Twitter bans animated PNG files after attacks on epilepsy patients

Twitter has stopped supporting animated PNG files. This type of image was exploited for attacks on the Twitter account of the American Epilepsy Foundation. The images could provoke a seizure in people with light flash sensitivity.

The attacks on the Epilepsy Foundation’s Twitter account took place in November – National Epilepsy Awareness Month in the US. The attackers used the account hashtag and handle to post animated png files with strobe effects. For people with light flash sensitivity, such images can be risky, and may even trigger an epileptic seizure.

According to The Verge, it’s not clear how many people with light flash sensitivity were actually affected by the animated PNG files. The attackers took advantage of a bug on Twitter that allowed .png files to bypass the network’s autoplay settings. The attackers also managed to send multiple .png files via a single tweet.

The Epilepsy Foundation has since filed a complaint against the Twitter accounts suspected of involvement in the attack. Incidentally, in the United States, an animated image such as a poison has been considered a potentially deadly weapon since 2016. A Texas jury reached that verdict after journalist Kurt Eichenwald had a seizure after one John Rayne Rivelo deliberately sent him a gif file containing flashes of light. The file was accompanied by the text “You deserve a seizure for your article.”

Existing tweets with png images will not be removed from Twitter. From now on, however, only the gif format can be used to display animations. They don’t play automatically.