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Twitter bans posting of private media without consent

Images and videos have been added to Twitter's privacy policy.

Donovan Erskine

November 30, 2021 2:00 PM

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Though Twitter can often feel like a lawless land full of chaos and disorder, there are a set of rules in which users must abide by in order to remain on the platform. These rules include not using hate speech or inciting violence. Now, Twitter is expanding its privacy policy and will prohibit the posting of private images and videos of individuals without their consent.

Twitter announced the update to its privacy policy in a post to the Twitter Blog on November 30, 2021. Effective immediately, users will be subject to a handful of disciplinary actions, including a temporary or permanent suspension from Twitter, if they violate the newly implemented rule.

Beginning today, we will not allow the sharing of private media, such as images or videos of private individuals without their consent. Publishing people's private info is also prohibited under the policy, as is threatening or incentivizing others to do so.https://t.co/7EXvXdwegG

— Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) November 30, 2021

This news wasn’t received all that well by a lot of Twitter users, as many brought up scenarios in which it may be appropriate to share someone’s picture without their consent, such as in the case of a missing person or trying to find someone after an illegal act. Just this year, the FBI uploaded images of Capitol rioters and asked for the public to help identify them. There were also concerns about what a policy like this could lead to down the line.

This comes just one day after Parag Agrawal took over as the CEO of Twitter following the resignation of Jack Dorsey. Following the huge move, it will be interesting to see if Agrawal has any other big policy changes up his sleeves going forward.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_