Well folks, the wild west days of Vine are over. The people behind the six-second video app have announced in a blog post their decision to ban “explicit sexual content” from its offerings. No more click-through warning — it will all be gone.
It’s not that Vine doesn’t like porn! They just don’t want it going on in their vineyard, that’s all:
For more than 99 per cent of our users, this doesn’t really change anything. For the rest: we don’t have a problem with explicit sexual content on the Internet — — we just prefer not to be the source of it.
Finally, a one per cent you belong to!
The updated terms of service explain exactly what Twitter (and thus, Vine) considers “explicit sexual content”. Twitter, you may recall, owns Vine — could the mothership banning skin flicks on Vine hint at a future where Twitter itself starts censoring posts? One could maybe come to that conclusion. It wouldn’t be the first time a popular outlet locked folks out of its steamier corners.
So what’s too naughty for Vine? Let’s take a look at Twitter’s (and thus, Vine’s) definition of “explicit sexual content”. Artistic, documentary or non-provocative nudity? Sure! Sex acts, close-ups of genitalia, or “nudity in a context or setting that is sexually provocative (like a strip club)“? You’re outta luck.
For now, though, there still appears to be plenty of nudity on Twitter. And if you must record yourself briefly in the buff, there’s always Instagram Direct.
In the blog post, the Vine team sounds kind of shocked at the notion that people were using the app to search out six-second skin shots. Really? Porn? On the internet? You must be joking. [Vine via The Verge]