Twitter to Crack Down on Reported Graphic Violence, and More, on its Platform

DEC 1, 2017 - The Daily Dot, at https://www.dailydot.com/debug/twitter-trump-violent-videos/, said Twitter reacted to a series of supposed "disturbing anti-Muslim videos" retweeted by President Donald Trump, which was used as an opportunity for the platform to signal a crack down on reported graphic violence from its users.

According to The Daily Dot, Trump's post apparently "sparked outrage, leading users to question why Twitter would allow them to remain on the feeds of the president’s 43 million followers."

@TwitterSafety on Dec. 1 said in response, "To clarify: these videos are not being kept up because they are newsworthy or for public interest. Rather, these videos are permitted on Twitter based on our current media policy," while noting that the policy will be updated "later this year to include hate symbols and hateful imagery."

Twitter provided a link to reference the policy, at https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169199, but The Daily Dot said the policy includes a "vague definition of what constitutes 'graphic violence' or 'adult language' and appears to skillfully elude taking down images like those reposted by Trump. WHILE USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT GRAPHIC VIOLENCE, THE RULES EXPLAIN THE OFFENDING POST WON’T ALWAYS BE TAKEN DOWN, NOR WILL THE ACCOUNT THAT POSTED IT BE PUNISHED."

According to the policy, "Some forms of graphic violence or adult content may be permitted in Tweets WHEN THEY ARE MARKED AS SENSITIVE MEDIA. However, you may not include this type of content in live video, or in profile or header images."

The Twitter policy also stated that "violent images posted in timelines (excluding live videos) are given a 'sensitive tag'."

The Daily Dot also noted that THE COMPANY'S "SAFETY CALENDAR" ALSO INDICATES THAT ON DEC. 18, A NEW RULE WILL EXPAND ITS POLICIES TO INCLUDE CONTENT THAT GLORIFIES OR CONDONES ACTS OF VIOLENCE THAT RESULT IN DEATH OR SERIOUS HARM.

Twitter has recently taken a more active approach against accounts that promote violence and hateful speech, verifying and even banning some members. It also changed its policy on verified accounts and CAN NOW REMOVE THE COVETED BLUE CHECK MARK IF A USER ABUSES IT - "a misguided policy that does nothing to address the site’s rampant harassment," according to The Daily Dot. "But for all its (mostly) agreeable changes, Twitter still hasn’t addressed how it plans to enforce them."