Twitter will warn for swastikas, hate images

Twitter said on December 18 that it would begin issuing a warning before a user can see pictures with Nazi swastikas and other items it determines are hateful imagery, as well as prohibit their use in any profile photos on its social media network.

The new policies also ban users who associate either online or offline with organizations that promote violence against civilians. The step is one of several that Twitter said it would take to crack down on white nationalists and other violent or hateful groups, which have become unwelcome on a service that once took an absolutist view of free speech.

Twitter said in a statement that it would shut down accounts affiliated with non- government organizations that promote violence against civilians and ban usernames that constitute a violent threat or racial slur. It said it would also remove tweets that it determined to celebrate violence or glorify ◗ The new policies will ban users who associate with organisations that promote violence against civilians

◗ Twitter would also remove tweets that celebrate violence

people who commit it.

Twitter suspended an unknown number of accounts on December 18, including one belonging to Jayda Fransen, the Britain First leader whose videos critical of Islam were retweeted multiple times by US President Donald Trump last month.

A Twitter spokeswoman declined to comment on Fransen’s ban or whether it was due to the new policies. The Nazi swastika was the only specific example of a hateful image that Twitter gave, but the company said it would try to give warnings for all symbols historically associated with hate groups or that depict people as less than human. Twitter had decided not to categorize the US Confederate flag as hateful imagery, citing its place in history.