What Is Going On With The Battle Surrounding Twitch's 'Lewd Content' Meta?

If you're purely and blissfully unaware of what's happening in the more unsavory corners of Twitch, the site's recent barrage of policy updates regarding sexual content may seem confusing. It seems like every few weeks, Twitch has come out with a new rule updating its terms of service to make its sexual content policy stricter.

This is because the lewd content streamers of Twitch have consistently been exploiting whatever loopholes they can find to get eyes on their "assets" while "safely" operating within the rules of Twitch.

This has led to an amusing Whack-a-Mole where the lewd content creators of Twitch discover something sexy they can do on stream that is technically allowed, and once it gets popular, Twitch stamps it out. Here's the history of Twitch's war with its lewd content streamers.

What Is Twitch's Sexual Content Meta?

On Twitch, it's common that when one streamer strikes upon an idea that proves to be successful, other streamers start copying that idea until it becomes a trend on the platform. This is known as the meta.

Twitch has proven to be a lucrative platform for some adult content creators to get their faces (and bodies) out there, and they've consistently attempted to try and get their Twitch viewers wanting to see "more" on other platforms by streaming in skimpy clothing. This started in 2020, when streamers began streaming from hot tubs in order to skirt Twitch's rules that banned "revealing clothing" but allowed bathing suits. As a result, Twitch allowed for a "Hot Tubs" category that seemed to house the lewd content creators of Twitch for several years.

The Topless Stream Meta And Morgpie

While Twitch has generally been strict about shutting down any streams and creators it deems breaks its rules, Morgpie kicked off the current back-and-forth between Twitch and its "lewdity" streamers in late last year with her topless stream.

In late 2023, Morgpie did not appear to be wearing a shirt while streaming. However, the camera was positioned such that her breasts were barely in the frame, and it didn't seem as though there was a danger of her nipples appearing on screen.

Morgpie technically wasn't wearing revealing clothing, and hardly any of her body was on screen, so, in essence, she was technically within Twitch's guidelines. Soon, similar streamers adopted Morgpie's strategy, including StrawberryTabby (more on her later).

On December 13th, Twitch made what would turn out to be an error when it updated its terms of service to allow for "artistic nudity." This led users to experiment with drawing NSFW content on the platform. On December 15th, Twitch walked back its Artistic Nudity policy and once again edited its terms of service.

The Censor Bar Meta

Shortly after Twitch updated its policy by revoking "Artistic Nudity," Twitch streamer FireDancer began experimenting with censor bars that covered her breasts and genitals. She was actually wearing clothes beneath the bars, but it appeared that the bars were covering her nude form.

Two weeks later, now in January 2024, Twitch once again updated its policy to ban "implied nudity." This meant if you were going to stream, you needed to obviously be wearing clothes, thus killing the "censor bar" meta.

StrawberryTabby And Morgpie's March Innovations

In March, Morgpie and StrawberryTabby both went viral for their "innovations" in the lewd content space, coming up with new ways to get eyes on their streams with "exciting" new techniques.

StrawberryTabby innovated what has been coined the "Show Hole Meta," which involves pointing a camera directly at a bikini-ed backside such that only the absolutely necessary bit is covered, but everything else is on full display. StrawberryTabby received a brief ban for the experiment, but other users began a "clear chair" meta, which involved sticking a camera directly beneath their clear chair and having that feed be prominent on stream.

Meanwhile, Morgpie, in what was arguably the greatest technological innovation of the "Lewdity" war yet, rigged her shorts to act as a greenscreen, allowing her to play video games that displayed on her butt.

This was widely cheered as a brilliant, albeit shameless, attempt at skirting Twitch's rules, and sure enough, other streamers, particularly VTubers, followed suit, and for a brief period, Twitch was filled with streamers' gameplay being displayed on their bodies. Ultimately, Twitch had to stomp this out too, and on March 27th, the site banned having a camera dedicated to focusing on private parts in streams.

The Future Of Twitch

As of now, there has yet to be a new viral development among Twitch's lewd content streamers, who are no doubt dreaming up a new way to highlight their assets in a way that Twitch has yet to technically ban. If the past few months have been any indication, we'll surely see a meta even more wild than the "buttscreen" meta soon.

For the full history of the Twitch sexual content meta, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.