Twitter, the social networking giant, on Friday said that the company will take stricter actions against people who share obscene photos and videos of others without their consent. Often referred as revenge porn in the technological world, the issue of sharing sexual photos of people without their consent has always posed serious problems for social networking sites like Twitter since its launch.
The latest move from Twitter is expected to combat the prevalence of porn throughout the website's network.
When intimacy used to take vengeance
Earlier this year, many users lashed out against Twitter for slowly responding to the naked photos of Blanc Chyna posted by Rob Kardashian on the platform. The photos remained on the site for more than 30 minutes; a timespan which is enough and more to make a controversial photo viral.
The company also faced backlash when they blocked actress Rose McGowan soon after she made controversial remarks about Ben Affleck. Twitter later clarified that her account was suspended due to the violation of the company's policies. Twitter made it clear that McGowan's account was suspended as she shared a private phone number on her account. As a protest of her account suspension, thousands of women gathered on the site, and flooded it with the hashtag, '#WomenBoycottTwitter'.
According to the new rule, Twitter users are not supposed to post intimate videos or photos without the consent of the person featured in it.
Twitter's definition of intimate media
To make things more clear, Twitter also says about the contents which fall under the category, intimate media. As per the social networking giant, any video or photo taken using hidden camera is nothing but an intimate media. The hidden camera shots which contain nudity, partial nudity or sexual acts will be handled with strict rules by the company from now.
Creepshots which feature the private parts of individuals are also considered intimate media by Twitter. Images or videos taken on a private setting, and not intended for public distribution will be also handled with utmost care by the platform.
Twitter also made it clear that any account who violates this rule will be suspended with immediate effects. People who retweeted these contents will be asked to remove them, and if they are not ready to comply, those accounts will be also suspended.
