Updated: Is Twitter's Vine app promoting porn?
Site Editor's Pick highlights porn as must-see content.

Twitter Vine

Vine

Twitter - Editor's Pick
Twitter's newly launched Vine app has started actively promoting inappropriate content to users.
The Vine app, which allows users to post six second video clips on Twitter, was launched for iOS devices on 24 January, and has been plagued with controversy ever since.
In the latest mishap, Vine users have been greeted with an unsavoury "Editor's Pick", which is a video labelled "Dildoplay" and features the hashtags #porn #nsfw and #nsfwvine.
The video carried a warning that users have to click through to access the content, but this is easily done.
Twitter had previously released a statement acknowledging the barrage of inappropriate content featured on the service, but this is the first time it has been promoted to users.
"Users can report videos as inappropriate within the product if they believe the content to be sensitive or inappropriate (e.g. nudity, violence, or medical procedures). Videos that have been reported as inappropriate have a warning message that a viewer must click through before viewing the video," a spokesperson said.
"Uploaded videos that are reported and determined to violate our guidelines will be removed from the site, and the User account that posted the video may be terminated. Please review the Vine Rules (http://vine.co/terms) for more information on these violations."
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
Twitter isn't the only firm to experience problems with inappropriate content. Apple removed the 500px photography app from its store earlier this month, claiming it breached its terms.
500px provided access to, what it terms were, "tasteful" nude photographs. However, Apple received a user complaint relating to possible child pornography, something the app makers denied all knowledge of.
It remains to be seen whether Apple will take the same action and remove Twitter's Vine application from its App Store.
Update: Twitter has since responded, with the firm claiming that the promotion of content was a mistake.
"A human error resulted in a video with adult content becoming one of the videos in Editor's Picks, and upon realizing this mistake we removed the video immediately. We apologise to our users for the error," a spokesperson said in a statement to IT Pro.
-
The UK's ICT sector struggling with technical debt
News As AI fuels expensive innovation, analysts advise organizations to track their technical debt and prioritize accordingly
-
Will Britain have a four-day week in five years?
News Survey suggests British companies are in favour of a four-day working week
-
Innovation is harder than it looks – we should go easy on tech firms
Opinion From Google’s bungled generative Bard launch to Twitter’s ongoing troubles, we must remember the often-forgotten truth that innovation is slow and software is difficult to build
-
Jack Dorsey admits regret for helping to centralise the internet
News The former Twitter CEO took to the platform he founded to express regret at the 'damaging' development of the internet
-
Twitter lets you add comments to your retweets
News Twitter reduces character limit so you can throw in your two cents worth
-
Tribunal date set for firefighter sacked over tweets
News Ashley Brown was dismissed after tweeting about pension cuts and strikes
-
World Cup 2014 in numbers: Most popular goals and players
News World Cup gets social with Facebook, Twitter and Google usage exploding
-
Fake Wendi Deng and Murdoch gaffes embarrass Twitter
News Twitter is looking a little red in the face after a number of snafus over the Murdochs' accounts.
-
Mobile services to hit $1 trillion in revenues
News Gartner has said mobility services will be worth more than $1 trillion a year by 2014.
-
Safari holes closed and extensions opened
News Safari 5.0.1 has been released, with 15 security holes closed and a number of extensions made available.