X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter, quietly unveiled a significant policy update Wednesday to ban sharing names of anonymous users and to address nonconsensual media sharing. The move follows intense scrutiny after the exposure of an alleged neo-Nazi cartoonist, StoneToss, identified by extremism researchers as an IT professional from Texas, Wired reports. The revelation and subsequent sharing of the person's name on the platform led to many account suspensions after the alleged neo-Nazi had his followers complain to Musk. Suspensions included journalists and prominent figures and sparked a widespread debate on privacy versus public interest.
Alejandra Caraballo, a transgender attorney and instructor at Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic, was at the center of this storm. Caraballo was suspended after changing her profile name to Hans Kristian Graebener, the person activistsidentified as StoneToss. The Advocate has not independently verified the identity of the cartoonist.
Caraballo's suspension called into question the platform's evolving approach to user conduct and content moderation. According to X's previous policies, sharing an individual's name, birthdate, or place of employment was not a violation of privacy because those pieces of information can be found elsewhere. Thus, per the company's explicit policies, naming a person was not a violation. The suspensions notably drew attention from various corners of social media, including Chaya Raichik, the right-wing extremist who runs the anti-LGBTQ+ Libs of TikTok account. Raichik took a victory lap, celebrating that Caraballo, a frequent Raichik target, lost access to her account. However, after Musk saw Raichik's celebratory post, he said that Caraballo's suspension would only last a few days. Caraballo told The Advocate Tuesday, after her account was unsuspended, that her account should be reinstated in seven days.
According to X's new policy on personal information, the kind of posts Raichik publishes on Libs of TikTok violate the platform's regulations. Libs of TikTok almost exclusively posts people's videos and names to X without permission.
The updated policy prohibits sharing private information and media without explicit consent, specifically targeting doxxing practices that jeopardize individuals' safety and security. It also tackles the issue of nonconsensual nudity and sexual media, with a commitment to immediate removal to protect users' psychological and physical well-being.
"Sharing someone's private information online without their permission, sometimes called 'doxxing,' is a breach of their privacy and can pose serious safety and security risks for those affected," the new policy states.
"Where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in an individual piece of media, we believe they should be able to determine whether or not it is shared. When we are notified by individuals depicted, or their authorized representative, that they did not consent to having media shared, we will remove the media," the policy continues, noting that it does not apply to public figures.
The policy says X's approach to handling reports under its Private Content policies includes a thorough evaluation of several key factors. According to X, this entails scrutinizing the type of information being shared, particularly if it poses a high risk to an individual's safety. The platform also considers who is sharing the information and whether it is already available online. Most importantly, the company claims the intent behind sharing the information is critically assessed. The policy explicitly states, "The intent of the person sharing the information is also important to assess before taking action. For example, if we believe that someone is sharing information with abusive intent or to harass another person, we will take action."
It's unclear how the policy will affect the future of Raichik's 2.9 million-followers-strong troll account. Libs of TikTok shares names, workplaces, and other details of otherwise obscure private citizens, most often minorities and LGBTQ+ people (particularly transgender people) with a particular focus on doctors, teachers, librarians, and others who work with children.
Raichik takes the content those people post and paints the subject of the content as dangerous or deviant to her rabid followers. Often, after Raichik posts about people, they and their employers receive bomb threats and other threats of violence. NBC News and USA Today have reported links between Libs of TikTok posts and bomb threats that follow.
Experts in extremism have categorized the tactics Raichik uses on her Libs of TikTok platform as stochastic terrorism.
A GLAAD spokesperson responded to the policy update, noting, "Policies protecting private individuals from having their private information and media shared without their authorization are a best practice across the industry, so it is good to see X adopting these new hateful conduct standards." However, they expressed concern over the burden placed on victims to report violations, stating, "The requirement that targeted individuals must self-report these violations is less than ideal as it puts undue burden on the user."
Despite these concerns, the spokesperson acknowledged the potential for positive change, adding, "It will be interesting to watch how the enforcement of the policy is implemented in the coming days." They also expressed hope that X's trust and safety teams would extend protections to public figures to mitigate hate and harassment, which aligns with practices on other platforms.
According to GLAAD's 2023 Social Media Safety Index, X remains the worst social media platform for LGBTQ+ people's safety.
X did not respond to The Advocate's request for comment.
