I’ve bought a nasty feeling about this.

Amongst X’s numerous moderation challenges with its diminished workers pool, little one safety has turn into a key concern, with X CEO Linda Yaccarino set to seem earlier than Congress subsequent week to clarify the platform’s ongoing efforts to fight little one sexual exploitation (CSE) materials.

With that in thoughts, X has at the moment reiterated its evolving methods to fight CSE, whereas it’s additionally introduced a plan to construct a brand new “Belief and Security middle of excellence” in Texas, to be able to enhance its responsiveness in addressing this ingredient.

As reported by Bloomberg:

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

Which is sweet, addressing CSE must be a precedence, and extra staffing on this space to concentrate on 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 attraction 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 for 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 ingredient, fairly 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 staff to kind what it known as a “Crimson Staff.” The purpose was “to pressure-test the choice to permit grownup creators to monetize on the platform, by particularly specializing in what it might appear like for Twitter to do that safely and responsibly”. What the Crimson 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 shouldn’t be – successfully policing dangerous sexual content material on the platform.”

As you’ll have guessed, probably the most regarding components raised because 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 more likely to bolt as a result of platform leaning into extra risqué materials, Twitter administration opted to not go on this course, regardless of the idea that it might web the corporate a big income windfall if it did.

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

The indicators are all there. X lately signed a brand new cope with BetMGM to show playing odds in-stream, one other controversial ingredient 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 “every part app” imaginative and prescient.

An every part app would logically incorporate grownup content material as nicely, and regardless of the extra price of assigning a brand new staff to police CSE violations, possibly, X sees a option to offset that outlay with an all-new monetization avenue, by enabling grownup content material creators to succeed in many hundreds of thousands extra folks with their work.

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

As famous, X’s predominant advert earnings stream remains 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 yr. So regardless of Musk’s large cost-cutting, X remains to be unlikely to interrupt even, not to mention become profitable. And with advertisers nonetheless avoiding the app because of Musk’s controversial remarks, it wants new pathways to construct its enterprise.

Spending hundreds of thousands on a brand new moderation middle has to have a direct profit, and whereas appeasing advertisers and regulators is essential, I don’t assume that CSE, at this stage, is what’s maintaining advert companions away.

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

“Whereas X shouldn’t be the platform of alternative for kids and minors – customers between 13-17 account for lower than 1% of our U.S every day customers – now we have made it tougher for unhealthy actors to share or interact with CSE materials on X, whereas concurrently making it less complicated 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, after all, hypothesis, and solely these inside X know its precise technique shifting ahead.

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