Twitter has rolled out new policies on regarding nude photographs and "intimate" videos that will make it easier for victims of revenge porn to have their photos removed, and for people who post revenge porn to be punished.
"Revenge porn" is the term for private nudes made public on the Internet by people's exes, or by hackers, who steal the nudes from private accounts.
This small addition to Twitter's rules is expected to have a big impact. As of Wednedsay the company's rules on private information and abuse now include this sentence:
You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject’s consent.
Users can report people who post unauthorized "intimate" photos or videos and Twitter will verify that the person making the complaint is the person in the content. If the content violates the policy, it will be hidden and the user who tweeted it will have their account locked. Once they delete the photo, they can come back to Twitter, but abusers will be subject to suspension, Twitter said in its announcement.
There will also be an appeal process for users who think their photos or videos were incorrectly flagged as violating the new policy, Twitter said.
The move comes only weeks after Reddit put similar new rules in place regarding unauthorized naked photos and videos.
The rules would theoretically not only stop the spread of revenge porn on Reddit and Twitter, but also the spread of celebrity nude photo leaks, such as the huge one in 2014 that was dubbed "The Fappening" on Reddit.
