Twitter Tweaks Rules To Ban 'Revenge Porn'

By Kamal Nayan - 12 Mar '15 02:05AM

Twitter, the popular microblogging site, has changed its rules in an attempt to stop "revenge porn" on the site.

"You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent," states the new rule of Twitter.

According to the new law, a revenge porn is described as "photographs or films which show people engaged in sexual activity or depicted in a sexual way or with their genitals exposed, where what is shown would not usually be seen in public".

England and Wales have made revenge porn images a criminal offense last month.

Users who break the new rule of revenge porn will have their accounts locked on Twitter, the company said.

Users who complain to Twitter about photos or videos posted will be asked to verify their identity and prove they did not give consent for it to be shared publicly, BBC reported.

Users, who are found to have posted material against the new rule would then be required to "delete the content in question before being able to return to the platform".

The change in law can be seen as Twitter's attempt to counter criticism that is not effective in dealing with abuse among its users. Recently, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo had admitted that the company "sucks" at dealing with trolls.

"We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years," Mr Costolo wrote in a leaked memo.

"It's no secret that the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day."

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