SALON

Monday, Jan 28, 2013 4:38 PM UTC

Twitter’s new micro-video app is predictably flooded with porn

Vine users posting spicy 6-second clips have sparked a larger conversation about free speech and social media

By

Topics: porn, Sex, Internet Culture, Social Media, Twitter, Apple, Editor's Picks, , ,

Twitter's new micro-video app is predictably flooded with porn

Vine, Twitter’s new micro-video application, lets people share up to 6 seconds of video as an endlessly looping clip. Interestingly, 6 seconds is also how long it took for people to start using it to share porn.

Porn? On the Internet? Who would have thought.

And rather than flying under the radar, this spicy new content came to very public attention this morning when an explicit clip (it was tagged #dildoplay, let’s leave it at that) made its way onto Vine’s “Editor’s Picks” list. That means users who opened the application were automatically greeted with some very NSFW content.

Vine quickly issued an apology, but it may still be in hot water with Apple.

Vine is currently iOS-only, and Apple is notorious for its prudish policies around adult content, having recently banned a popular photo sharing application because of nude photos, even after the app’s creator offered a fix to filter explicit images. Apple balked, claiming the content still violated its user guidelines.

Apple’s maybe, but not Vine’s. There is nothing in Vine’s terms of use that specifically bans adult images, just a “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” recommendation:

You are responsible for your use of the Services, for any Content you post to the Services, and for any consequences thereof. The Content you submit, post, or display will be able to be viewed by other users of the Services and through third party services and websites. You should only provide Content that you are comfortable sharing with others under these Terms.

And Vine isn’t playing Internet porn cop, yet. Rather than booting adult content, it has started to monitor and identify explicit hashtags (most recently: #ass) that require a filter wall. The content remains accessible, but a warning screen lets you know what you’re in for.

It’s a surprisingly adult way to handle a microporn scandal. Surprising — and possibly influential.

If Apple lets Vine’s policy toward explicit images slide and continues to carry the app, it could signal a change in its own guidelines around adult content — and mean your smartphone is about to get a whole lot racier.

Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com. More Katie Mcdonough.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 2 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username - log out

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Would we give up burgers to stop climate change? New study suggests if we reduce our intake of animal products by 25%, we can halt climate change
467 points468 points | 163 comments
vote
Facebook has been used to find ex-lovers, childhood BFFs or the one who got away. He used it to find the guy who, without his consent, made him his drug mule.
229 points230 points | 21 comments
vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
134 points135 points | 54 comments
vote
Poll: 3 in 10 voters say “armed revolution might be necessary” - 29% say they believe they'll have to act "in order to protect our liberties" in the next few years
44 points45 points | 16 comments
vote
Capitalism, not feminism, killed home cooking–and fixing our broken food system is gonna take a lot more than some privileged women embracing “new domesticity”
34 points35 points | 19 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations