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Twitter media policy

Our goal is to provide a service that allows you to discover and receive content from sources that interest you as well as to easily share your content with others. Below are our guidelines for making sure your content is labeled appropriately.

Media on Twitter

You may not use our service for any unlawful purposes or in furtherance of illegal activities. International users agree to comply with all local laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.

In addition, you may not feature graphic content (such as media containing pornography or excessive violence) in live video, or in your profile image or header image.

If you see media you think may be in violation of our policy, see this article for information about how to report it.

Your media settings

All Twitter accounts have media settings to help Twitter understand the type of media you are posting and to help us assist others to find the type of content that they’re interested in.

By appropriately marking your media settings, Twitter can identify potentially sensitive content that others users may not wish to see, such as violence or nudity. If you intend to regularly post such content, we request that you adjust your media setting:

  1. Log in to your account on the web at twitter.com.
  2. Click your profile icon in the top right navigation bar.
  3. Select Settings and privacy from the drop-down menu.
  4. Go to your Privacy and safety settings.
  5. Look for the Tweet media section and check the box next to Mark media you Tweet as containing material that may be sensitive. Note: Enabling this setting will result in others seeing a message when they view your profile, alerting them of potentially sensitive media and asking them to confirm they still want to view it.

You can control your preferences for how and when you may see sensitive content in your media settings.

What if I don’t change my media settings and post sensitive media?

If one of your Tweets containing media is reported as sensitive, it will be sent to Twitter for review. If we find that the media wasn’t marked as being potentially sensitive at the time of the upload:

  • We label the media as being potentially sensitive, or in the case of live video, remove the content entirely.
  • We may also change your account setting to Mark media you Tweet as containing material that may be sensitive so that future posts are marked accordingly.

You will receive an email letting you know that we’ve labeled your media and if we changed your media setting. You will be able to change your media settings on your account settings page, though this image and any other images that have been labeled will remain marked as potentially sensitive.   

If you repeatedly upload media that are mislabeled, the Twitter team may:

  • Label your media as having potentially sensitive content.
  • Permanently adjust your account setting to Mark media you Tweet as containing material that may be sensitive so that your future posts have a warning message users must click through before viewing your media.

Twitter may also use automated techniques to detect and label potentially sensitive media.

Additionally, people who visit your profile may see a message letting them know the account may include potentially sensitive content and asking them to confirm they still want to view it. People who have opted in to see possibly sensitive content will still see your account without the message.

What happens if my profile image is in violation of the Twitter Rules?

If your profile or header image contains graphic content in violation of the Twitter Rules, we may suspend your account and remove the offending content. Repeat violations will result in a permanent suspension.

Additionally, your account may be locked if media in your profile is in violation of Twitter's media policy. In order to unlock your account, you will need to follow our instructions and delete the media in violation. If your account has been locked, see this article for more information.

Can I appeal a decision made by the Twitter team?

If you are suspended for having a pornographic profile, header, or background image, you can appeal by logging in to your account and submitting an appeal here.

There is currently no way to appeal a decision by the Twitter team that permanently changes your account setting to Mark media you Tweet as containing material that may be sensitive in response to repeated mislabeling of sensitive content.