Twitter finally bans revenge porn

Social network Twitter has finally taken action against trolls who post explicit images or video without the subject's consent.

Users who are caught posting other people's sensitive information or intimate photos or videos without permission will have their accounts locked and potentially suspended.

Twitter will now remove revenge porn, without the need for a request from the authorities, providing that the person complaining verifies that it is them in the offending photos or video.

Users who are in breach of the new guidelines will have their accounts locked until the offending material is removed, while repeat offenders risk having their accounts removed permanently.

The 'private information' section of The Twitter Rules now reads:

"You may not publish or post other people's private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, street address or Social Security/National Identity numbers, without their express authorization and permission. You may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent."

Twitter has also updated its abusive behavior policy to reiterate that "users may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent."

Twitter has been slow to react to online abuse issues, following several high profile cases such as the harrassment of journalist Caroline Criado-Perez (@ccriadoperez), who was targeted after leading a campaign for women to have better representation on British bank notes.

While cracking down on repeat offenders is certainly a step in the right direction, it's unlikely that the move will eradicate the problem entirely. Banned users can easily keep creating multiple user accounts just as fast as Twitter can shut them down.

Reddit also recently updated its privacy policy to ban posting of explicit content without consent.