Safe as houses: Twitter’s new speech policy means you can’t damage the infrastructure
Tesla CEO Elon Musk Elon Musk stands at the construction site of the Tesla factory in Grünheide near Berlin on May 17, 2021. He revealed in a tweet that he is now living in a rented house in Boca Chica, Texas, worth $50,000.
Under Twitter’s new violent speech policy, threatening to kill or rape someone carries the same consequences as threatening to damage infrastructure or business property.
“You may not threaten to cause bodily harm to others, including (but not limited to) murder, torture, sexual assault, or any other threat to harm another person. This includes the homes and shelters of civilians. “Includes threats to harm homes, or infrastructure. Necessary for daily, civic, or business activities,” reads Twitter’s latest policy, announced Tuesday.
We’ve made a few changes to our policies around violent content and similar language. Today, we’ve officially launched our Violent Speech policy, which prohibits violent threats, wishes of harm, glorification of violence, and incitement of violence. 🧵
— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) February 28, 2023
Users who violate the policy will be “immediately and permanently” suspended from the social media platform “in most cases.” In unspecified “less severe” cases, accounts may be temporarily locked.
Twitter representatives did not immediately respond to Insider’s detailed request for comment about the violent speech policy updates.
The updated policy includes another new addition to the rules: “You may not wish, hope or express a wish for harm. This includes (but is not limited to) wishing for the death of others, diseases suffering, including tragic events, or experiencing other physically harmful consequences.”
Under the previous version of the rule, statements that expressed a desire or expectation that someone be physically harmed were not actionable under the violent speech policy but, in certain circumstances, were addressed under the abusive or hateful behavior policies. May be, according to archived documents Twitter’s previous violent speech policy wayback machine.
Since Elon Musk’s $44 billion takeover of the social media platform in October, he has changed the app’s privacy policy, banning a college student who tracked his private jet. was, and changed the site’s policy on satirical accounts after a large number of comedians with verified checkmarks. Become a billionaire.
It’s unclear what prompted the change in the violent speech policy.
