Twitter’s New Policy Bans ‘Revenge Porn’
Micro-blogging site Twitter have changed their policy recently which bans the use of “revenge porn,” a report from the BBC claims. The social media giants say that any user who engages in the act will have their account immediately locked.
A spokesperson for the site said the company is looking at ways in which they can utilise modern technology in order to crack down on social media abuse.
Twitter is continuing to explore product solutions to allow us to act faster and more efficiently to protect our users.
The new rule states that users, “may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject’s consent,” and anyone who wishes to complain about photographs being used without their consent will be asked by Twitter to verify their identity and prove to the site that they did not give permission.
A new ruling in England and Wales states that anyone who is found guilty of engaging in revenge porn risks facing up to two years in prison. The law classes the term “revenge porn” as, “photographs or films which show people engaged in sexual activity or depicted in a sexual way or with their genitals exposed, where what is shown would not usually be seen in public.”
The new policy has also banned the use of doxxing, which is the process of researching information on a user in order to determine key facts about their life. This can include discovering their interests, identifying people in published photos, discovering their location etc.
According to a report from Gizmodo, Twitter CEO, Dick Costolo, admits that their policy for weeding out abusive users (also known as ‘trolls’) needs major improvement.
We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve sucked at it for years…It’s no secret that the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day.
However, some are concerned that the new policy on revenge porn won’t do much to crack down on social media abuse as users can simply create a new account within minutes.
Twitter is also not the first site to crack down on such abusive tactics with new policies. Reddit has also changed its rulings to cut down on users engaging in revenge porn and/or doxxing.
Twitter began in 2006 and currently has around 284 million users. It is well-known for its large userbase of celebrities, including Chris Hemsworth and Lindsay Lohan. It is one of the most popular social media sites in the world. Their new policy on revenge porn and doxxing could be a step forward in preventing Twitter abuse in future.
