Livestreaming platform Twitch has swiftly reversed its decision to allow “artistic nudity” just two days after implementing it in response to concerns raised by the community.
New policy’s disastrous results
The initial policy, released on December 13, sought to allow artists to depict nudity through drawings, animations or sculptures as long as they labeled the content as containing sexual themes.
The goal of this policy was to provide more freedom to artists in response to issues brought up by the Twitch art community. Unfortunately, a lot of individuals were alarmed by the flood of lifelike nudes generated by AI.
With the use of AI, some content creators were able to push the boundaries that violate the new rules, which presented immediate issues for the platform and the users. Twitch said that it hadn’t completely taken into account how tough it is to distinguish between real photographs and digital art due to how real AI-generated art looks.
Rolling back after just two days
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy wrote a blog post acknowledging the mistake. “Upon reflection, we have decided that we went too far with this change,” he wrote. The company decided to reverse its new policy after two days.
Now, users are again prohibited from engaging in real or fake nudity. However, other changes in Twitch’s Sexual Content Policy remain in effect. This includes specific content that highlights breasts, buttocks or pelvic regions.
Clancy expressed regret over the confusion caused by the policy change in the blog post. “While I wish we would have predicted this outcome, part of our job is to make adjustments that serve the community. I apologize for the confusion that this update has caused,” Clancy wrote.
