Twitter to close accounts of anti-gay commenters

In an attempt to limit harassment of its users, Twitter is changing the rules for what you are allowed to tweet.

Twitter says that:

You cannot tweet “hateful conduct,” which means: “You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease.”



Abusive behaviour, once part of an “abuse and spam” section, has now been devoted the largest section of the rules. It states, “We do not tolerate behaviour that crosses the line into abuse, including behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another user’s voice.”

Twitter also will now attempt to assist people who have threatened suicide or self-harm on Twitter, including “reaching out to that person expressing our concern and the concern of other users on Twitter or providing resources such as contact information for our mental health partners.”
 
The definition of “violence” now “includ[es] threatening or promoting terrorism.”

The rules explicitly state that if they are not followed, accounts may be temporarily locked or permanently suspended.