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Microblogging site Twitter has finally decided to get rid of a loophole in its rules. This, according to the company, made it easy for users to spread hate speech and violent content. As from today though, the site will have the right to ban links to content that promote violence and hateful conduct.
We all know the various efforts that Twitter has had to make to curb the spread of hate speech and generally harmful content. However, the new policy never extended to linked content. So users were able to easily find a way around Twitter’s policies by linking to content that would be described as hateful and violent.
The site announced today that the policy has been updated and will now prompt users to be careful with what they post.
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As we continue to address harmful content, we’ve updated our link policy:
1️⃣ Hateful conduct and violence are now link content categories that we may block
2️⃣ Accounts dedicated to sharing these types of links may be suspendedThe full policy: https://t.co/G99F3M779b
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) July 28, 2020
The statement from Twitter partly reads, “Accounts dedicated to sharing content which we block, or which attempt to circumvent a block on the sharing a link, may be subject to additional enforcement action, including suspension. In some cases, the sharing of a link will also result in account suspension due to a zero-tolerance policy (for instance, if a link is shared to child sexual exploitation content).”
Once the link is blocked, users will be able to see an error message if they try to include it in their tweets, direct messages or on their profiles. The message simply reads: “You can’t complete this action because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful. Please visit our Help Center to learn more.”
The new policy, according to Twitter, is planned to go into effect as soon as July 30th.
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