Twitter's Vine has a surprise porn problem

A new video service from company quickly attracts adult-video clips, raising questions about whether Apple will continue to support it.

By Aimee Picchi Jan 29, 2013 3:40PM

When Twitter announced its Vine video service on Thursday, the company promoted the service by featuring short clips of adorable children holding hands and an artsy cartoon.


But some not-so-innocent videos have quickly co-opted the service. Early users have logged in and uploaded short pornography clips, which can be flashed to the app's users and the Twitter community, reports CNN.

The issue drew more attention on Monday when Apple (AAPL) showcased hard-core pornography in its Editor's Picks section when featuring Vine. Apple quietly pulled the content and is distancing itself from the new service, according to CNET.com.


The app was still available on iTunes as of Tuesday morning, although it's not clear whether Apple will continue to support it, given that technology giant is known for keeping tight control over its App Store in order to avoid delivering spam and porn to its customers. Credit: FRED TANNEAU/AFP/Getty Images


That was made clear last year, when Apple pulled Viddy, a video-sharing app similar to Vine, from the App Store because of concerns about adult material.


So what can Twitter do about its porn problem? It's asking users to report indecent videos, CBS News says.


"Users can report videos as inappropriate within the product if they believe the content to be sensitive or inappropriate (e.g. nudity, violence, or medical procedures)," Twitter told CBS News. "Videos that have been reported as inappropriate have a warning message that a viewer must click through before viewing the video."


Vine is also trying to make the porn harder to find, by blocking searches for certain hashtags, such as #porn and #sex, notes VentureBeat.com


Still, those determined to find porn on Vine will most likely have no trouble: searches including #nsfw (not safe for work) and #pornvine were reportedly still searchable on Monday. 


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