Twitter Targets Revenge Porn with New Abusive Behavior Policies

TWITTERSPHERE—New policies targeting revenge porn went into effect today on Twitter, which, like its social network cousin reddit, has weathered criticism of late that, as the Washington Post put it, "It has not done enough to prevent bad behavior on its site..." Twitter actually went a significant step farther than reddit, which last month announced to its users that, as AVN reported, it would immediately start removing "any 'link to a photograph, video, or digital image of you in a state of nudity or engaged in any act of sexual conduct' that has been posted without consent." Twitter adds some teeth. As explained by the Post's Hayley Tsukayama, "Unlike reddit policies, if Twitter employees determine a photo does violate the new rules, the firm will not only hide the post from public view, but also lock the account of the person who posted it." Tsukama adds that "there are exceptions. For example, the company said: 'Photos or video that do not appear to violate the policy -- such as content that an individual has previously indicated was made publicly available with permission -- will not be actioned.'" That appears to leave commercial porn officially off the hook as far as abuse of the so-called revenge porn prohibition goes. The DMCA remains in force, of course. Twitter's updated Abusive Behavior policy is here. Twitter's Copyright and DMCA policy is here.