Twitter has said it is going to expand its “hateful conduct” policy to include content that “dehumanizes others based on their membership in an identifiable group, even when the material does not include a direct target”.
In a blog post shared late Tuesday, the micro-blogging platform said it had been developing a new policy for the last three months to address dehumanising language, which “makes someone less than human”. This, it said, could have repercussions off Twitter, including normalising serious violence.
“Some of this content falls within our hateful conduct policy (which prohibits the promotion of violence against or direct attacks or threats against other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease),” said the post by Vijaya Gadde and Del Harvey, adding: “…but there are still Tweets many people consider to be abusive, even when they do not break our rules. Better addressing this gap is part of our work to serve a healthy public conversation.”
Quoting scholars who have examined the relationship between dehumanisation and violence, the post said dehumanising language was a hallmark of dangerous speech, because it could make violence seem acceptable, and dehumanisation could reduce the strength of restraining forces against violence.
Twitter has invited feedback from its users on this to ensure the platform considers global perspectives and how this policy may impact different communities and cultures. “For languages not represented here, our policy team is working closely with local non-governmental organizations and policy makers to ensure their perspectives are captured,” said the post.
The users will have time till October 9 to provide Twitter with feedback on the new policy.
“We’re experimenting with a new way to write and roll-out policy and rules. Let us know what you think,” tweeted CEO Jack Dorsey.
We’re committing Twitter to help increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation, and to hold ourselves publicly accountable towards progress.
— jack (@jack) March 1, 2018