Hateful conduct policy

Freedom of expression means little if voices are silenced because people are afraid to speak up. We do not tolerate behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another person’s voice. If you see something on Twitter that violates these rules, please report it to us.

How our policy works

As explained in the Twitter Rules,

• Hateful conduct: You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease. We also do not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories.

Examples of what we do not tolerate includes, but is not limited to behavior that harasses individuals or groups of people with:

• violent threats;
• wishes for the physical harm, death, or disease of individuals or groups;
• references to mass murder, violent events, or specific means of violence in which/with which such groups have been the primary targets or victims;
• behavior that incites fear about a protected group;
• repeated and/or non-consensual slurs, epithets, racist and sexist tropes, or other content that degrades someone.

How our enforcement works

Context matters. 

• Some Tweets may seem to be abusive when viewed in isolation, but may not be when viewed in the context of a larger conversation. While we accept reports of violations from anyone, sometimes we also need to hear directly from the target to ensure that we have proper context. 
• The number of reports we receive does not impact whether or not something will be removed. However, it may help us prioritize the order in which it gets reviewed.

We focus on behavior. 

• We enforce policies when someone reports behavior that is abusive and targets an entire protected group and/or individuals who may be members. 
• This targeting can happen in any manner (for example, @mentions, tagging a photo, and more).

We have a range of enforcement options. 

• The consequences for violating our rules vary depending on the severity of the violation and the person’s previous record of violations. For example, we may ask someone to remove the offending Tweet before they can Tweet again. For other cases, we may suspend an account.