After turning a blind eye to revenge porn postings for too long Twitter has finally joined the ranks of Reddit and banned posting of revenge porn and nude photos without the subject’s consent. The social network has already taken official steps to ensure Twitter users refrain from revenge porn by inserting a new clause in the terms and conditions agreement.
The new terms now state that the poster must first seek expressed consent from the individuals in the picture before posting them on Twitter.The official rule in Twitter’s threat and abuse guidelines states: “You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject’s consent.”
The new rules include sanctions against the posting of personal information—Social Security numbers, credit card details and residential addresses—if they do not belong to the poster or are posted without the consent of the parties involved. When a post violates these guidelines Twitter will hide the offending post from public view and lock the account of the person who posted it. Users who post offensive content intended to harass others may be suspended from Twitter completely. In extreme cases Twitter could also report the actions to the appropriate authorities.
The posting of revenge porn and unsolicited nudes on social media platforms has already been banned in several countries—England, Wales, etc.—and Twitter’s new stance against the repugnant practice is sure to see a reduction in trolling on the social platform. But the question of if these sanctions will prove effective remains. There are an average of 6,000 new tweets per second. That’s the equivalent of 350,000 tweets per minute or more than 500 million every single day that Twitter has to figure out how to monitor and police.
Imagine a situation where a Twitter user goes to a cyber-café opens an anonymous account, uploads these images to this account directly from a USB card and posts the images on Twitter. He or she would leave no traces and no matter how quickly Twitter clamps down on that fake account, the images will already be live.
And remember, the Internet never forgets.
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