(Image source from: New policy to stem violent threats)

Twitter began implementing a new policy aimed at curbing use of the social network to incite violence and to crack down on abuse and harassment on the service. The new rules are the latest, implemented by social media networks aiming to stem violence and harassment while attempting to safeguard freedom of online speech.

“We need to ensure that voices are not silenced because people are afraid to speak up,” said Twitter’s head of product management Shreyas Doshi in a blog post. “To that end, we are today announcing our latest product and policy updates that will help us in continuing to develop a platform on which users can safely engage with the world at large.”

Doshi noted that Twitter had updated its policy on violent threats “so that the prohibition is not limited to ‘direct, specific threats of violence against others’ but now extends to ‘threats of violence against others or promoting violence against others.” He said the previous policy “was unduly narrow and limited our ability to act on certain kinds of threatening behavior.” New policy allows the social network to “lock” abusive accounts for specific periods of time, which could help crack down on so-called cyber-bullying and spam.

By Premji