Elon Musk’s X now officially allows porn – and everyone’s saying the same thing
X is now allowing adult content on the site – and gay Twitter is united in asking what exactly what restrictions were in place before.
Posted to the page dedicated to guidelines and policies surrounding adult content on the site, which is owned by Elon Musk, a formal update to the rules surrounding poles and holes was provided yesterday (June 3).
The update read that as of May 2024, the site believes that “users should be able to create, distribute and consume material related to sexual themes as long as it is consensually produced and distributed”.
The statement continued: “Sexual expression, whether visual or written, can be a legitimate form of artistic expression. We believe in the autonomy of adults to engage with and create content that reflects their own beliefs, desires and experiences, including those related to sexuality.
“We balance this freedom by restricting exposure to adult content for children or adult users who choose not to see it,” the page says, available to read in full here.
Adult content is defined as “consensually produced and distributed material depicting adult nudity or sexual behaviour that is pornographic or intended to cause sexual arousal”, and, while the official shift has been a long time coming, users of have taken begun to ask exactly what has changed.
“Was unofficial before? We all know adult content has been around here for ages,” one person wrote.
Another asked: “Wait a minute, if it wasn’t allowed before… then what have I been bookmarking and viewing in the privacy of my own home?”
Another user sarcastically added: “Bandcamp announces that it is now officially allowing ambient music on the platform,” and a second joked: “In other news, gmail announces you can now send emails on the platform.”
A different segment of X has pointed out that the site was already filled with bots posting adult content, and that instead of dealing with the problem, Musk has simply sidestepped the issue.
“He gave up fighting the porn bots. I can’t,” wrote one user alongside a weeping emoji.
Another said: “This is new? I’ve been getting unsolicited porn on here for ages,” while someone else commented: “Elon Musk allowing users to post adult content to X without getting rid of the bots first is perhaps the worst idea in the history of ideas.”
Yet another added: “They couldn’t get rid of the ‘my nudes in profile’, so they had to come up with this idea.”
The official guidelines of X’s adult content request that users flag explicit posts behind a content warning that “needs to be acknowledged before your media can be viewed”.
The warning continues: “If you continue to fail marking your posts, we will adjust your account settings for you.”