(San Francisco) Twitter tightened its anti-harassment regulations online Tuesday, adding the ability for users (excluding public figures) to request that photos or videos in which they appear, and posted without their consent, be removed of the social network.
“This update will allow us to take action on content that is not explicitly abusive but that has been shared without the consent of the person there,” the company said in a statement.
The right of Internet users to use platforms when images or data concerning them are uploaded by third parties, in particular for malicious purposes, has been the subject of debate for years.
Twitter already banned the publication of private information like a person’s phone number or address, but there are “growing concerns” about the use of such data to “harass, intimidate or reveal the identities of a person. individuals, ”the group notes,“ with disproportionate consequences for women, activists, political dissidents and members of minority communities ”.
Recently, this phenomenon has particularly affected content creators on the Twitch platform, targeted by racist harassment campaigns. Or even whistleblowers.
It also concerns victims of sexual assault, filmed during the act, who find themselves fighting a long fight to have the videos removed from pornographic sites and from search results on Google.
Twitter, which has just changed boss, is stepping up measures to clean up the network and respond to criticism of the sometimes violent consequences of exchanges.
Jack Dorsey, its co-founder, announced Monday that he was handing over to CTO Parag Agrawal.