Elon Musk’s X now officially allows posting of consensual adult content

It’s official: X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is allowing people to post NSFW content -- with some restrictions.

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Elon Musk’s social media platform made a recent update to its official usage policies, Variety reported. That includes the display of adult nudity or sexual behavior, “provided it’s properly labeled and not prominently displayed.”

Adult material was allowed before Musk bought Twitter, but there was no official policy in place, according to The Associated Press. X said it is restricting adult content for children and for adult users who choose not to see it.

“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,” X’s adult content page reads. “We balance this freedom by restricting exposure to Adult Content for children or adult users who choose not to see it. 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.”

The adult policy also applies to AI-generated, photographic or animated content including cartoons, hentai or anime, Deadline reported.

Before Musk bought the San Francisco-based company, officials estimated that 13% of all posts on the platform contained adult content, according to Reuters.

“We launched Adult Content and Violent Content policies -- but what we enforce against has not changed -- we launched these policies to clarify our Rules and increase transparency on our enforcement,” a spokesperson for X told Deadline. “These policies replace our former Sensitive Media and Violent Speech policies which means we continue to act on these types of content with the exact same philosophy.”

X is encouraging users who regularly post adult content to adjust their media settings that will place “all your images and videos behind a content warning that needs to be acknowledged before your media can be viewed,” Variety reported.

“If you continue to fail marking your posts, we will adjust your account settings for you,” X wrote in its policy update.

X users can report unmarked adult content or other violations using the app’s reporting features or can appeal a decision about a violation, Variety reported.

“The platform’s move to allow ‘adult content’ dovetails well with the company’s post-Musk marketing strategy,” Brooke Erin Duffy, associate professor of communication at Cornell University, said in a statement, according to the AP. “X is unapologetically provocative and has sought to distinguish itself from ‘brand safe’ competitors.”

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