Twitter to take down images of deceased on families' request

Twitter may remove images of deceased persons at the request of family members, but clarified it may not be able to honor all such appeals.

 

In an entry on its support page, the microblogging site said it will consider "public interest factors" such as the newsworthiness of the content whose deletion is sought.

 

"In order to respect the wishes of loved ones, Twitter will remove imagery of deceased individuals in certain circumstances," it said.

 

According to Twitter, immediate family members and other authorized individuals may request such removal of images or video of deceased people "from when critical injury occurs to the moments before or after death."

 

They can send their requests via an e-mail to privacy@twitter.com, but Twitter also clarified it cannot automatically grant their requests.

 

"When reviewing such media removal requests, Twitter considers public interest factors such as the newsworthiness of the content and may not be able to honor every request," it said.

 

Twitter also published guidelines for requests to deactivate the Twitter account of a deceased person, including the appropriate documentation and evidence.

 

1 week after Robin Williams

 

A report on The Wall Street Journal said Twitter's move came a week after the daughter of the late comic genius Robin Williams said she is quitting the microblogging service after she got disturbing manipulated images of her father’s death.

 

"The change gives grieving family members a way to scrub the social media outlet of images or videos of their loved ones–whether the content itself breaches Twitter’s rules or not. The new policy is a slight pivot for Twitter, a champion of freedom of speech since its founding and where sensitive content such as nudity and other graphic images have proliferated compared with other social media sites," it said.

 

On the other hand, the WSJ said that while Twitter does not allow obscene or pornographic images in user profiles, or abusive behavior and threats of violence and private identifiable information, it relies more on users to flag such content.

 

It also said the new policy came hours after gruesome photos and videos on the beheading of an American photojournalist were circulated on Twitter. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News