Twitter is looking to level-up its regulatory prowess by improving the enforcement of policies that revolve around the misuse of people’s private content. Twitter looks to expand its ‘Private Information Policy’ to now also cover the use of “private media”, which relate to images, or any user-originated content, that are shared via Tweet without the originator’s consent.
Twitter explains:
“Sharing personal media, such as images or videos, can potentially violate a person’s privacy, and may lead to emotional or physical harm. The misuse of private media can affect everyone, but can have a disproportionate effect on women, activists, dissidents, and members of minority communities.”
Twitter Police
In line with this, Twitter says that it will now take action, along with existing privacy enforcement options, upon receiving reports about Tweets that contain unauthorized private media. Of the range of actions Twitter may and can take against accused parties, limiting Tweet visibility, imposed Tweet removal (takedown), and hiding a Tweet name but a few. Sanctions can go as high as account suspension and permanent banning in extreme cases.
Twitter even had policies in regards to content that may be categorized as ‘Revenge Porn’ since 2017. The regulations were set in place to help protect against certain forms of private media misuse, specifically stipulating that “Users may not post or share intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent.”
On that note, the new expansion seems to be more intent on doxing and ousting certain individuals in expanded application. Since Twitter already had similar policies in place, the expansion brings them to broader coverage, ideally making more users aware of the existence of such restrictions.
Twitter also notes that the policy doesn’t apply to media featuring public figures and/or individuals, further stating that no policy is breached “when media and accompanying Tweet text are shared in the public interest or add value to public discourse.” Also exempt, depending on specific cases, are media that show people participating in public events, such as protests and sport meets.
There seems to be some concessions with regards to newsworthy or public interest discussions, which Twitter will judge on a case-to-case basis. Evidently, it does provide more protection to users, at least in terms of improving awareness for user rights and against corresponding violations.
The Wrap
The main issue with this policy expansion is perhaps the potential confusion that it can also create. Gaining the permission of every single person that you include in your posts might be daunting, especially in certain scenarios, so does failing to include any one of them cause you to violate Twitter’s policies? Well, yes and no – as mentioned earlier, Twitter will judge reports on a case-to-case basis, so not all complaints will see rectification. In the event that Twitter does find a user in offense, then said user will have no choice but to receive the appropriate sanction.
At most, what we can expect from here on out is that these policies will continue to see amendment and refining as newer behaviors and practices gradually appear. The best we can derive from these developments is that it’s quite encouraging to see major social platforms take the necessary steps in order to ensure that users remain protected and secure.
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