Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Twitter said Tuesday it will ban private images shared without consent, with some exceptions, including images in the public interest, amid growing concerns about online harassment.
The social media giant introduced the new ban as an expansion of its private information policy, which already bans sharing information related to a private individual's identity documents, such as government-issued IDs, and location information.
The ban will not apply to tweets featuring public figures or tweets that are "shared in the public interest or add value to the public discourse," according to an official Twitter Safety blog on the expansion of the policy.
"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," the Twitter Safety blog 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 disproportionate effect on women, activists, dissidents, and members of minority communities."
Though Twitter can now take down unauthorized use of private images used to harass people when it receives a report from the person whose image was used, it also elaborated on some exceptions.
"We recognize that there are instances where account holders may share images or videos of private individuals in an effort to help someone involved in a crisis situation, such as in the aftermath of a violent event, or as part of a newsworthy event due to public interest value, and this might outweigh the safety risks to a person," the blog said.
In particular, Twitter will look at whether the image is being covered by mainstream, traditional media sites, as part of determining whether or not it should be removed, according to the blog.
Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy urged people not to speculate on how this will affect future posts, The Verge reported.
"We're going to evaluate things in the context in which they're shared, so I would encourage folks not to draw too many conclusions from past instances or hypotheticals," Kennedy told The Verge. "The general rule around our private information policy is that if this is available and easily accessible off of Twitter, we're not going to take action on it on Twitter."
On Monday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, 45, announced his resignation, and Parag Agrawal, who has served as the company's chief technology officer since 2017, replaced him as CEO.
Last week, a new study found social media was linked to increased risk for depression.
Twitter bans sharing photos, video of people without their consent
The social media site may allow images if they're newsworthy but says it'll "try to assess the context."
Sean Keane, Queenie Wong
First published on Nov. 30, 2021 at 6:34 a.m. PT.
The social media site may allow images if they're newsworthy but says it'll "try to assess the context."
Sean Keane, Queenie Wong
CNET
Nov. 30, 2021
People who want images or video of them removed from Twitter can contact the site.
Nov. 30, 2021
People who want images or video of them removed from Twitter can contact the site.
James Martin/CNET
Twitter on Tuesday banned the sharing of photos and videos of private individuals without their consent, the company said in a blog post. The update to its private information policy notes that people can contact the microblogging platform to have such media removed.
The ban doesn't apply to public figures if the media and tweet are of public interest, but content featuring those people may be removed if the site determines it's been shared "to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence them."
"We will always try to assess the context in which the content is shared and, in such cases, we may allow the images or videos to remain on the service," it said.
If the image or video is publicly available, is being covered by news outlets, or "adds value to the public discourse," it may be allowed to remain on the site, Twitter said. In its blog post, the company points out that people might share images of private individuals in a crisis situation to help them, and that could outweigh the safety risks.
The move is an expansion of Twitter's private information policy that the company says is meant to protect people from physical or emotional harm. The policy already bars Twitter users from sharing people's home addresses, government IDs and other sensitive information. Twitter says sharing someone's age or job, or sharing screenshots of text messages doesn't violate its rules. The company also has a separate policy that bars users from posting nude photos of people without their consent.
To report someone for violating this policy, Twitter users can click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the rule-breaking tweet, select Report Tweet, click on "It's abusive or harmful," and select "Includes private information."
Twitter on Tuesday banned the sharing of photos and videos of private individuals without their consent, the company said in a blog post. The update to its private information policy notes that people can contact the microblogging platform to have such media removed.
The ban doesn't apply to public figures if the media and tweet are of public interest, but content featuring those people may be removed if the site determines it's been shared "to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence them."
"We will always try to assess the context in which the content is shared and, in such cases, we may allow the images or videos to remain on the service," it said.
If the image or video is publicly available, is being covered by news outlets, or "adds value to the public discourse," it may be allowed to remain on the site, Twitter said. In its blog post, the company points out that people might share images of private individuals in a crisis situation to help them, and that could outweigh the safety risks.
The move is an expansion of Twitter's private information policy that the company says is meant to protect people from physical or emotional harm. The policy already bars Twitter users from sharing people's home addresses, government IDs and other sensitive information. Twitter says sharing someone's age or job, or sharing screenshots of text messages doesn't violate its rules. The company also has a separate policy that bars users from posting nude photos of people without their consent.
To report someone for violating this policy, Twitter users can click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the rule-breaking tweet, select Report Tweet, click on "It's abusive or harmful," and select "Includes private information."
First published on Nov. 30, 2021 at 6:34 a.m. PT.
2019-05-01 · may. v. a choice to act or not, or a promise of a possibility, as distinguished from "shall" which makes it imperative. 2) in statutes, and sometimes in contracts, the word "may" must be read in context to determine if it means an act is optional or mandatory, for it may be an imperative. The same careful analysis must be made of the word "shall."
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