ArtStation is a professional site, and many people working in studios in professional environments use it. We allow many kinds of work to be on ArtStation, but some artworks we have to be careful with as it can potentially send the wrong message.
We have to make tough decisions all the time about what work should be featured. ArtStation takes a more conservative approach to moderation as we want ArtStation to be professional and inclusive. It is this approach to moderation that has helped us to become the leading professional network for artists. Overwhelmingly, we hear from users thanking us for moderating the website.
In order to preserve a high quality, professional and inclusive environment for everyone, ArtStation has the right to moderate any content.
Please also understand that mature content is really, very complex and has many implications. For example, our app can get suspended from the App Store and Google Play for just having sexually suggestive art poses (see below), and this alone means that we must mark artworks that have pretty much almost any nudity or even no nudity but some sexually suggestive poses with the Mature Content tag.
Mature content
Anything that includes nudity, partial nudity with sexual implications, or even no nudity but with sexual implications, drug usage, shocking or disturbing images, should be mature content. Your avatar or cover photo should not contain any mature content.
I want to see all mature content without the filter. How do I do that?
If you want to view all content on ArtStation, turn off the mature content filtering in your settings.
I don't agree with ArtStation marking my work as having mature content
We don't make the rules. Our app has been suspended from the Google Play and Apple App Store too many times now and we have to comply. If it even looks curvaceous, we pretty much have to mark it as mature. Sorry.
Keep in mind that mature content is a sensitive area. What is viewed as "artistic" to one person can be disturbing to another. On the website, you can turn off mature content filtering and we ask that you do so as well if you have a problem with our classification of mature content. ArtStation reserves the right to moderate the content.
Pornography, Hentai and Erotic Content
ArtStation is not a place to publish pornography, hentai or any form of erotic content. Any explicit descriptions, links, displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings are liable to be removed and accounts banned. Even with the mature content filter on, any erotic artwork is not tolerated and accounts are banned. There is no recourse for this - we will not respond to any accounts that are banned for publishing erotic content.
Mature content on the Trending wall.
In order to make ArtStation a safe and inclusive website, we moderate the Trending wall. Generally, we allow and encourage most kinds of artwork. Artistic nudes and anatomical studies are fine as long as you check the mature content checkbox when publishing your work.
Some artwork, however, is considered "borderline". They do not violate our terms of service, but they are also inappropriate for us to feature. In these cases, we moderate the work so that it does not appear on the trending wall. The work is still promoted to followers and the social network via the activity feed, but it will not appear on the Trending wall.
We generally will moderate artwork that:
- Is of a sexual nature - even if only partial, suggested or even if no nudity is shown,
- Objectifies women - a lot of cleavage, under-boob, underskirt, work that is intended to titillate. It doesn't matter if there is no nudity - if sexuality or intent to titillate is there, we moderate it.
To be clear, these borderline works are not removed from the site and can still get hundreds of likes from followers and the social network.
Mature content on app
Please note that due to restrictions from Apple and Google, no mature content will appear on our iOS or Android apps unless it is first enabled from the website. Our app has been suspended from the App Store and Google Play too many times now. We want to stay on the safe side.
To view Mature Content on the App, you must first select "Show mature content" when signed in on the website. This option can be found on your Settings page under the heading "Browsing Experience".
Note: This will currently only work on iOS. It will soon work on Android as well.
