Twitter Trolls Beware: If You Abuse, You Lose Your Account

Tweets inciting physical violence and abuse could now lead to suspension of your account.

Twitter has drafted a new set of rules for its users. 

(Photo: istockphoto)

Twitter just got badass. Trolls, beware – there are some new rules in place on Twitter now, which will come into effect from 18 December.

The social media platform has come down hard on any sort of hateful speech online, and it says it will also monitor users affiliations offline too. This is a part of Twitter’s new Hateful Conduct Policy. Twitter has long been a social network platform for free speech and open dialogues. Unfortunately, that gave trolls, stalkers, and even terror outfits easy access to a platform to spread propaganda and, hide in plain sight behind bot-like handles.

But that should be a thing of the past. Here’s what will happen if you flout any of Twitter’s new rules. One of these things can happen – Twitter will require you to delete your inappropriate content before you can post anything again. Or your account could be temporarily suspended.

At times, Twitter could even ask you to verify your account ownership by providing Twitter with a phone number or an email ID. If the offence is pretty serious, you account can be permanently suspended.

So what constitutes violation of Twitter’s rules?

The usual violations you would be familiar with – intellectual property theft, showing graphic or adult content, squatting on usernames or misusing Twitter badges, like displaying fake verified profiles. Don’t go photoshopping Blue Ticks!

But Twitter has now also come down hard on abuse.

This includes threats of violence or physical harm – so no more tweets asking for someone’s head or nose to be cut off will be tolerated. No sexual abuse or hateful imagery of any kind will be tolerated. All these are addressed in Twitter’s hateful conduct policy.

Twitter also is clamping down hard on impersonation – but it does clarify that parody, fan club and commentary accounts can be maintained as long as you don’t indulge in abusive or spamming behavior.

Find this a bit hard to digest? Feel like you are being called a troll? I suggest you read the fine print of Twitter’s new rules at least once, before even getting into an argument on Twitter.

Why did Twitter suddenly come up with a new policy? Well, this actually follows up from an incident in early November, where it doled out a verified badge to a known white supremacist in the US, causing considerable outrage online. This forced the social media network to rethink its policies.

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