Twitter Reorganized and Shortened Its Twitter Rules, Applying Its 280-Character Limit

Twitter took steps this week to make its Twitter Rules easier for users to understand, reorganizing them into three categories—safety, privacy and authenticity—and tightening up the descriptions for each rule to match the social network’s 280-character limit. Vice president of trust and safety Del Harvey said in a blog post that the Twitter Rules are now fewer than 600 words, down from some 2,500. However, each of the rules contains links to supplementary information, which, while helpful, jacks the word count up to its previous total, if not higher. Harvey said more detail was added to Twitter’s policies on topics including election integrity, platform manipulation and spam, writing, “Everyone who uses Twitter should be able to easily understand what is and is not allowed on the service. As part of our continued push toward more transparency across every aspect of Twitter, we’re working to make sure every rule has its own help page with more detailed information and relevant resources, with abuse and harassment, hateful conduct, suicide or self-harm and copyright being next on our list to update. Our focus remains on keeping everyone safe and supporting a healthier public conversation on Twitter.” The updated Twitter rules, with links to the additional information provided by the social network, follow: Safety Violence: You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people. We also prohibit the glorification of violence. Learn more about our violent threat and glorification of violence policies. Terrorism/violent extremism: You may not threaten or promote terrorism or violent extremism. Learn more. Child sexual exploitation: We have zero tolerance for child sexual exploitation on Twitter. Learn more. Abuse/harassment: You may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. This includes wishing or hoping that someone experiences physical harm. Learn more. Hateful conduct: You may not promote violence against, threaten or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability or serious disease. Learn more. Suicide or self-harm: You may not promote or encourage suicide or self-harm. Learn more. Sensitive media, including graphic violence and adult content: You may not post media that is excessively gory or share violent or adult content within live video or in profile or header images. Media depicting sexual violence and/or assault is also not permitted. Learn more. Illegal or certain regulated goods or services: You may not use our service for any unlawful purpose or in furtherance of illegal activities. This includes selling, buying or facilitating transactions in illegal goods or services, as well as certain types of regulated goods or services. Learn more. Privacy Private information: You may not publish or post other people's private information (such as home phone number and address) without their express authorization and permission. We also prohibit threatening to expose private information or incentivizing others to do so. Learn more. Non-consensual nudity: You may not post or share intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent. Learn more. Authenticity Platform manipulation and spam: You may not use Twitter’s services in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience on Twitter. Learn more. Election integrity: You may not use Twitter’s services for the purpose of manipulating or interfering in elections. This includes posting or sharing content that may suppress voter turnout or mislead people about when, where or how to vote. Learn more. Impersonation: You may not impersonate individuals, groups or organizations in a manner that is intended to or does mislead, confuse or deceive others. Learn more. Copyright and trademark: You may not violate others’ intellectual property rights, including copyright and trademark. Learn more about our trademark policy and copyright policy. Enforcement and Appeals Learn more about our approach to enforcement, including potential consequences for violating these rules or attempting to circumvent enforcement, as well as how to appeal. Third-party advertising in video content You may not submit, post or display any video content on or through our services that includes third-party advertising, such as pre-roll video ads or sponsorship graphics, without our prior consent.