Social networks, such as Twitter, must have a set of mandatory rules that respond to a multitude of purposes. From trying to guarantee the coexistence of its members in a civilized way to, of course, promoting a safe space… at least for advertisers, since their presence plays a key role in their economic sustainability. It is true that they have other sources of income, of course, but let’s not fool ourselves, if they run out of advertisers, profitability becomes a chimera.
Thus, when we use a social network we are accepting, bindingly, to know, accept and comply with the rules that regulate that space and, otherwise, assume that we will be punished for said breach, with punishments that can range from receiving a warning to seeing our account permanently suspended. It is logical, of course, it is useless to establish rules if the necessary measures are not adopted to guarantee their compliance and punish the lack of it, right?
It is true, however, that not everything works as smoothly and as diligently as it appears on a theoretical level. Many infractions remain to be punished, others are applied unfairly and, in quite a few cases, there is a general feeling that Twitter is too strict with some of its rules. And of course, if users get tired of a sanctioning regime that they consider excessive, in the long run this can discourage the use of the service and, as I mentioned before, social networks depend on advertisers, yes, but also on the users they to be able to display such advertisements.
As we shared earlier, we have been proactively reinstating previously suspended accounts. Starting February 1, anyone can appeal an account suspension and be evaluated under our new criteria for reinstatement. https://t.co/2MR8yonMlM
—TwitterSafety (@TwitterSafety) January 28, 2023
Thus, as the social network has indicated in a thread in one of his official accounts, stricter criteria will be established for account blocking and less serious actions will have less severe punishments. Thus, as of February 1, all suspended accounts will be allowed to appeal their suspension based on the new rules. In addition, actions that until now have been punished with blocks (temporary or permanent) will now go through other disciplinary measures, such as the removal of the tweet that has broken the rules, without receiving a greater punishment if they accept the initial measures. Twitter affirms, yes, that accounts will not be reestablished or punishments will be reduced in case of illegal activities, threats of harm or violence, large-scale spam and manipulation.
Will these changes mean a new massive return of previously blocked accounts, as happened in December? Most likely, some accounts can return, but it is not something as massive as what happened at the end of last year. Mainly because at that time it was an automatic process, but this time it could depend on those responsible for reviewing the appeals and, of course, taking into account that right now, according to various sources, Twitter has around 20% of the staff it had. until Musk’s arrival, we cannot count on large teams of reviewers being assembled for such appeals.
