Twitter becoming more restrictive

Twitter has been known for preaching free speech, but that's come to harm the company as trolls and abusers thrive across its network.

Now, in the wake of a movement for women to boycott Twitter, the company is making its biggest sweep of changes yet to address hate speech and abuse.

The details, leaked to Wired, were shared with members of Twitter's Trust and Safety Council Tuesday. In an email, Twitter's team outlines both its current and updated policies on several circumstances:

Non-consensual nudity

Unwanted sexual advances

Hate symbols and imagery

Violent groups

Tweets that glorify violence

Some of the most interesting changes include broadening Twitter's definition of non-consensual nudity to include upskirt imagery and other "creep shots," the email reads. Although that would technically violate a person's free speech, Twitter is taking a stance. The company is choosing a side that does not cater to those claims but rather airs on the side of protecting someone's privacy.

"We would rather error on the side of protecting victims and removing this type of content when we become aware of it," the email reads.

Twitter is also expanding the scope of violent groups and tweets that suggest violence.

"Although we planned on sharing these updates later this week, we hope our approach and upcoming changes, as well as our collaboration with the Trust and Safety Council, show how seriously we are rethinking our rules and how quickly we’re moving to update our policies and how we enforce them," a Twitter spokesperson wrote in a statement to Mashable.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a tweetstorm Friday changes would come after the #WomenBoycottTwitter movement unfolded. The email further elaborated on what these changes will be. According to Wired, Twitter is hosting daily meetings on the issue.

The Anti-Defamation League, an inaugural member of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council, released a statement after news of the changes broke.

"ADL has been concerned about the hateful rhetoric and the extremists using many online platforms, including Twitter, to promote their dangerous ideologies, and we’ve been working with all the platforms to stop what ranges from harassment to acts that incite violence against minorities. We are pleased to see Twitter is responding with new concrete actions, including aggressive enforcement of their rules and hiding hate symbols," wrote ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt in a statement.

SOURCE