SAN FRANCISCO (BP) – Consensual adult content including nudity and sex is now OK on X, formalizing an unstated practice allowed when the platform was called Twitter.
Pornographic images and acts may be shared whether they depict actual humans, cartoons, anime or hentai – a sexualized form of anime – or are photographic or generated by artificial intelligence, X said in announcing the policy in May.
“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,” X said in the policy update. “We also prohibit content promoting exploitation, nonconsent, objectification, sexualization or harm to minors, and obscene behaviors. We also do not allow sharing Adult Content in highly visible places such as profile photos or banners.”
Southern Baptist ethicist Jason Thacker called the policy “extremely disturbing and dangerous for all involved – especially minors and women,” but said it simply formalizes a longstanding policy at Twitter/X regarding pornography.
“This policy change is no surprise to those working on these issues, especially in light of the false connections drawn between free speech and pornography in contemporary law and society,” Thacker, senior fellow and director of the research institute at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), told Baptist Press.
“Regardless of the promised protections or restrictions put in place, this will inevitably expand the accessibility and prevalence of this deeply dehumanizing content that is inherently exploitative of all involved and corrosive to society at large,” said Thacker, also an assistant professor of philosophy and ethics at Boyce College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Read the full Baptist Press article here.
