Twitter's Platform manipulation and spam policy
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See exactly what changed in Twitter's Platform manipulation and spam policy on 17 December 2021.
Overview
September 2020
You may not use Twitterâs services in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts peopleâs experience on Twitter.
We want Twitter to be a place where people can make human connections, find reliable information, and express themselves freely and safely. To make that possible, we do not allow spam or other types of platform manipulation. We define platform manipulation as using Twitter to engage in bulk, aggressive, or deceptive activity that misleads others and/or disrupts their experience.
Platform manipulation can take many forms and our rules are intended to address a wide range of prohibited behavior, including:
commercially-motivated spam, that typically aims to drive traffic or attention from a conversation on Twitter to accounts, websites, products, services, or initiatives;inauthentic engagements, that attempt to make accounts or content appear more popular or active than they are;coordinated activity, that attempts to artificially influence conversations through the use of multiple accounts, fake accounts, automation and/or scripting;Â andcoordinated harmful activity that encourages or promotes behavior which violates the Twitter Rules.
commercially-motivated spam, that typically aims to drive traffic or attention from a conversation on Twitter to accounts, websites, products, services, or initiatives;
inauthentic engagements, that attempt to make accounts or content appear more popular or active than they are;
coordinated activity, that attempts to artificially influence conversations through the use of multiple accounts, fake accounts, automation and/or scripting; and
coordinated harmful activity that encourages or promotes behavior which violates the Twitter Rules.
What is in violation of this policy?
Under this policy we prohibit a range of behaviors in the following areas:
Accounts and identity
You canât mislead others on Twitter by operating fake accounts. This includes using misleading account information to engage in spamming, abusive, or disruptive behavior. Some of the factors that we take into consideration include:
use of stock or stolen profile photos, particularly those depicting other people;use of stolen or copied profile bios; anduse of intentionally misleading profile information, including profile location.
You canât artificially amplify or disrupt conversations through the use of multiple accounts or by coordinating with others to violate the Twitter Rules. This includes:
overlapping accounts â operating multiple accounts with overlapping use cases, such as identical or similar personas or substantially similar content;mutually interacting accounts â operating multiple accounts that interact with one another in order to inflate or manipulate the prominence of specific Tweets or accounts; andcoordination â creating multiple accounts to post duplicative content or create fake engagement, including:posting identical or substantially similar Tweets or hashtags from multiple accounts you operate;Â engaging (Retweets, Likes, mentions, Twitter Poll votes) repeatedly with the same Tweets or accounts from multiple accounts that you operate;coordinating with or compensating others to engage in artificial engagement or amplification, even if the people involved use only one account;Â andcoordinating with others to engage in or promote violations of the Twitter Rules, including violations of our abusive behavior policy.
use of stock or stolen profile photos, particularly those depicting other people;
use of stolen or copied profile bios; and
use of intentionally misleading profile information, including profile location.
You canât artificially amplify or disrupt conversations through the use of multiple accounts or by coordinating with others to violate the Twitter Rules. This includes:
overlapping accounts â operating multiple accounts with overlapping use cases, such as identical or similar personas or substantially similar content;
mutually interacting accounts â operating multiple accounts that interact with one another in order to inflate or manipulate the prominence of specific Tweets or accounts; and
coordination â creating multiple accounts to post duplicative content or create fake engagement, including:
posting identical or substantially similar Tweets or hashtags from multiple accounts you operate;
engaging (Retweets, Likes, mentions, Twitter Poll votes) repeatedly with the same Tweets or accounts from multiple accounts that you operate;
coordinating with or compensating others to engage in artificial engagement or amplification, even if the people involved use only one account; and
coordinating with others to engage in or promote violations of the Twitter Rules, including violations of our abusive behavior policy.
