<p>Twitter has become the latest online platform to ban "revenge porn," or the posting of sexually explicit images of a person without consent.<br /><br /></p>.<p>In updated terms of service released Wednesday, Twitter explicitly banned "intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent."<br /><br />The update comes following Reddit's announcement last month of a similar ban, which came after the online bulletin board was criticized for allowing the distribution of hacked nude pictures of Hollywood stars.<br /><br />Twitter stepped up online safety efforts last month, moving to crack down on impersonation as well as the leaking of personal, private data.<br /><br />The new rule was praised by Cyber Civil Rights Initiative director Mary Anne Franks, who tweeted "@twitter's new policy against #revengeporn is good for #privacy (bad for misogynists)."<br />California in 2013 passed a law which specifically bars revenge porn postings.<br /><br />Although legislation already existed against posting unauthorized pictures of other people which invade their privacy, the new California law covers pictures that were taken with consent, for example when a couple was together, but which are later posted online without the ex-partner's agreement.<br /></p>
<p>Twitter has become the latest online platform to ban "revenge porn," or the posting of sexually explicit images of a person without consent.<br /><br /></p>.<p>In updated terms of service released Wednesday, Twitter explicitly banned "intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent."<br /><br />The update comes following Reddit's announcement last month of a similar ban, which came after the online bulletin board was criticized for allowing the distribution of hacked nude pictures of Hollywood stars.<br /><br />Twitter stepped up online safety efforts last month, moving to crack down on impersonation as well as the leaking of personal, private data.<br /><br />The new rule was praised by Cyber Civil Rights Initiative director Mary Anne Franks, who tweeted "@twitter's new policy against #revengeporn is good for #privacy (bad for misogynists)."<br />California in 2013 passed a law which specifically bars revenge porn postings.<br /><br />Although legislation already existed against posting unauthorized pictures of other people which invade their privacy, the new California law covers pictures that were taken with consent, for example when a couple was together, but which are later posted online without the ex-partner's agreement.<br /></p>