Keyboard warriors are going to have a hard time on Twitter in the near future. The social media platform released a statement via blog on Tuesday (September 25) that addresses gaps they felt have been left in their hateful conduct policy. Recently, social media platforms have rallied against public figures who use their platforms to spew hatred (InfoWars' Alex Jones is an example). While people claim that freedom of speech is being attacked, that is far from the truth. Freedom of speech does not protect you in every setting. For example, you can't call your boss a malicious term and then claim your free speech is being violated when you're fired. Just like, you cannot legally scream "fire" or "bomb" in a movie theater for no reason. There are always stipulations. Social media works in a similar method. Users must follow their guidelines, or they can take their "free speech" elsewhere.
"For the last three months, we have been developing a new policy to address dehumanizing language on Twitter," states the blog post. "Language that makes someone less than human can have repercussions off the service, including normalizing 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), 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."
