X (formerly Twitter) Limits the Display of Pornographic Content in the European Union
Is this the end of X on X? Elon Musk’s social network has implemented a new content restriction policy in the European Union (EU) for users who have not used an age verification system to prove their majority. Among the consequences: a clear inability to access pornographic content for European users whose age remains uncertain in the eyes of the company, pending the deployment of new age verification tools by the social network.
According to observations made on Monday, July 28, videos showing pornographic scenes or content considered “sensitive,” published on X in recent days, are no longer accessible to all users. For some, a message appears instead: “Due to local legislation, we are temporarily limiting access to this content until X determines your age.”
AI or Facial Recognition to Prove Age
The link provided by X at the end of this explanation leads to a new documentation page, published on the evening of July 24. “We are required by regulations, including the UK Online Safety Act, the Irish Online Safety Code, and the European Digital Services Act, to verify your age to allow you to access certain types of content,” the text states, justifying the implementation of these measures.
The social network details how it plans to verify the age of its users. Firstly, based on information already provided by its members, such as sending an identity document already done in the past (subscribers to the paid version X Premium, for example, have been able to do so to obtain an “identity badge”), a check of the email address linked to the X account, or the date the account was created. If the latter was opened before 2012, it will be considered as necessarily belonging to an adult.
Secondly, X specifies, two age verification systems will also appear: either through the authentication of an identity document by an “artificial intelligence” tool, or by a “facial recognition” of a selfie taken live, which will “estimate” whether the person filmed by their smartphone is over 18 years old.
Such tools will be implemented by X in the EU “in the coming weeks,” and, if the test is passed successfully, its users will be able to see the media considered “sensitive” again, according to the platform’s documentation. Contacted, the X teams have not yet responded to questions about the deployment of these systems.
A Generally Permissive Network
X is far from being the only company to have implemented a new policy regarding pornographic content since July 25. Since that date, under the Online Safety Act, all platforms offering content prohibited to those under 18 in the United Kingdom are required to use methods to control the age of their users. The social network seems to have chosen to apply these restrictions more broadly to neighboring countries.
X is widely known for its permissiveness regarding adult content and is popular with many pornographic content creators. The network recalled in June 2024 that its “users should be able to create, disseminate, and view sexual content as long as it is produced and distributed consensually.” In a message published on Sunday, Elon Musk, owner of X, said he regretted the “attacks” against “the Internet” from Europe and the United Kingdom, in the name of “child protection.”
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