Elon Musk’s X/Twitter is testing a new feature that allows users to create and join communities focused on adult or “not safe for work” (NSFW) content. The platform is already plagued with pornbots advertising Onlyfans models and other forms of adult content.
Bloomberg reports that X/Twitter, the social network owned by Elon Musk, is testing a feature that enables users to establish or join communities centered around “adult content” or other “not safe for work” (NSFW) material. The move comes as part of the platform’s efforts to differentiate itself from other mainstream social networking services while ensuring the safety of its users.
According to screenshots uncovered by Daniel Buchuk, an analyst at Watchful, users who create a community within the X/Twitter app can specify in the settings that their group “contains adult-sensitive content.” These X groups will then feature an “adult content” label, and users who fail to label their community appropriately could see some of the content being filtered out or removed.
X/Twitter Senior Software Engineer Dong Wook Chung, stated that the purpose of the new label is “about making communities safer for everyone” and that “only users who have specified their age will be able to search communities with NSFW content.” This aligns with X’s current policies, which 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.” Despite these policies, pornbots have exploded on X/Twitter over the last year, with users constantly seeing replies offering porn in the replies of popular tweets.
The move to offer “NSFW” groups comes at a time when U.S. lawmakers are focusing on protecting teens and other young people online. In January, a contentious Senate hearing featured the chief executive officers of several social networks, including X’s Linda Yaccarino, discussing this issue.
Read more at Bloomberg here.