• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, October 18, 2017

Keeping a promise made by CEO Jack Dorsey, Twitter has outlined yet another set of rules designed to curb trolls, bullies, sexual harassers, fake-news spreaders and other bad actors.

For starters, the social network will now “immediately and permanently” suspend accounts identified as the source of tweets featuring non-consensual nudity, according to an email sent to Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council this week.

The email -- just published by Wired -- has not yet been made public by Twitter.

To further restrict cases of sexual harassment, Twitter is vowing to conduct full account reviews whenever it receives tweet-level reports regarding non-consensual nudity.

“If the account appears to be dedicated to posting non-consensual nudity, then we will suspend the entire account immediately,” the head of Twitter’s safety policy team notes.

Twitter is also expanding its definition of “non-consensual nudity” to more broadly include content like “upskirt imagery,” “creep shots” and hidden camera content.

When perceived to be an unwanted sexual advance, Twitter also plans to update its official “Rules” to outlaw the exchange of sexual media.

As for how the company plans to discern between welcomed and unwelcomed sexual advances, Twitter says it is implementing improvements to “bystander reporting,” as well as leveraging past interaction signals -- like block and mute rates.

The company is still ironing out the details of other policies for its Trust and Safety Council.

Regarding hate symbols and imagery, for instance, Twitter says it’s still defining the exact scope of what will be covered by its policy. At a “high level,” the social giant says that hateful imagery and hate symbols will now be considered “sensitive media.”

Likewise, Twitter says it is still defining the exact scope of its approach to violent groups. As with direct threats of violence, however, Twitter has decided to begin take action against content that glorifies or condones such acts.

Echoing recent comments from CEO Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s head of safety policy said the company has to do a better job of communicating its content-policing policies.

Last week, Dorsey was forced to apologize to actor Rose McGowan, whose Twitter account was temporarily suspended after including a private phone number in a tweet.

Technically, McGowan violated Twitter’s Terms of Service, yet Dorsey admitted that the company could have been more clear about why her account was locked.

Social networks like Twitter and Facebook have recently faced a barrage of criticism regarding a range of issues, from First Amendments rights to foreign invaders.

Late last month, Twitter was forced to explain its decision not to police Trump’s threats against North Korea. While the taunts would normally have triggered Twitter’s anti-aggression policy, the company said their “newsworthiness” made them more acceptable.

“Among the considerations [when deciding what content to censure] is ‘newsworthiness’ and whether a Tweet is of public interest,” Twitter’s public-policy department explained at the time.

While this has “long been internal policy,” the social giant said it planned to officially update its “public-facing rules.”  

Admitting the discrepancy likely led to confusion among its community, Twitter’s policy team added: “We need to do better on this, and will.”