Twitch's new guidelines crack down on streamers pretending to be nude

Twitch has updated its attire policy once again, effectively putting an end to the viral topless streams and any other implied nudity on its site.

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This change is in response to the rise of popular new topless streams, or "black bar" meta as they are also known, in which streamers would imply they are nude, but cover up any of the areas that would make them nude through the use of clever camera angles, framing, or just using black censor bars to cover their breasts or genitals. These streams were very controversial in the Twitch community and were tagged for "sexual themes," although they didn't actually breach Twitch's attire policy in which the site forbids streamers to display nudity.

As per the new policy set in place on Wednesday, streamers are no longer allowed to "Imply or suggest that they are fully or partially nude," Streamers are also not permitted to show visible outlines of genitals covered or not, with an additional prohibition on covering either breasts or genitals with objects or censor bars. Female streamers must have their nipples covered but are allowed to show cleavage as long as "it is clear that the streamer is wearing clothing."

• Read more: Twitch announces its allowing twerking, pole dancing, and 'artistic nudity'

Twitch has made multiple changes to its policies concerning nudity and sexual themes within the last month. In December, changes to their policy allowed streamers to show "fictionalized" nudity, but physical streamers would still have to follow the site's attire policy. The site quickly rolled back this change after a large influx of AI-generated hyper-realistic nudity began appearing on the site, citing that they went "too far" with these changes.

Now doubling down on its policy changes, no form of nudity, implied or otherwise, will be allowed on the site, officially putting an end to the viral topless streams. However, it seems like Twitch will continue to engage in this inevitable fight with its community as streamers are incentivized both monetarily and creatively to push the boundaries of Twitch's terms of service.

• Read more: Twitch walks back 'artistic nudity' policy that allowed sexual content

Twitch has majorly changed its terms of service three times in the last month, and with each change, a new meta is introduced by the streamers on the platform looking to push the terms of service guidelines to their absolute brink with the hope of attracting new viewers with their edgy content.

This will likely be a continuous fight between Twitch, advertisers, and streamers for the foreseeable future, or at least until a common middle-ground is reached and everyone is happy, as each party involved in the discussion of what content should/shouldn't be allowed on the platform has a different set of standards for what it deems ok. With each new set of standards, a new wave of attempts to call out hypocrisy within the guidelines begins. It's an uphill battle that is seemingly never-ending.

In other news, NASA has announced it is set to make a monumental achievement in 2024, as its Parker Solar Probe is scheduled to "touch" the Sun in December. The Parker Solar Probe is the fastest human-made object and is designed to monitor our local star and send back valuable information that will assist researchers in understanding the evolution of the Sun and other stars like it while also its space weather that can impact Earth. With each orbit of the Sun the Parker Solar Probe increases its speed, with its previous record being an astonishing 435,000 mph.

If you are interested in reading more about NASA's Parker Solar Probe, check out the below link.

• Read more: NASA set to make 'monumental achievement for all of humanity' in 2024