Twitch has been trapped in an everlasting cycle of conflict as of late, as the streaming platform dances around the topic of nudity and the way its creators look to circumvent it. During the past few weeks of 2023, that led to a new Twitch meta where creators were placing censorship bars over their bodies to explore implied nudity, without actually exposing any genitals and so forth. This new theme caused a bit of an uproar across Twitch, and now the streamer has taken action.
A new stance and ruleset on nudity has been published, and in it, implied nudity has been banned. The updated Attire Policy notes:
"We don't permit streamers to be fully or partially nude, including exposing genitals or buttocks. Nor do we permit streamers to imply or suggest that they are fully or partially nude, including, but not limited to, covering breasts or genitals with objects or censor bars. We do not permit the visible outline of genitals, even when covered. Broadcasting nude or partially nude minors is always prohibited, regardless of context."
The policy does go further to also add that those who present as women are being asked to cover their nipples and to not expose any underboob, but that cleavage is essentially fair game assuming that coverage requirements are met and that it is obvious that the streamer is wearing clothes and not implying nudity. Likewise, a final note was added that for all streamers, "you must cover the area extending from your hips to the bottom of your pelvis and buttocks."
As for why this policy has come through, Twitch states, "Our goal, with this and other recent changes, is to make Twitch a safe and welcoming place for all of the communities that call it home, improve the clarity of our policies, and ensure that people have the experience they expect when spending time on Twitch."
Twitch does add that it is working on the ability to blur thumbnails for those using the Sexual Themes label, on top of users being able to filter their viewing experience based on preferences framed around content classification labels.