Some time in the 90s, they switched to publishing actual pornography. I think it was gradual: they had women engaging in heavy petting, then they introduced hetero situations, then it was just flat-out bringing in porn stars for photoshoots, all in a vain attempt to boost circulation. They switched back to softcore after they went under.
As far as the rest, well, the reason they consider nudity to be pornography can range from everything from religious objections to people who take just about any combination of objectification and sexism etc. to be pornography. Me, I married into a family where it’s a little from column A, and a little from column B; my wife is so extreme that she has described some broadcast TV situations as being “pornographic.”
