Twitter's updated terms commencing from 1st January 2020 will formalise throttling and shadow banning of content The idea of a shadow ban is that someone is banned but they don't know they've been banned because they keep posting, but no one sees
their content. Twitter's new terms of service state that the company may limit distribution or visibility of any Content on the service. This new line of text suggests that Twitter will legally be able to start throttling (intentionally
suppressing or hiding content) or shadow banning (intentionally suppressing or hiding a person's content without their knowledge) posts on the platform from the start of 2020. The full updated sentence now reads: We
may also remove or refuse to distribute any Content on the Services, limit distribution or visibility of any Content on the service, suspend or terminate users, and reclaim usernames without liability to you. Twitter's current terms of
service with no reference to content throttling or shadow banning |