In a bid to curb the spread of hateful conduct on its platform, Twitter has started labeling tweets that violate its policy against such behavior. Once detected, the social media giant will limit the visibility of the tweet and affix a label that reads “Visibility limited: this tweet may violate Twitter’s rules against hateful conduct.” In addition to this, Twitter plans to expand the labeling system to include other types of policy violations in the near future.
The company intends to limit the reach of such tweets by excluding them from search results, as well as from the For You and Following timelines. Also, they may be downranked in replies, and users will not be able to reply, retweet, bookmark or pin them to their profiles.
Twitter has, however, admitted the possibility of incorrectly labeling tweets as rulebreakers, and the authors can appeal such decisions by providing feedback. Although the company may not acknowledge the feedback or restore the tweet’s usual reach.
In recent times, Twitter has adopted a more relaxed approach to moderation under the leadership of its current owner, Elon Musk. In line with its “Freedom of Speech, not Freedom of Reach” philosophy, the company quietly updated its hateful conduct policy to lift the ban on misgendering and deadnaming transgender people.
