X = formerly known as Twitter | Elon Musk = Owner of X
This week’s instalment of ‘What’s Wrong With X’ comes courtesy of none other than Kanye West, whose three-day online meltdown culminated in posting explicit content—uncensored, unfiltered, and apparently, totally fine under X’s current policies.
After public backlash, Elon Musk, reassured concerned users by stating West’s account was now classified as NSFW saying, ‘Given what he posted… You should not be seeing that anymore.’
Oh, phew! Problem solved, everyone. Except… it’s not.
This has resulted in a resurgence of the hashtag #BanPornOnX, as users demand stricter content policies and greater accountability from the platform.
Join the movement to #BanPornOnX
X Is a Playground for Porn
X actively allows pornography. It’s not an accident. The platform deliberately permits explicit content, provided it’s labeled correctly. The platform justifies this by stating that "sexual expression, whether visual or written, can be a legitimate form of artistic expression."
Screenshot of X’s adult content policy
But labelling porn doesn’t erase the harm it causes. It normalises sexual exploitation, shapes harmful sexual scripts, and, as we’ve pointed out since our inception, directly contributes to the epidemic of violence against women and children.
The Same Tired Arguments (And Why They’re Wrong)
As always, defenders of porn’s presence on X recycle the same excuses. Let’s take a moment to dismantle them one by one:
“It’s artistic expression!”
Because nothing says ‘high art’ like violent, degrading sex acts commodified for mass consumption. There’s twenty years of empirical research, and 135 studies across 109 publications, showing that sexually objectifying media reinforces sexist beliefs, increases body dissatisfaction, leads both women and men to have a diminished view of women's competence, morality, and humanity and desensitises viewers to sexual violence. Calling it “art” doesn’t change the damage it does.
“It’s about free speech!”
You know what’s not free speech? The rampant online exploitation of women and children. X isn’t a public square; it’s a privately owned platform with rules. Free speech does not mean a free-for-all with no accountability. If Musk can crack down on bots and ban accounts for impersonating him, he can absolutely remove pornography.
If an adult were watching porn on their laptop and then called a child over to show them, that adult would be charged with a crime. How is what Elon Musk is allowing on X any different?
In effect, Musk is doing the digital equivalent - knowingly providing a space where pornography is easily accessible to children, making it near impossible for young users to avoid exposure. Musk is essentially facilitating exposure to explicit content on a mass scale - normalising harm while pretending it's just another aspect of free speech.
“Parents should just supervise their kids better.”
Porn is no longer something kids have to seek out - it finds them. A Mother on Facebook shared how her 9-year-old son was exposed to porn on the playground:
“My son’s first exposure to porn came at 9 from a 10 yr old with a cell phone that had full data.
This child was mocking other children about not watching Pornhub yet. He later on proceeded to pull up a video on the playground and show unsuspecting boys who were sharing silly videos or watching gamer videos about Minecraft. As you can see it had nothing to do with me having control of my child’s internet usage."
This isn’t about bad parenting; it’s about a digital environment so saturated with explicit content that avoiding it is nearly impossible.
“Just change your settings.”
Yes, let’s rely on 13-year-olds to navigate X’s labyrinth of safety settings the moment they sign up. Spoiler alert: they won’t. The responsibility should be on the platform, not its youngest users, to prevent exposure to harmful content.
According to the Children’s Commissioner for England, X is the platform where young people are most likely to encounter pornography. 41% of kids who’ve seen porn online saw it on X.
“If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.”
The normalisation of violent, degrading pornography affects society as a whole. We can’t just “opt out” of a culture that perpetuates sexual exploitation any more than we can “opt out” of pollution in the air. This affects all of us.
“If you're seeing it, it's because you're interacting with it.”
Ah yes, the classic ‘blame the algorithm’ defence. Except, algorithms don’t just serve content based on what you engage with - they also push viral, high-engagement material, often regardless of whether a user explicitly seeks it out. Many users have reported seeing explicit content on their feeds without any prior interaction with similar material. More importantly, minors and unsuspecting users should not have to tweak their online behaviour to avoid stumbling across porn. The responsibility lies with X to ensure its platform isn’t a minefield of harmful content.
Enough Is Enough
The reality is that platforms like X are sending the message that women exist as objects for male consumption, that violence against women is titillating, and that children’s exposure to explicit material is an unavoidable consequence of ‘free expression’. This not only puts young users at risk but also contributes to a culture where exploitation is normalised and protected under the guise of digital freedom.
Elon Musk has a choice. He can continue to allow X to be a cesspool of sexual exploitation, or he can take real action and ban pornography altogether.
We’re not going anywhere. And neither is this fight. #BanPornOnX
See Also:
The deeply troubling effects of porn on young people
Don’t leave kids to defend themselves: Social Media Report cites our evidence
Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society
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