Twitter publishes timeline of upcoming moderation policy changes

Twitter has set up a timeline for the upcoming moderation policy changes. From October through January, it will make incremental changes to sexually explicit content, suspensions, hate and violence, spam, user notifications, and more.

The planned amendments were promised by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey last week after the company faced criticism over its removal and suspension policy. First up are ‘nude images without permission’. The definition of this is extended to all photos where the subject may not be aware that the photo is being taken. An example of this is upskirt photos. Even if the subject in question approves the taking and publishing of the photo, it will still be removed by Twitter. The original poster of such content will be immediately suspended. This policy change will be implemented on October 27.

On the other side of the coin, Twitter also wants to do some work. Also on October 27, users will have the option to challenge a suspension. If Twitter has made no mistake, it will respond to this appeal with detailed descriptions of the violations.

In November, in the event of a suspension, the company will immediately inform the user in question of which rules they have violated. Twitter will also do this by email. In addition, from November 3, stricter rules will apply regarding ‘groups that use violence to achieve their goals’. These will be completely banned on Twitter. Also ‘symbols of hate’ and ‘hateful imagery’ will be banned. Examples of this will follow. Furthermore, rules are tightened and clarified around sexual advances, sensitive content, spam and ‘hateful’ usernames.

Finally, in November the system for ranking reports will be improved and the company will provide insight into what considerations are made when applying the rules. The company hopes that this openness will help it build the trust of its users.