Twitter is promising to finally take on some of the haters who routinely pollute the social networking service with bigoted attacks against other users. 

 

The company updated the terms of use for the site, hoping to clarify what people cannot tweet. This now includes various forms of bigotry, including homophobia.

 

“The updated language [in the Twitter rules] emphasizes that Twitter will not tolerate behavior intended to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence another user’s voice," wrote Megan Cristina, Twitter’s Director of Trust + Safety, in a recent blog post. "As always, we embrace and encourage diverse opinions and beliefs – but we will continue to take action on accounts that cross the line into abuse.”

 

She added: "Keeping users safe requires a comprehensive and balanced approach where everyone plays a role. We will continue to build on these initiatives to empower our users and ensure that Twitter remains a platform for people to express themselves."

 

According to the updated rules, users cannot "promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease."

 

Accounts that seem to have been created for the sole purpose of inciting harm to others can be temporarily, or permanently, suspended.

 

Of course, a company can have the most progressive rules and still fall short when it comes to acting on them. In fact, Twitter has promised - and failed - to deal with abusive users in the past.