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Twitter's Abusive Behavior

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Overview

June 2023

You may not share abusive content, harass someone, or encourage other people to do so.

On Twitter, you should feel safe expressing your unique point of view. We believe in freedom of expression and open dialogue, and in order to facilitate healthy dialogue on the platform, and empower individuals to express diverse opinions and beliefs, we prohibit behavior and content that harasses, shames, or degrades others. In addition to posing risks to people’s safety, abusive behavior may also lead to physical and emotional hardship for those affected.

On X, you should feel safe expressing your unique point of view. We believe in freedom of expression and open dialogue, and in order to facilitate healthy dialogue on the platform, and empower individuals to express diverse opinions and beliefs, we prohibit behavior and content that harasses, shames, or degrades others. In addition to posing risks to people’s safety, abusive behavior may also lead to physical and emotional hardship for those affected.

What is in violation of this policy?

Targeted harassment

We consider targeted behavior as malicious, unreciprocated, and intended to humiliate or degrade an individual(s). We prohibit the following behavior on the platform:

Posting multiple Tweets, over a short period of time, or continuously posting replies with malicious content, to target an individual. This includes accounts dedicated to harassing an individual or multiple individuals.

Sharing multiple Posts, over a short period of time, or continuously posting replies with malicious content, to target an individual. This includes accounts dedicated to harassing an individual or multiple individuals.

Mentioning or tagging users with malicious content.

Encouraging or calling for others to harass an individual or group of people

We prohibit behavior that encourages others to harass or target specific individuals or groups of people with abuse. This includes, but is not limited to: calls to target people with abuse or harassment online and behavior that urges offline action, such as physical harassment.

Unwanted Sexual Content & Graphic Objectification

While some consensual nudity and adult content is permitted on Twitter, we prohibit unwanted sexual conduct and graphic objectification that sexually objectifies an individual without their consent. This includes, but is not limited to:

While some consensual nudity and adult content is permitted on X, we prohibit unwanted sexual conduct and graphic objectification that sexually objectifies an individual without their consent. This includes, but is not limited to:

sending someone unsolicited and/or unwanted adult media, including images, videos, and GIFs;

unwanted sexual discussion of someone’s body;

solicitation of sexual acts; and

any other content that otherwise sexualizes an individual without their consent.

Insults

We take action against the use of insults or profanity to target others. In some cases, such as (but not limited to) severe, repetitive usage of insults or profanity where the context is to harass or intimidate others, we may require Tweet removal. In other cases, such as (but not limited to) moderate, isolated usage of insults and profanity where the context is to harass or intimidate others, we may limit Tweet visibility as further described below. Please also note that while some individuals may find certain terms to be offensive, we will not take action against every instance where insulting terms are used.

We take action against the use of insults or profanity to target others. In some cases, such as (but not limited to) severe, repetitive usage of insults or profanity where the context is to harass or intimidate others, we may require Post removal. In other cases, such as (but not limited to) moderate, isolated usage of insults and profanity where the context is to harass or intimidate others, we may limit Post visibility as further described below. Please also note that while some individuals may find certain terms to be offensive, we will not take action against every instance where insulting terms are used.

Violent Event Denial

We prohibit content that denies that mass murder or other mass casualty events took place, where we can verify that the event occurred, and when the content is shared with abusive context. This may include references to such an event as a “hoax” or claims that victims or survivors are fake or “actors.” It includes, but is not limited to, events like the Holocaust, school shootings, terrorist attacks, and natural disasters.

Do I need to be the target of this content for it to be reviewed for violating the Twitter Rules?

To help our teams understand the context, we sometimes need to hear directly from the person being targeted to ensure that we have the necessary information prior to taking any enforcement action. Some Tweets may appear to be abusive or harassing when viewed in isolation, but may not be when viewed in the context of a larger conversation. When we review cases, it may not be clear whether the context is to abuse an individual, or if it is Excluding the Tweet from having ads adjacent to it

Making content on Twitter less visilbe on Twitter by:

Removing the Tweet from search results, in-product recommendations, trends, notifications, and home timelines

Restricting the Tweet's discoverability to the author's profile

Downranking the Tweet in replies

Restricting Likes, replies, Retweets, Quote Tweets, bookmarks, share, pin to profile, engagement counts, or Edit Tweet

Excluding the Tweet from having ads adjacent to it

Excluding Tweets and/or accounts in email or in-product recommendations.

Requiring Tweet removal.

For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can Tweet again.

Do I need to be the target of this content for it to be reviewed for violating the X Rules?

To help our teams understand the context, we sometimes need to hear directly from the person being targeted to ensure that we have the necessary information prior to taking any enforcement action. Some Posts may appear to be abusive or harassing when viewed in isolation, but may not be when viewed in the context of a larger conversation. When we review cases, it may not be clear whether the context is to abuse an individual, or if it is Excluding the Posts from having ads adjacent to it

Making content on X less visilbe by:

Removing the Post from search results, in-product recommendations, trends, notifications, and home timelines

Restricting the Post's discoverability to the author's profile

Downranking the Post in replies

Restricting Likes, replies, Reposts, Quote, bookmarks, share, pin to profile, engagement counts, or Edit Post

Excluding the Post from having ads adjacent to it

Excluding Posts and/or accounts in email or in-product recommendations.

Requiring Post removal.

For example, we may ask someone to remove the violating content and serve a period of time in read-only mode before they can Post again.

Suspending accounts for those whose sole purpose is to violate our Unwanted Sexual Content & Graphic Objectification policy, or accounts that are dedicated to harassing individuals.

Learn more about our range of enforcement options.

If someone believes their account was suspended in error, they can submit an appeal.