In its struggle to retain mature and general audiences, Twitch on Wednesday updated its attire rules to crack down on users who subvert the system.
The new policy on Twitch targets nudity, which has become an issue on the platform. The new rules state that users can’t suggest or imply nudity in their streams. This includes putting carefully placed censor bars over their bodies or cleverly placing the camera to imply nudity. Cleavage is allowed as long as the nipple and underbust are covered.
The company said it made the change because it was concerned users would stumble on the suggestive content while looking for something to watch.
“While content labeled with the Sexual Themes label isn’t displayed on the home page, this content is displayed within the category browse directories, and we recognize that many users frequent these pages to find content on Twitch,” the platform’s chief customer trust officer, Angela Hession, said in a blog post.
Users were divided on the trend, with many pointing out the inappropriate nature of the streams on a site that typically features video games. Female streamers, who were often the target of criticism for the black-bar streams, have called Twitch’s nudity policy sexist since men are allowed to show their nipples without punishment.
Twitch has tried to curb the exposure of sexual content in the past. Recently it introduced the Sexual Themes tag to sequester explicit content away from other more general audience-focused streams.
