Twitter Updates Rules To Fight Abusive Behavior

In an attempt to make Twitter a safer and more comfortable place for users (and brands) to communicate, the company today updated its rules with language that specifically calls out different types of abusive behavior that won’t be allowed going forward.

The new Twitter Rules include some of the same language from previous versions of the page collected in a new “Abusive Behavior” section, but also adds new language that bars “inciting others to harass another account” and even targets terrorists that have used Twitter:

You may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism.

The new rules also more specifically single out hateful conduct targeted against other users based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation and the like. Twitter also says it may take steps to help any users tweeting about suicide or self-harm.

Early this year, Twitter’s then-CEO Dick Costolo voiced frustration with the company’s approach to handling abuse in a strongly-worded internal memo that tied the problem with Twitter’s sluggish user growth: “We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we’ve sucked at it for years. It’s no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day.”