Twitter expands safety policy, bans posting images of people without their consent

Twitter has changed its private information policy to prohibit users from sharing photographs and videos of private persons without their consent, in an effort to strengthen its anti-harassment standards. The announcement comes only one day after Parag Agrawal, 37, took over as CEO, succeeding co-founder Jack Dorsey. "We're amending our current private information policy and increasing its scope to encompass 'private media' as part of our continued efforts to design solutions with privacy and security at their heart."

Publication of other people's private information, such as phone numbers, addresses, and IDs, is already prohibited under Twitter's current policy. In a blog post, the corporation stated that "this includes threatening to divulge private information or encouraging others to do so." This policy change was prompted by rising concerns "about the abuse of media and information not available elsewhere online as a means to harass, threaten, and disclose the identities of individuals," according to Twitter.