twitch says it now is making "twerking, grinding, and pole dancing" available to be viewed without any required labels. 

"Content that 'deliberately highlighted breasts, buttocks or pelvic region,' even when fully clothed," Twitch said of what's allowed on the streaming site now. "Streamers found it difficult to determine what was prohibited and what was allowed and often evaluating whether or not a stream violated this portion of the policy was subjective. In addition, the former Sexually Suggestive Content policy was out of line with industry standards and resulted in female-presenting streamers being disproportionately penalized. "

We’ve gotten feedback that our policies around sexual content are unclear so we’ve drawn clearer boundaries between what is & isn’t permitted on Twitch.

We also recognize that not everyone wants to see certain content, so we’re updating our criteria for homepage recommendations. pic.twitter.com/rvZ4kFADR6

— Twitch (@Twitch) December 13, 2023

"We want to make sure the homepage, which is often the first page that viewers land on, is more aligned with viewer expectations," Twitch went on to say. "To address this, we're updating the criteria used for homepage recommendations. 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. Streams labeled as including Mature-rated Games and Profanity will not be affected by this update unless the streamer has also selected one of the labels bolded above. [...] Making this change helps ensure that viewers will not see content they haven't consented to seeing. We will continue to explore adding more personalized viewer settings in the future."

Moving forward, it will be interesting to see how these alterations impact content on Twitch overall. As mentioned, many streamers are always trying to push the boundaries of what is allowed on Twitch, so with these new overhauls now in place, it seems like only a matter of time until a new controversy arises. For the time being, though, Twitch has greatly relaxed some of its more aggressive policies aimed at sexual content which will surely change the streaming landscape in one way or another.  

How do you feel about these changes that have been made at Twitch for yourself? Do you think these are good moves or will they only end up hurting Twitch in the long run? Be sure to let me know your own thoughts down in the comments section. 

[H/T Dexerto]