This is a Translation from Vice Germany re XHam.

The most visited porn platform in Germany is growing by thousands of new uploads every day. Until recently, everyone could upload photos and videos anonymously to xHamster. Much of the footage on the platform shows consensual sex. Others, however, may show minors and people who never wanted to be seen naked on the net.

Anyone who allegedly wanted to distribute i*****l recordings on xHamster initially encountered few hurdles. Almost two months ago, VICE research behind the scenes at xHamster showed how superficially new photo uploads are checked. Volunteer fire extinguishers should decide by simply looking whether a person in a photo is still under 18.

In October, xHamster only responded to our questionnaire with brief statements. "Rest assured that controls and reviews are in place," wrote Vice President Alex Hawkins in an email.

Now, shortly before Christmas, the platform introduced some drastic changes: Anonymous users can currently no longer publish photos on xHamster. This means that a central feature of the platform has been deactivated until further notice.

The button for uploading new photos has also disappeared for everyone who uses the site anonymously. If you go to the photo upload website anyway, you will see an error message: "Unfortunately, this function is temporarily not available for technical reasons."
"Switch off certain functions completely"
A screenshot shows the xHamster page with an error message

Technical error? Technically not

This is not a technical error, as xHamster Vice President Hawkins confirmed to VICE. Instead, it is one of several measures to better review content on xHamster. "We're taking the time to pause and re-evaluate," writes Hawkins. "That means that we shut down certain functions completely until we find a better solution."

If you want to continue posting photos, you have to be verified by the platform or create a so-called "Creator" account. In both cases, users are no longer anonymous. You then have to store payment details or upload a photo showing your face, your own username and the text "xHamster.com".

Here you can find all the texts from the Inside xHamster series of articles.

xHamster has not yet officially announced the new features. "I don't want to go into too much detail," writes Hawkins. The more xHamster talked about the restrictions, the more people would try to bypass them. "I think once we can see what is effective, maybe we can talk a little more."
xHamster: "That has to change"

Hawkins talks about the possibilities that malicious actors now have when it comes to uploading photos and videos. "We don't think the current systems were prepared for this - neither the technological measures nor the moderation by humans."

In 2019, Hawkins spoke to VICE of "sexual freedom of speech" - explaining why xHamster left some videos online that gave the appearance of sexual v******e. Today Hawkins writes: xHamster has often given its users a lot of freedom. "That needs to change."
A screenshot on the left shows the terms "Teen" and "Voyeur", a screenshot on the right only shows the category "Teen (18+)"

On the left a screenshot of xHamster.com before the change on December 18th, on the right after that | Archive.org | Processing: VICE

VICE has already seen at least small changes. According to the online archive service archive.org, the "Voyeur" category was still visible on the xHamster homepage until December 18. This also includes recordings of people who were allegedly secretly filmed or photographed, for example in the sauna or on the toilet.

Several volunteer xHamster fire extinguishers had told VICE that they should simply leave dubious "voyeur" recordings online. On December 18th the category "Voyeur" disappeared from the homepage. The "Teen" category has since become the "Teen 18+" category.
xHamster apparently does less than Pornhub

"Something is happening here right now," confirms one of the volunteer fire extinguishers who is viewing new photo uploads for xHamster without paying. But he has no further information. It is also largely unknown how xHamster reviews uploaded videos.