Twitch Overhauls Content Rules, Permits Artistic Nudity, and Explicit Streams

Streaming platform Twitch has implemented a significant revamp of its content rules, allowing adult content such as nude drawings and sculptures deemed artistic. The Amazon-owned site, well-known among gamers, aims to provide clarity and address the confusion surrounding its previous rules on sexual content. While maintaining a blanket ban on explicit material, Twitch now permits creators to stream content featuring the “breasts, buttocks, or pelvic region,” provided it is labelled appropriately.

The move comes in response to feedback from streamers who found it challenging to interpret Twitch’s previous rules, leading to uncertainty about the permissibility of various forms of creative expression, including drawings, sculptures, and body painting. Twitch’s Vice President of Customer Trust, Angela Hession, acknowledged the platform’s earlier rules were overly punitive and did not align with the diverse content created by its thriving artist community.

Under the updated guidelines, explicit content creators must use content creation labels on specific streams, ensuring viewers provide consent before accessing such content. This shift allows a broader range of content, including intentionally highlighting body parts, body painting, and what Twitch terms “erotic dances” involving the removal of clothes. Certain dances, like pole dancing and “twerking,” are now permitted without additional labeling.

The change aims to prevent issues created by the previous rules, which inadvertently restricted activities like “twerking at a wedding” or exercise classes incorporating pole dancing. Twitch emphasises the importance of clear labelling, warning streamers who fail to comply, with the platform applying the correct label as necessary.

Twitch’s decision represents a balance between addressing user concerns, allowing artistic expression, and maintaining a degree of control over explicit content. The introduction of clearer guidelines and the consent-based approach aim to provide both streamers and viewers with a more predictable and transparent experience on the platform.