Cover up your bits! Vine bans porn

The internet is awash with porn. If you want to find something a little titillating, have a taste for the weird, or just want some good old fashion hardcore, you don’t have to look too far to satiate that desire. But if you have been looking to Vine to get your kicks -- and seriously, there must be some better places to look! -- you're going to have to turn your attention elsewhere, as a complete porn ban has been put in place.

It does not matter if you want to share porny videos of yourself with a loved one privately, everything that falls into the category of "Pornography and Sexually Explicit Content" is outlawed. Vine's terms of service state in no uncertain terms that "You may not post Content that... Is pornographic or sexually explicit", and the Vine Rules make it abundantly clear what is permitted and what is not.

Further clarification is provided in an updated support article where it is explained that "explicit sexual content" is defined as "depictions of sex acts, nudity that is sexually provocative or in a sexual context, and graphic depictions of sexual arousal". This encompasses all of the obvious things such as the performing of "sex acts" (solo and in company), imagery that focuses on exposed genitals (although exposed genitals are not necessarily banned), aroused genitals under clothing and animations depicting the same. Vines that show the "use of sex toys for sex acts" is not permitted, although this is probably already covered by the ban on sex acts in general.

But Vine is not completely opposed to people showing off the human body. Nudity, in certain contexts, is deemed acceptable. Non-sexual nudity is OK -- such as breastfeeding -- as well as "artistic" nudity and nudity in a documentary context -- with the oddly specific example of nude protesters. A slightly contentious inclusion on the banned list is "clothed sexually suggestive dancing".

So now you know where Vine's values lie. Let's see how long it is before people start pushing it to the absolute limit en masse.

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