Twitter bans religious insults calling groups rats or maggots

Twitter is updating its hate-speech rules to ban posts that liken religious groups to rats, viruses or maggots, among other dehumanising terms.

Over time, the ban would be extended to cover to some other groups, it said.

But a public consultation had indicated users still wished to use dehumanising language to criticise political organisations and hate groups.

Tech companies have struggled to strike a balance between free expression and protecting users from attack.

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Account suspensions

Twitter's hateful conduct policy had already banned users from spreading scaremongering stereotypes about religious groups - such as claiming all adherents were terrorists.

In addition, it had prohibited the use of imagery that might stir up hatred, including photos edited to give individuals animal-like features or add "hateful symbols" such as the yellow Star of David badges associated with the Holocaust.

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