If you've been around hentai or followed Japanese artists for long enough, chances are you've come across pixiv. It's essentially the Japanese equivalent of, say, DeviantArt, allowing people to follow and support their favorite artists. For the most part, pixiv has been ok with NSFW art, but that may change soon.

The terms of service on pixiv were updated recently, and they announced that users were violating the Brand Protection for Card Networks policy by buying 'unethical' content through the  BOOTH, pixivFANBOX, and pixiv Requests sections of the site. The offensive content includes, but isn't limited to: sexual exploitation of a minor, incest, bestiality, rape (or any other non-consensual sexual behavior), and non-consensual mutilation of a person or body part.

Users are expected to comply with the new terms of service by setting existing offensive works to private or deleting them entirely by the time the new changes will officially take place on December 15. Anyone found buying or selling content that violates the terms of service will have the image forcefully set to private, and repeat offenders will have their accounts suspended.

This isn't unlike the time credit card companies put pressure on OnlyFans to clean the site of porn when that makes up most of the site's revenue and traffic. I don't know the exact numbers for pixiv, but seeing how it's one of the most popular sites in Japan for lewd artists to share their work internationally I doubt these changes will last either.

What do you guys think? How will pixiv users take this news? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!