Leave it to humans to turn an innocent app into a medium for sex. Twitter announced on Tuesday that it is giving its Vine app an NC-17 rating because the video sharing service is being used for porn.
Not long after Twitter’s release of its video sharing app last month were people showcasing their private parts for the world to see. The app became immediately known as having a “porn problem” and its reputation grew especially after a too-graphic video was accidentally featured as an “Editor’s Pick.”
The app, available only to iOS devices, now has a new welcome message to verify a user’s age.
“Vine – Make a scene contains age-restricted material. Tap OK to confirm that you are 17 or over. Your content will then begin downloading immediately.”
The Apple app store also gives a warning that a user must be over the age of 17 to download Vine.
Shortly after Twitter became aware of its new app’s porn problem, it attempted to weed out dirty videos by restricting certain hashtags, such as #porn, #sex, #boobs, and #booty, but realized that it’s near impossible to keep pornographic videos off the app. Although the new rating can’t really keep out users under the age of 17, it does shield Twitter from a any potential liability.
My question is: why doesn’t Instagram have this problem?