Glorifying self-harm and suicide

Twitter Rules: You may not promote or encourage suicide or self-harm. When we receive reports that a person is threatening suicide or self-harm, we may take a number of steps to assist them, such as reaching out to that person and providing resources such as contact information for our mental health partners.

Rationale

While we want people to feel safe sharing their thoughts and feelings, we draw the line at encouraging or promoting self-harm and suicidal behavior, which can pose safety risks for others. With that in mind, we apply a two-pronged approach to the issue: supporting people who are undergoing experiences with self-harm or suicidal thoughts, but prohibiting the promotion or encouragement of self-harming behaviors. 

Learn more about how you can help someone dealing with thoughts of self-harm or suicide.

When this applies

Some examples of encouraging or promoting self-harm include (but may not be limited to) encouraging or glorifying:

• Acts of injuring oneself, such as cutting
• Eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, and serious illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person's eating behaviors.
• The act of taking one’s own life, including sharing strategies for suicide and participating in group suicides or suicide games

Some examples of behavior that are not considered glorifying or encouraging: 

• Discussions or organizations focused on research, advocacy, and education of self-harm or suicide prevention
• Sharing coping mechanisms and resources for thoughts of self-harm and suicide

Consequences

Our approach towards suicide and self-harm depends on the type of content, whether or not the account is encouraging or promoting self-harm, and the account’s previous record of violations.

The first time someone violates this policy, they will be required to remove the violating Tweet and be temporarily locked out of their account before they can Tweet again.

People who repeatedly violate this policy and/or accounts dedicated to promoting or encouraging self-harm and suicide may be suspended. If someone believes their account was suspended in error, they can submit an appeal.

After we assess a report of self-harm or suicide, Twitter will contact the reported individual and let them know that someone who cares about them identified that they might be at risk. We will provide the reported individual with available resources and encourage them to seek help.

In some cases where content is not glorifying or encouraging suicide or self-harm, we may still interstitial Tweets as sensitive. Learn more about our sensitive media policy. 

Learn more about dealing with self-harm and suicide.

Visit our Safety Center for a list of local mental health resources.