There's been a lot of noise in the news lately about Twitter's new policies to combat harassment on Twitter while trying to balance your rights to privacy and free speech. Today's post explores the latest developments in Twitter's new policy, as well as a look at the safeguards currently in place on other social media platforms (such as Facebook and Instagram). Finally, give you some thoughts about what this means for the future of Twitter.
Twitter's Updated Harassment Policies
To be sure, Twitter's policies surrounding targeting abusive behavior have been lax, inconsistent and, some may say, questionable. Twitter and other social media companies generally fall back on the claim that there is a fine line between “the right to free speech” and “online bullying and harassment.” How, then, can one company — especially as large of a corporation as Twitter — be expected to police every word that's said on their site without, themselves, becoming arbiters of free speech?
In a word, they can't…and that's not what they're trying to do. According to a recent report by CNet, Twitter will always “welcome” differences of opinion, but will now no longer allow accounts whose sole existence relies upon the bullying of others. In addition, and in conjunction with their recent crackdown on cyber-terrorism caused by such radical groups as ISIS, Twitter's policy is such that current accounts may not promote or incite violence against another person, especially on the bases of race, color, creed, sexual orientation, and/or disability. Finally, but certainly no less importantly, Twitter's newest feature shows how serious the company is about cracking down on cyber-bullying: Twitter will now ask users to delete tweets that are deemed in violation of these and previously enacted rules. If the user fails to do so, Twitter can actually lock the user out of his/her account!
Let's Compare Twitter To Facebook And Instagram
Some people are saying other social media sites — like Facebook and Instagram — aren't doing enough to combat cyber-harassment, while still others say the sites are doing more than enough, and — in fact — if Facebook and/or Instagram do any more than they currently do, they will veer into the territory of censoring free speech.
Facebook's policies have not changed, as of this writing: in March 2015, the company redesigned the way it responds to cyber-harassment, specifically by updating their Terms & Conditions, and Community Guidelines. However, most of those updates center around prevention of criminal activities, and that's a specific category of threats that involve a direct threat to one's safety (i.e., threatening to harm or kill another person), rather than a more blanket policy like Twitter has (i.e., one that removes an offending status that threatens another's safety). In addition, Facebook prohibits nudity and/or pornography on its site (which puts a safeguard against so-called “revenge porn”), it affords protections against copyright infringement claims, and it prevents fraudulent and/or “scam”-type transactions on its site. Any account that is caught doing any of these offending type posts risks their profile being deactivated.
By contrast, Instagram seems to have the most lax policies in place regarding cyber-harassment. According to Instagram's most recent Terms of Service, there are safeguards in place against nudity (except in the case of “natural” things, such as breast-feeding a baby or showing post-mastectomy scars) and illegal activity (such as promotion of recreational drug use, except in a state where such things are legal). But their safeguards against harassment are a little more lax: the old Terms of Service simply said “don't be rude,” whereas the new terms of service go into details about “credible” threats against one's safety…however, those safeguards are only in place for so-called “private” citizens. Anyone who can be considered a public figure — such as a celebrity, or a politician — isn't necessarily afforded these same protections.
What do you think about the rules and regulations currently in place on these social media sites? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, or contact us with your thoughts.
