Content moderation has become a necessity in our online lives, providing protection from illegal, harmful and explicit content. Adult content detection is an important part of content moderation, identifying and removing pornographic, erotic, and other types of explicit content from platforms where it shouldn’t be.
Adult content detection has become customary for social media and dating apps. Since their use is so widespread, unwanted explicit content is often published there — so in fact, we expect content filters to be there.
But did you know that intelligent adult content detection, and in particular Not Safe for Work (NSFW) filtering, is important for a whole bunch of other industries and platforms?
Educational platforms, shopping websites, work platforms, streaming, and fitness apps are just some examples of digital spaces where unwanted explicit content gets published. It can be offensive, distracting, or outright harmful.
Ensuring NSFW moderation for this wide array of platforms is thus essential for creating safe online environments.
Let’s dive into the basic definition of adult content detection and NSFW filtering, its common uses, and — most of all — in its still unexpected applications that turn out to be quite important.
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The Basics About Adult Content Detection and NSFW
The terms adult content detection and Not Safe for Work (NSFW) filtering, also known as Not Safe for Work, are close in meaning, with the first being broader. In this article, we’re using them interchangeably to denote the identification and/or removal of content that people wouldn’t want to be seen viewing in a public or professional setting — usually because it is either inappropriate or offensive, causing harm or discomfort.
More often than not, this means explicit content, be it pornography, nudity, or the like. Adult content may be in the form of images, video, or text.
The Purposes of Adult Content Detection
With the growth of digital platforms of various types, the necessity of adult content moderation has increased dramatically as well. Websites, online communities, social media — all these spaces have to provide a safe and predictable environment to their users, and are often legally required to do so. That’s why the use of adult content filters stems from both ethical and legal considerations.
The purpose of adult content detection is thus manyfold. First and foremost, it protects people, and in particular young audiences, from explicit and inappropriate content. In the workplace context, NSFW filtering guarantees professional digital spaces that don’t contain offensive or distracting content. This type of moderation is also necessary for safeguarding the image of brands and digital businesses, ensuring they are trustworthy places for users of all ages. Last but not least, NSFW filtering helps online platforms conform with national and international legal requirements in terms of content moderation and protection of minors.
AI-Powered Adult Content Detection
In practical terms, adult content moderation entails the categorization of online content as either containing or not containing explicit visuals. The filters can be set in different ways, depending on the particular needs of the digital platform — including thresholds and types of explicit content that has to be filtered out. Some platforms have an option NSFW that users can click when uploading their content, which helps categorize it and restrict access to it as necessary.
With the advancement of AI tools, adult content filtering can now be fully automated. This means that human moderators are not exposed to such content when removing it manually. Instead, machine-learning algorithms that are trained on large volumes of data are able to identify patterns — and thus to remove explicit content automatically.
Image recognition powered by AI is at the heart of the process, allowing the accurate recognition of NSFW content within images, videos and live streams. Once the moderation system identifies an item as explicit content, it can remove or blur it — or in some cases, forward it for further review. Adult content filtering provides dynamic moderation that can work in real-time. This means they can block explicit content before it becomes visible, which is especially important for live streaming.
The Benefits of Using Adult Content Detection
Striking the right balance between moderation and censorship is not easy, but when it comes to adult content, the benefits are numerous.
With NSFW filters in place, people can browse websites and use platforms without the risk of stumbling upon explicit content that can be disturbing or distracting. This improves user experience for digital businesses.
Platforms and websites that target a wide array of demographic groups benefit from adult content filters immensely. By having this moderation in place, they can safely offer content to students, professionals, minors, and families.
In terms of brand image, having adult content moderation is a sign of trustworthiness. It demonstrates that the business puts user protection first, aiming to offer a safe digital space for its customers.
Common (and Unsurprising) Uses of Adult Content Detection
Many online platforms have been struggling with adult content in the last few years. By now, we’re used to thinking that our social media channels have to be moderated, so that we don’t get exposed to different types of harmful and explicit content, and especially adult content. All big platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are employing such filtering.
The same goes for dating apps, which are a common place where some users might want to share explicit images. However, it’s especially important to make dating platforms a safe space for people looking for their soulmates, and that’s where adult content filters help out.
Another common use of NSFW filters include websites and platforms targeted at minors. Their protection in the digital space is paramount, so this kind of content moderation is essential.
Other fields in which adult content moderation is already being used include stock photography and videography platforms, among others.
Unexpected Platforms That Need Adult Content Detection
And now for something different — which fields and platforms benefit from adult content moderation, even though we might not expect it to be necessary?
Educational Websites and Platforms
While it’s not so obvious, e-learning platforms struggle with NSFW content. Since educational websites and platforms often have to allow upload of user materials, or support user forums and discussions, the risk of explicit content going online is present. At the same time, the platforms have to ensure all content adheres to their standards and rules and to provide a safe learning environment, so that they are trusted by students and educators alike.
What’s more, many educational platforms are targeted at minors. The protection of younger audiences is of utmost importance and requires extra care, which makes adult content moderation essential for e-learning.
Shopping Websites
Online marketplaces with user generated content benefit greatly from NSFW filtering. When users upload their product photos or reviews, they may include adult content. The platform thus has to take care to remove any explicit content in order to ensure a safe browsing experience for customers of all ages.
Professional Networking and Work Platforms
NSFW means, after all, Not Safe for Work. Adult content doesn’t have a place on professional platforms, whether those intended for networking and socializing like LinkedIn, or workplace communication and project management tools like Slack or Asana.
Health and Fitness Apps and Communities
Health, wellness and fitness online communities often share personal photos and other user generated content. As with all such content, there is always a risk of explicit content sharing, either unintentionally or on purpose. For example, the famous “before” and “after” photos may be too revealing, or in some cases, perceived as offensive by other community members.
VR and Online Gaming Platforms
Since VR and gaming platforms have many options for user generated content, they need adult content filtering like the rest — given their attractiveness for younger audiences.
In the case of VR platforms, adult content may be shared in virtual rooms or hangouts — and given the immersive nature of VR, the effect might be quite intense. As for online gaming, inappropriate content can be posted in the form of user avatars, mods, and custom skins, as well as in the game chats.
Streaming Platforms
Video and live streaming platforms are especially vulnerable to explicit content. It’s not easy to monitor live streams where users may easily share adult content. The same goes for video streaming platforms like YouTube where problematic content can be published as videos or as user interactions. Streaming platforms often have younger audiences, which means they have to pay special attention to adult filtering to provide safe and appropriate content to minors.
Explore the Powers of Imagga’s Adult Image Content Moderation
At Imagga, we have developed and perfected our Adult Content Detection model to help digital businesses from all venues in handling adult visual content on their platforms.
Powered by our state-of-the-art image recognition technology, our Adult Content Detection can process large amounts of images and videos, and works instantly and in a fully automated way. It performs 26% better in accuracy against the leading adult detection models on the market. Read more about the performance comparison.
Want to try our Adult Content Detection system for keeping your platform safe? Get in touch with us to get started.