Elon Musk's X has embraced porn. Now what?

• Elon Musk's X has revamped its sensitive media policy to more explicitly allow adult content.
• The policy makes a robust ideological statement about not-safe-for-work content, welcomed by some.

Elon Musk's X overhauled its sensitive media policy this week, signaling an increasing coziness with the world of adult content.

While the platform has never formally forbidden porn, the new update is much clearer. It also includes a forthright ideological statement on the issue of smut.

"Sexual expression, whether visual or written, can be a legitimate form of artistic expression," the policy states.

It adds: "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."

Prior to the update — first spotted by TechCrunch — X's "sensitive media" policy comprised a hodgepodge of rules around the posting of violent, sexual, or otherwise graphic material.

Now the site has separated its policy pages for "Adult" and "Violent" content.

This is clearly on brand for Musk.

Brooke Erin Duffy, associate professor of communication at Cornell University, told the Associated Press that the move "dovetails well with the company's post-Musk marketing strategy."

"X is unapologetically provocative and has sought to distinguish itself from 'brand safe' competitors," she added.

(Compare X's approach to Facebook's nudity policy, which only really acknowledges "awareness campaigns or artistic projects" as possible motivations for posting NSFW material.)

Harper Thornhill, a dominatrix and former representative of the UK's Sex Workers' Union, said the change isn't much more than a "PR stunt."

But the statement is a "great thing" in a world where sex workers are routinely stigmatized, she told BI. "It's a good thing that they are publicly taking pornography, commenting on it, and saying that we'll happily have it here — because that's life."

(Thornhill, whose working name is Countess Diamond, uses a pseudonym for professional purposes. Her real name is known to BI.)

But taking pornography on board so squarely ramps up concerns for X users.

Under the policy, someone posting adult material must label it as such, either on a post-by-post basis or across their whole account. This produces an age-restrictive content warning.

Meanwhile, a whole raft of awful stuff remains banned. The promotion or solicitation of sexual services is also banned under the policy.

But these measures are unlikely to satisfy regulators, Clare Daly, a solicitor working on child safety and data protection, told BI.

Multiple countries — including Ireland, where Daly practices — are weighing up sweeping measures that won't be satisfied with "age assurance measures based solely on self-declaration," she said.

"It appears that X will need to take much more proactive steps" to verify the age of its users, she said.

It's also unclear how X vets material that is posted nonconsensually, Thornhill, who has advised UK lawmakers on porn regulation, said.

The platform would have to adopt the same level of documentation as sites like Pornhub or OnlyFans use to operate safely, she added, saying that making this move without robust safeguards is a "recipe for disaster."

"There's so much harm that could come from this that is unseen and that hasn't been evaluated or assessed," she said.

There's also the question of what signal it sends to users who — even with an opt-out — just don't see X as a source for adult content, and prefer it that way.

"This move might attract a niche user base and boost engagement," Nick Hajli, a professor of digital strategy at the UK's Loughborough University Business School, told BI. "However, it risks losing advertisers and mainstream users concerned about brand safety."

X did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment,
but Musk might be having this exact business calculation.

In October 2022, as Musk stood ready to take over Twitter, leaked internal research showed that the platform was hemorrhaging its most active users while seeing a growth in their interest in adult content, as Reuters reported.

Earlier this year, TechCrunch also reported that Musk was toying with the idea of revitalizing X's "communities" feature, with NSFW adult content.

But do those in the field even trust Musk to get it right?

"Oh God, no," Thornhill said. "He's just too reactionary. Too egotistical."