Engagement and metrics
You canât artificially inflate your own or othersâ followers or engagement. This includes:
selling/purchasing Tweet or account metric inflation â selling or purchasing followers or engagements (Retweets, Likes, mentions, Twitter Poll votes);apps â using or promoting third-party services or apps that claim to add followers or add engagements to Tweets;reciprocal inflation â trading or coordinating to exchange follows or Tweet engagements (including but not limited to participation in âfollow trains,â âdecks,â and âRetweet for Retweetâ behavior); andaccount transfers or sales â selling, purchasing, trading, or offering the sale, purchase, or trade of Twitter accounts, usernames, or temporary access to Twitter accounts.
selling/purchasing Tweet or account metric inflation â selling or purchasing followers or engagements (Retweets, Likes, mentions, Twitter Poll votes);
apps â using or promoting third-party services or apps that claim to add followers or add engagements to Tweets;
reciprocal inflation â trading or coordinating to exchange follows or Tweet engagements (including but not limited to participation in âfollow trains,â âdecks,â and âRetweet for Retweetâ behavior); and
account transfers or sales â selling, purchasing, trading, or offering the sale, purchase, or trade of Twitter accounts, usernames, or temporary access to Twitter accounts.
Misuse of Twitter product features
You canât misuse Twitter product features to disrupt othersâ experience. This includes:
Tweets and Direct Messages
sending bulk, aggressive, high-volume unsolicited replies, mentions, or Direct Messages;posting and deleting the same content repeatedly;repeatedly posting identical or nearly identical Tweets, or repeatedly sending identical Direct Messages; andrepeatedly posting Tweets or sending Direct Messages consisting of links shared without commentary, so that this comprises the bulk of your Tweet/Direct Message activity.
sending bulk, aggressive, high-volume unsolicited replies, mentions, or Direct Messages;
posting and deleting the same content repeatedly;
repeatedly posting identical or nearly identical Tweets, or repeatedly sending identical Direct Messages; and
repeatedly posting Tweets or sending Direct Messages consisting of links shared without commentary, so that this comprises the bulk of your Tweet/Direct Message activity.
Following
âfollow churnâ â following and then unfollowing large numbers of accounts in an effort to inflate oneâs own follower count;indiscriminate following â following and/or unfollowing a large number of unrelated accounts in a short time period, particularly by automated means; andduplicating another accountâs followers, particularly using automation.
âfollow churnâ â following and then unfollowing large numbers of accounts in an effort to inflate oneâs own follower count;
indiscriminate following â following and/or unfollowing a large number of unrelated accounts in a short time period, particularly by automated means; and
duplicating another accountâs followers, particularly using automation.
Engagement
aggressively or automatically engaging with Tweets to drive traffic or attention to accounts, websites, products, services, or initiatives.aggressively adding users to Lists or Moments.
aggressively or automatically engaging with Tweets to drive traffic or attention to accounts, websites, products, services, or initiatives.
aggressively adding users to Lists or Moments.
Hashtags
using a trending or popular hashtag with an intent to subvert or manipulate a conversation or to drive traffic or attention to accounts, websites, products, services, or initiatives; andTweeting with excessive, unrelated hashtags in a single Tweet or across multiple Tweets.
using a trending or popular hashtag with an intent to subvert or manipulate a conversation or to drive traffic or attention to accounts, websites, products, services, or initiatives; and
Tweeting with excessive, unrelated hashtags in a single Tweet or across multiple Tweets.
URLs
publishing or linking to malicious content intended to damage or disrupt another personâs browser (malware) or computer or to compromise a personâs privacy (phishing); and posting misleading or deceptive links; e.g., affiliate links and clickjacking links.
publishing or linking to malicious content intended to damage or disrupt another personâs browser (malware) or computer or to compromise a personâs privacy (phishing); and
posting misleading or deceptive links; e.g., affiliate links and clickjacking links.
What is not a violation of this policy?
The following are not in violation of this policy:
using Twitter pseudonymously or as a parody, commentary, or fan account;posting links without commentary occasionally;coordinating with others to express ideas, viewpoints, support, or opposition towards a cause, provided such behavior does not result in violations of the Twitter Rules; andoperating multiple accounts with distinct identities, purposes, or use cases. These accounts may interact with one another, provided they donât violate other rules. Some examples include:organizations with related but separate chapters or branches, such as a business with multiple locations;operating a personal account in addition to pseudonymous accounts or accounts associated with your hobbies or initiatives; andhobby/artistic bots.
using Twitter pseudonymously or as a parody, commentary, or fan account;
posting links without commentary occasionally;
coordinating with others to express ideas, viewpoints, support, or opposition towards a cause, provided such behavior does not result in violations of the Twitter Rules; and
operating multiple accounts with distinct identities, purposes, or use cases. These accounts may interact with one another, provided they donât violate other rules. Some examples include:
organizations with related but separate chapters or branches, such as a business with multiple locations;
operating a personal account in addition to pseudonymous accounts or accounts associated with your hobbies or initiatives; and
hobby/artistic bots.
