Twitter has announced that it is expanding its private information policy to include media, including personal images.

Under the company’s existing policy, publishing other people’s private information, such as phone numbers, addresses, and IDs, is already banned. The policy includes threatening to expose private info or incentivising others to do so.

The social media giant said that if it receives a report that a Tweet contains unauthorised private media, it will now “take action” in line with its existing enforcement policies.

While the existing Twitter rules only cover explicit instances of abusive behaviour, this update will allow the business to take action on any media, provided it’s posted without the consent of the person depicted.

“Sharing personal media, such as images or videos, can potentially violate a person’s privacy, and may lead to emotional or physical harm,” said the company in a blog post. “The misuse of private media can affect everyone, but can have a disproportionate effect on women, activists, dissidents, and members of minority communities.

"When we receive a report that a Tweet contains unauthorised private media, we will now take action in line with our range of enforcement options.”

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