I’ve acquired a nasty feeling about this.

Amongst X’s varied moderation challenges with its lowered employees pool, little one safety has grow to be a key concern, with X CEO Linda Yaccarino set to seem earlier than Congress subsequent week to elucidate the platform’s ongoing efforts to fight little one sexual exploitation (CSE) materials.

With that in thoughts, X has at this time reiterated its evolving methods to fight CSE, whereas it’s additionally introduced a plan to construct a brand new “Belief and Security heart of excellence” in Texas, so as to enhance its responsiveness in addressing this aspect.

As reported by Bloomberg:

“[X] goals to rent 100 full-time content material moderators on the new location, in accordance with Joe Benarroch, head of enterprise operations at X. The group will deal with preventing materials associated to little one sexual exploitation, however will assist implement the social media platform’s different guidelines, which embrace restrictions on hate speech and violent posts, he added.”

Which is sweet, addressing CSE needs to be a precedence, and extra staffing on this space to deal with this and different dangerous components, is clearly essential.

On one hand, this might be seen as a proactive response to reassure lawmakers, whereas additionally bettering X’s enchantment to advert companions, however I’ve a sneaking suspicion that one other, extra controversial plan might be at play on this case.

Again in 2022, Twitter explored the potential of enabling grownup content material creators to promote subscriptions within the app, in an effort to faucet into OnlyFans’ $2.5b self-made content material market.

Grownup content material is already very current on X, and readily accessible, so the logical step to earn more money for the platform was to monetize this, leaning into this aspect, quite than simply turning a blind eye to it.

So why didn’t Twitter undergo with it?

As reported by The Verge:

“Earlier than the ultimate go-ahead to launch, Twitter convened 84 workers to type what it referred to as a “Pink Staff.” The aim was “to pressure-test the choice to permit grownup creators to monetize on the platform, by particularly specializing in what it will seem like for Twitter to do that safely and responsibly”. What the Pink Staff found derailed the challenge: Twitter couldn’t safely enable grownup creators to promote subscriptions as a result of the corporate was not – and nonetheless will not be – successfully policing dangerous sexual content material on the platform.”

As you could have guessed, essentially the most regarding components raised on account of this exploration have been little one sexual exploitation and non-consensual nudity.

As a result of X couldn’t adequately police CSE, enabling the monetization of porn was a significant danger, and with a portion of massive identify advertisers additionally prone to bolt because of the platform leaning into extra risqué materials, Twitter administration opted to not go on this path, regardless of the idea that it may internet the corporate a major income windfall if it did.

However perhaps now, with X’s advert income nonetheless down 50%, and large identify advertisers already pausing their advert spend, X is reconsidering this plan, and might be gearing as much as broaden into grownup content material subscriptions.

The indicators are all there. X just lately signed a brand new cope with BetMGM to show playing odds in-stream, one other controversial aspect that different social apps have steered away from previously, whereas it’s additionally now pitching itself as a “video first platform” because it strikes in direction of Elon Musk’s “all the things app” imaginative and prescient.

An all the things app would logically incorporate grownup content material as nicely, and regardless of the extra price of assigning a brand new workforce to police CSE violations, perhaps, X sees a option to offset that outlay with an all-new monetization avenue, by enabling grownup content material creators to achieve many tens of millions extra folks with their work.

Positively, X wants the cash now greater than it did when it first thought of the proposal in 2022.

As famous, X’s foremost advert earnings stream continues to be nicely down on earlier ranges, whereas Musk’s buy of the app has additionally saddled it with mortgage debt of round $1.5 billion per 12 months. So regardless of Musk’s huge cost-cutting, X continues to be unlikely to interrupt even, not to mention earn cash. And with advertisers nonetheless avoiding the app attributable to Musk’s controversial remarks, it wants new pathways to construct its enterprise.

Spending tens of millions on a brand new moderation heart has to have a direct profit, and whereas appeasing advertisers and regulators is essential, I don’t suppose that CSE, at this stage, is what’s preserving advert companions away.

Value noting, too, that X has made a selected be aware of this utilization stat in its announcement:

“Whereas X will not be the platform of selection for kids and minors – customers between 13-17 account for lower than 1% of our U.S every day customers – we’ve got made it harder for dangerous actors to share or have interaction with CSE materials on X, whereas concurrently making it easier for our customers to report CSE content material.”

It looks like one thing else is coming, and that X is getting ready for one more push, and I might not be stunned in any respect if it’s revisiting its grownup content material plan.

That is, in fact, hypothesis, and solely these inside X know its precise technique transferring ahead.

However given X’s freedom of speech push, and its want for extra money, don’t be stunned if it takes a step on this path someday quickly.