Twitter Joins Fight Against Revenge Porn And Online Harassment
Twitter boss Dick Costolo recently admitted that the microblogging site downright "sucks" at dealing with trolls and harassment, and give him credit, owning up to the problem is imperative if there's to be a solution. And he vowed there would be, promising to kick abusive clowns off the service "right and left." As he and the rest of the Twitter gang in charge prepare to do that, there are new rules in place that will make it easier to ban users. Specifically, users are no longer allowed to post what's known as revenge porn.
"You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent," Twitter added to its list of rules under the "Private information" section on Wednesday. Twitter repeated the rule in a separate "Threats and Abuse" section.
Users who violate the new policy will have their accounts locked until they remove the offending material. They also risk having their accounts suspended if they run afoul of the rule more than once.
Twitter's revised rules on revenge porn follow in the footsteps of Reddit, which just a couple of weeks ago banned the same thing. In doing so, Twitter and Reddit have put themselves on more solid ground in the event that revenge porn becomes a federal offense. At present, these types of websites are protected by section 230 of the Federal Communications Decency Act, a piece of Internet legislation that provides immunity for providers and users of an interactive computer service against content posted by third parties, so long as it doesn't violate federal law.
However, there's growing awareness of the practice of posting sexually explicit images and videos without the subject's consent, so it wouldn't be surprising if it did become a federal offense at some point.
In the meantime, it's still a tough situation for victims to deal with, even with the rules in place. Anyone who complains about explicit material being posted without their consent will have to first prove their identity and then prove they have not given permission.
"You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent," Twitter added to its list of rules under the "Private information" section on Wednesday. Twitter repeated the rule in a separate "Threats and Abuse" section.
Users who violate the new policy will have their accounts locked until they remove the offending material. They also risk having their accounts suspended if they run afoul of the rule more than once.
Twitter's revised rules on revenge porn follow in the footsteps of Reddit, which just a couple of weeks ago banned the same thing. In doing so, Twitter and Reddit have put themselves on more solid ground in the event that revenge porn becomes a federal offense. At present, these types of websites are protected by section 230 of the Federal Communications Decency Act, a piece of Internet legislation that provides immunity for providers and users of an interactive computer service against content posted by third parties, so long as it doesn't violate federal law.
However, there's growing awareness of the practice of posting sexually explicit images and videos without the subject's consent, so it wouldn't be surprising if it did become a federal offense at some point.
In the meantime, it's still a tough situation for victims to deal with, even with the rules in place. Anyone who complains about explicit material being posted without their consent will have to first prove their identity and then prove they have not given permission.
