Twitter has revamped its policy to allow requests for removal of photos and videos of deceased individuals from the site.
Twitter, the renowned micro-blogging service, is acknowledging the sentiments of its users with a policy revamp. The new change in policy allows authorized users to request the social network to remove certain images and videos of deceased individuals from the site. The move comes a week after Robin William's daughter, Zelda Williams, quit Twitter and other social networks after photoshopped images of her father were sent to her on the social network.
"In order to respect the wishes of loved ones, Twitter will remove imagery of deceased individuals in certain circumstances," Twitter said in a policy revamp announced on its support page. "Immediate family members and other authorized individuals may request the removal of images or video of deceased individuals, from when critical injury occurs to the moments before or after death."
In addition to expressing its concern toward grieving families of the deceased, Twitter said its new policy comes with certain restrictions. Based on the newsworthiness of the content, Twitter will take a call about requests for removal.
After Williams was attacked emotionally on Twitter, the social network acted immediately in permanently removing two particular accounts responsible for the abuse. In a statement issued to the Washington Post, Twitter's VP for trust and safety, Del Harvey, said the action was taken in the wake of violation of the site's norms.
"[W]e are in the process of evaluating how we can further improve our policies to better handle tragic situations like this one," Harvey said. "This includes expanding our policies regarding self-harm and private information, and improving support for family members of deceased users."
The new policy change does not affect the ability of authorized users to contact the social network with requests for deactivating the account. Facebook follows a similar policy of letting immediate family members request for the closure of a deceased individual's Facebook account.