Who can report violations of this policy?
Anyone can report accounts or Tweets via our dedicated reporting flow. These reports are used in aggregate to help refine our enforcement systems and identify new and emerging trends and patterns of behavior.
How can I report violations of this policy?
In-app
You can report this content in-app as follows:
Select Report Tweet from the
icon.Select It's suspicious or spam. Select the option that best tells us how the Tweet is suspicious or spreading spam.Submit your report.
Select Report Tweet from the icon.
Select It's suspicious or spam.
Select the option that best tells us how the Tweet is suspicious or spreading spam.
Submit your report.
Desktop
You can report this content via desktop as follows:
Select Report Tweet from the
icon.Select It's suspicious or spam.Select the option that best tells us how the Tweet is suspicious or spreading spam.Submit your report.
Select Report Tweet from the icon.
Select It's suspicious or spam.
Select the option that best tells us how the Tweet is suspicious or spreading spam.
Submit your report.
What happens if you violate this policy?
The consequences for violating this policy depend on the severity of the violation as well as any previous history of violations. Our action is also informed by the type of spammy activity that we have identified. The actions we take may include the following:
Anti-spam challenges
When we detect suspicious levels of activity, accounts may be locked and prompted to provide additional information (e.g., a phone number) or to solve a reCAPTCHA.
Denylisting URLs
We denylist or provide warnings about URLs we believe to be unsafe. Read more about unsafe links, including how to appeal if weâve falsely identified your URL as unsafe.
We denylist or provide warnings about URLs we believe to be unsafe. Read more about unsafe links, including how to appeal if weâve falsely identified your URL as unsafe.
Tweet deletion and temporary account locks
If the platform manipulation or spam offense is an isolated incident or first offense, we may take a number of actions ranging from requiring deletion of one of more Tweets to temporarily locking account(s). Any subsequent platform manipulation offenses will result in permanent suspension.In the case of a violation centering around the use of multiple accounts, you may be asked to choose one account to keep. The remaining accounts will be permanently suspended.If we believe you may be in violation of our fake accounts policy, we may require you provide government-issued identification (such as a driverâs license or passport) in order to reinstate your account.
If the platform manipulation or spam offense is an isolated incident or first offense, we may take a number of actions ranging from requiring deletion of one of more Tweets to temporarily locking account(s). Any subsequent platform manipulation offenses will result in permanent suspension.
In the case of a violation centering around the use of multiple accounts, you may be asked to choose one account to keep. The remaining accounts will be permanently suspended.
If we believe you may be in violation of our fake accounts policy, we may require you provide government-issued identification (such as a driverâs license or passport) in order to reinstate your account.
Permanent suspension
For severe violations, accounts will be permanently suspended at first detection. Examples of severe violations include:
operating accounts where the majority of behavior is in violation of the policies described above;using any of the tactics described on this page to undermine the integrity of elections;buying/selling accounts;creating accounts to replace or mimic a suspended account; andoperating accounts that Twitter is able to reliably attribute to entities known to violate the Twitter Rules.
operating accounts where the majority of behavior is in violation of the policies described above;
using any of the tactics described on this page to undermine the integrity of elections;
buying/selling accounts;
creating accounts to replace or mimic a suspended account; and
operating accounts that Twitter is able to reliably attribute to entities known to violate the Twitter Rules.
If you believe that your account was locked or suspended in error, you can submit an appeal.
Additional resources
Learn more about our automation rules for developers, our election integrity efforts, our financial scam policy, our hacked materials policy, our approach to coordinated harmful activity, and our guidelines for promotions and contests.
Learn more about our range of enforcement options and our approach to policy development and enforcement.