Posted on 11/30/21
| News Source: Washington Post
Twitter says it will remove private photos and videos if they are posted without a person’s consent, according to a company blog post.
The social media company already takes down posts that include certain types of personal information – such as location coordinates and cellphone numbers – when shared without the individual’s consent. But Twitter announced Tuesday that it would expand its policy to include “media of private individuals without the permission of the person(s) depicted.” The new rules are effective immediately.
“While our existing policies and Twitter Rules cover explicit instances of abusive behavior, this update will allow us to take action on media that is shared without any explicit abusive content, provided it’s posted without the consent of the person depicted,” the company wrote. “This is a part of our ongoing work to align our safety policies with human rights standards, and it will be enforced globally starting today.”
The policy will be enforced in response to complaints from people being depicted in media on its platform, according to the blog post. “When we are notified by individuals depicted, or by an authorized representative, that they did not consent to having their private image or video shared, we will remove it,” the company wrote.
There are several exceptions to the new policy. It does not apply to public figures, for example, or in cases where the media is shared in the public interest or to “add value to public discourse.” The company also said there may be cases where private media can be shared to help with a crisis situation, or “as part of a newsworthy event due to public interest value.”
Twitter said it would take into consideration whether the media is being covered by the news media, such as newspapers and television, when deciding whether to remove an image or video.
“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,” the company wrote in its blog post.