Twitter Bans Users From Posting 'Private Media' Without a Person's Consent
Twitter on Tuesday announced an expansion to its private
information policy to include private media, effectively prohibiting the
sharing of photos and videos without express permission from the individuals
depicted in them with an aim to curb doxxing and harassment.
"Beginning today, we will not allow the sharing of
private media, such as images or videos of private individuals without their
consent. Publishing people's private info is also prohibited under the policy,
as is threatening or incentivizing others to do so," the company's Safety
team said in a tweet.
To that end, the policy also discourages users from sharing
information such as sign-in credentials that would enable malicious actors to
gain access to a person's sensitive information without their authorization. It
also forbids users from seeking financial compensation in exchange for posting
(or not posting) another individual's private information as part of blackmail
schemes.
As part of the revised policy, the social media platform
will allow individuals to request takedowns of pictures or videos featuring
them with a clearly abusive intent, and violators found sharing private
information and media will be prompted to remove the offending content and have
their accounts temporarily locked out. Users contravening the private
information policy twice will risk permanent suspension of their accounts.
Twitter also clarified that multimedia content that shows
public figures or individuals participating in large events like protests and
sporting events would not violate this policy, adding it doesn't consider
people's names and dates of birth; descriptions of physical appearance;
accusations, and allegations; and screengrabs of posts and messages taken from
other platforms as private unless they contain details such as a phone number.
It's also worth pointing out that the new rule doesn't
extend to individuals when media and accompanying Tweet text are "shared
in the public interest or add value to public discourse." But what exactly
constitutes public interest remains in question, effectively giving the company
ample room to exercise its own discretion.
"There are growing concerns about the misuse of media
and information that is not available elsewhere online as a tool to harass,
intimidate, and reveal the identities of individuals," Twitter said.
"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."
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