Game streaming site reverses decision to allow 'artistic' nudity after controversial streamer banned
Twitch is rolling back a policy change that would have allowed certain forms of nudity on the platform after a controversy involving a popular streamer.
Twitch, one of the largest video game streaming platforms in the world, is rolling back a policy change that would have allowed "artistic depictions of nudity" on the site.
"Morgpie," a Twitch streamer and internet personality, was at the center of a nudity controversy after she appeared live on stream, with some viewers believing her to be topless. The uproar over her subsequent banning on the site prompted Twitch to release new guidelines allowing the "artistic depictions of nudity."
However, Twitch announced Friday that it was again changing its nudity policy.
"Moving forward, depictions of real or fictional nudity won't be allowed on Twitch, regardless of the medium," the company wrote in its most recent policy update.
The statement, written by Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, continued: "First, we want to make clear that some streamers, in response to this update, created content that was in violation of our new policy. We’ve worked quickly to remove that content and issue channel enforcements."
Twitch apologized for the confusion that the update may have caused, and referenced the "unique challenge" that artificial intelligence (AI) poses to nudity and sexual policy on Twitch, a site that receives an average of over 35 million visitors every day.
"While I wish we would have predicted this outcome, part of our job is to make adjustments that serve the community," Clancy wrote. "I apologize for the confusion that this update has caused."
Twitch's most recent update on its sexual policy came just two days ago, on Wednesday.
The platform wrote that it received "consistent feedback from streamers that our current policies around sexual content are confusing and that it can be difficult to know how their content will be interpreted based on these policies."
As a result, Twitch temporarily allowed "artistic depictions of nudity," content with a "focus on fictionalized (drawn, animated, or sculpted) sexual body parts regardless of gender (such as doing nude figure drawing)." as long as it carried a "Sexual Themes Label."
Twitch did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.