Twitter is asking customers to enter their birthdate to view delicate content material • TechCrunch

Twitter is ramping up its efforts to filter delicate content material to forestall customers below 18 from viewing inappropriate materials by asking customers to confirm their birthdates. The corporate stated it’s slowly rolling out a characteristic to limit delicate tweets until customers have a birthdate hooked up to their accounts and so they’re over 18.

Over the previous few days, many users famous that Twitter is asking them to enter their birthdates to see the contents of particular tweets.

Twitter confirmed that it’s rolling out this characteristic as part of its consumer security efforts.

“We’re continually iterating on our work to provide individuals extra alternative and management over their expertise, in addition to to make Twitter safer for everybody. We’re slowly rolling out a characteristic to assist in limiting sure delicate content material from people who find themselves below 18 years previous or haven’t submitted their date of delivery,” an organization spokesperson informed TechCrunch.

Twitter didn’t make clear if this characteristic is rolling out globally. Plus, customers have raised questions in regards to the firm’s privacy practices, because the immediate to enter the birthdate to entry delicate content material says the info is likely to be used for focused adverts. We’ve got requested Twitter to supply extra particulars, and we’ll replace the story with Twitter’s responses, if offered.

Whereas Twitter prohibits customers below 13 on the platform, many lie about their age to hitch the platform. So asking customers to self-verify their age is a low bar for a content material filtering characteristic. A current report printed by UK communications regulator Ofcom advised {that a} third of youngsters lie about their age to look 18 and above on their social media profiles.

Twitter’s sensitive content policy contains wide-ranging classes together with grownup content material, graphic violence, gratuitous gore, and hateful imagery. Whereas the corporate doesn’t actually ban grownup content material, it asks individuals posting such content to mark that content as sensitive and alter the account settings to reflect sensitive content posting. Twitter additionally doesn’t permit customers to put up grownup content material — which doesn’t breach its guidelines — on the header picture, on the profile image, or by reside movies.

The corporate says it has a strict policy against non-consensual nudity that permits anybody to report tweets containing media that violates these guidelines.

The social community says that it constantly fights in opposition to baby sexual abuse materials (CSAM) with know-how, instruments, and policy. It added it instantly and completely bans accounts in violation of this coverage. It additionally reviews them to the Nationwide Heart for Lacking & Exploited Kids (NCMEC).

Twitter’s step to limit sure content material from below 18 customers comes after a report from The Verge emerged in August noting that the corporate had did not detect baby sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and non-consensual nudity at scale. The report stated that Twitter wished to monetize grownup content material by creating an OnlyFans competitor, however its failure to detect the above-mentioned prohibited materials led to that mission’s shutdown.

With this announcement, the social community could also be taking a preemptive step to get into the nice books of lawmakers internationally. The UK’s upcoming On-line Security Invoice goals to create a safer web by making grownup content material inaccessible to kids. California can also be pushing forward with the same legislation known as California Age-Applicable Design Code Act that goals to set strict tips and restrictions for under-18 customers round accessing content material on the web. Given the gravitas of those legal guidelines, Twitter’s easy self-check for age to entry delicate content material may not be sufficient.