Twitter Unveils Measures Against Hate Speech and Self-Harmers
Twitter Unveils Measures Against Hate Speech and Self-Harmers
Evidently and unsurprisingly, social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are being used as fronts for hate speech and other negative elements. In an effort to curb the negative elements of both of the aforementioned things; Twitter has thought of the ideal solution for it. The micro-blogging website has stated that it is not going to tolerate any form of behavior that has been posted in order to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence another user’s voice.
Twitter Has Updated The Opening Lines Of Its ‘Abuse And Spam’ Section:
Previously, the opening lines for Twitter’s Abuse and Spam section were as follows:
“Twitter strives to protect its users from abuse and spam. User abuse and technical abuse are not tolerated on Twitter.com, and may result in permanent suspension. Any accounts engaging in the activities specified below may be subject to permanent suspension.”
Now, the company has updated it and made it far more refined as opposed to before. Here are what the updated lines say:
“We believe in freedom of expression and in speaking truth to power, but that means little as an underlying philosophy if voices are silenced because people are afraid to speak up. In order to ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs, we do not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into abuse, including behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another user’s voice. Any accounts and related accounts engaging in the activities specified below may be temporarily locked and/or subject to permanent suspension.”
Previously, Twitter had not specified any form of rules related to hate speech, so it is a very good move on its part to limit those who want to harass several other individuals who are using the same platform. So the primary thing that you will have to worry about is not to promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the following basis:
- Race
- Ethnicity
- National origin
- Sexual orientation
- Gender
- Gender identity
- Religious affiliation
- Age
- Disability
- Disease
What About Individuals Tweeting Self-Harm?
You may have noticed by now that there are individuals sending out tweets suggesting that they will harm themselves, leading to grievous injury or possibly even death. What Twitter is going to do is that it might contact and try to help people who appear to be considering self-harm or suicide. Its not clear what Twitter intends to do by contacting them but it could make sense if they connect them with counselors and therapists.
For now, we believe that Twitter has taken some long awaited steps in order to curb the darker aspects of social media.
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