Twitter once again tightens its rules about what users can say on the platform. The company an updated “violent speech” policy, which contains some notable additions compared to previous versions of the rules.
Interestingly, the new policy prohibits users from expressing “harmful wishes” and similar sentiments. “This includes (but is not limited to) expecting others to die, suffer illness, tragic incidents, or experience other physically harmful consequences,” the rules . That’s a reversal of Twitter’s previous policy, which explicitly said that “statements that express a wish or hope that someone will be physically harmed.” they were not against company rules.
“Statements expressing the wish or hope that someone will experience bodily harm, making vague or indirect threats, or threatening actions that are not likely to cause serious or lasting injury are not actionable under this policy,” Twitter’s previous policy. according to the Wayback Machine.
That change is not the only addition to the policy. Twitter’s rules now also explicitly protect “infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, or business activities” from threats of harm. From the rules:
You may not threaten to inflict bodily harm on others, including (but not limited to) threatening to kill, torture, sexually assault, or otherwise hurt someone. This also includes threatening to damage civilian homes and shelters, or infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, or commercial activities.
These may not seem like particularly surprising changes, but they are notable given Elon Musk’s previous statements about how speech on Twitter should be handled. Before taking over the company, the Tesla CEO stated that he would allow all speech that is legal. “I think we would like to err on the side of, if in doubt, let the speech exist,” he said at the time.
It’s also not the first time Twitter’s rules have become more restrictive since the Musk acquisition. The company’s rules changed after its dispute with the @elonjet account (now suspended), which shared the whereabouts of Musk’s private jet.
Twitter did not explain the reason for the changes, but said in a series of tweets that it can suspend accounts that break the rules or force them to remove the tweets in question. The company no longer has a communications team to respond to requests for comment.
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