Twitter’s updated ‘sensitive media’ guidelines might be problematic for sex workers

Twitter has announced it is updating its terms of service, effective January 1, 2020. One of the biggest changes is the company's stricter approach to "sensitive media," including adult content, which could turn out to be problematic for sex workers and fetish artists. Twitter defines adult content as "media that is pornographic or intended to cause sexual arousal," and says that this also applies to "cartoons, hentai, or anime involving humans or depictions of animals with human-like features."

Account bans — While Twitter does allow people to mark adult content as "sensitive media," the new guidelines state that accounts dedicated to posting these type of tweets may be banned. According to Twitter, "your account may be permanently suspended if the majority of your activity on Twitter is sharing sensitive media." Twitter also says adult content can't be seen on live videos or profile images, and warns that it will lock accounts if they violate the policy and, if done repeatedly, they will permanently suspend those.

Not suitable for social — This is yet another blow for sex workers on social media. It was only a year ago that Tumblr, one of the biggest platforms for NSFW content at the time, announced it would ban all adult content on its site. And although Twitter isn't pulling the plug completely, it does look like the company is about to make it more difficult for people in the porn community to tweet about what's relevant to them and their followers.