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X, the social network formerly known as Twitter<\/a>, is testing a feature that lets users create or join communities focused on \u201cadult content\u201d or other \u201cnot safe for work\u201d material.\u00a0<\/p>\n Users who create a community within the app can specify in the settings that their group \u201ccontains adult-sensitive content,\u201d according to screenshots uncovered by Daniel Buchuk, an analyst at\u00a0Watchful<\/a>, which tracks apps\u2019 development testing. The X groups will then feature an \u201cadult content\u201d label. Users who fail to label their community could see some of the content being filtered out or removed, according to the screenshots of the rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n Communities on X can be private, and it appears that the social media network will ultimately require age verification for groups that feature adult content. X\u2019s\u00a0policies<\/a>\u00a0currently restrict \u201cgraphic media, adult nudity, and sexual behavior for viewers who are under 18 or viewers who do not include a birth date on their profile.\u201d A senior software engineer at X, Dong Wook Chung,\u00a0posted<\/a>\u00a0Thursday that the purpose of the new label is \u201cabout making communities safer for everyone\u201d and that \u201conly users who have specified their age will be able to search communities with NSFW content.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for X confirmed that Chung is an employee, but declined to comment further.\u00a0<\/p>\n U.S. lawmakers have made protecting teens and other young people online a key focus in recent months, including at a\u00a0contentious Senate hearing<\/a>\u00a0in January that featured the chief executive officers of several social networks, including X\u2019s Linda Yaccarino.\u00a0<\/p>\n Openly offering \u201cNSFW\u201d groups may be another way for X to try to differentiate itself from other mainstream social networking services. Adult material lived on Twitter long before owner Elon Musk took over and changed the company name, and Twitter\u2019s former executives even considered building an OnlyFans-style subscription offering for adult content creators. Twitter scrapped the project after deciding the company wasn\u2019t prepared to police \u201charmful sexual content,\u201d including child porn, according to\u00a0The Verge<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Musk has been open about his belief that X should carry almost all content that isn\u2019t illegal. X allows posts about topics such as sexual behavior if users label it as sensitive, but its\u00a0policies forbid adult content in live videos<\/a>\u00a0and profile images. It\u2019s also against the rules to\u00a0promote those subjects<\/a>\u00a0as part of an advertisement.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear when the test will go live to a broader audience, and it\u2019s possible the feature could still be scrapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to Data Sheet, our daily newsletter about the business of tech. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n