Twitter Applies Vine Porn Search Filters?

Twitter is now apparently censoring certain searches on Vine, following criticism about the amount of pornographic content on the service, which launched last Thursday.

Vine allows users to create and share six-second video clips on Twitter and through a dedicated iPhone app, but it became quickly apparent that some were using it to distribute adult content.

Searches for ‘porn’ ‘sex’ and ‘nsfw’ were not possible when attempted by TechWeekEurope this morning – all in the name of research.

Vine porn searches thwarted

However, only searches are being filtered, not the content itself, meaning naughty stuff can still be found by those with the time and determination to do so. Twitter had not responded to requests for comment at the time of writing.

Twitter apologised yesterday for making an adult video one of its ‘Editor’s Picks’, meaning it was viewable from the front page of the app. The company blamed “human error” for the gaffe and removed it immediately.

It remains to be seen what Apple plans to do as it does not allow pornography in its App Store. Vine currently only works on iOS.

Last week, the iPhone manufacturer removed 500px, a popular smartphone photography app, from its App Store over fears it could be used to view pornographic images and possibly indecent images of children. The developers denied the claims, admitting that although nude images could be viewed through the app, they were filtered through a safe search function which is turned on by default.

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