Overview
May 2022
In order to help people find credible and authentic information, and to promote a healthy public discourse on Twitter, we limit the visibility of duplicative (or also known as ‘copypasta’) Tweets.
What is Copypasta?
“Copypasta” (a reference to copy-and-paste functionality to duplicate content) is an Internet slang term that refers to an attempt by multiple individuals to duplicate content from an original source and share it widely across social platforms or forums.
On Twitter, copypasta or duplicative content can be a block of text, image or a combination of content that has been copied and pasted, or duplicated by any means across the platform.
While copypasta or duplicate content is a tactic for propagating a message, and is used for a wide range of purposes, it can be repetitive, spammy, and disruptive to people’s experience on Twitter. Duplicative content can also be used to artificially amplify content, suppress information or manipulate Twitter’s Trends, Top Search results and conversations across the platform.
What happens if my Tweets have limited visibility?
Limiting the visibility of Tweets means that they may not appear in certain parts of the Twitter product, and/or may not be recommended or amplified by Twitter. Some of the ways we may do this include:
- making Tweets ineligible for amplification in Top Search results and on Trends;
- not recommending Tweets in timelines of users who don’t follow the Tweet author;
- downranking Tweets in replies; and
- excluding Tweets and/or accounts in email or in-product recommendations.
Duplicate content or copypasta Tweets remain visible to users who follow the Tweet author. Learn more about other instances when a Tweet’s visibility may be limited.
Examples of behavior for which we limit visibility under this policy include:
- identical or near-identical content Tweeted by an individual account or many accounts, even if the users involved only use one account;
- duplicate or copy-pasted Tweets that may disrupt the experience of others, including mentioning users or using hashtags with the same Tweet content in concert with other accounts.
Examples of behavior for which we do not limit visibility under this policy include:
- Retweeting existing content using the Retweet feature; and
- copy-pasting, or Tweeting existing content, combined with your own unique content, commentary, or reaction, or explicitly quoting the copied content.
What is considered a severe violation of this policy?
While copypasta or duplicative Tweets on their own do not result in Tweet removals or account suspensions, they are subject to review and enforcement under our platform manipulation and spam policy and any other Twitter Rules violations.
Examples of behavior that may result in removal or permanent suspension include:
- using automation or scripting to post duplicative content;
- operating one account or multiple accounts where the majority of the content promotes duplicative content resulting in spammy, inauthentic engagement; and
- repeated participation in copypasta and duplicate Tweet efforts to promote content that is in violation of other Twitter Rules.
Who can report violations of this policy?
Anyone can report potential violations of this policy 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, and you may not receive an individual response to your report.
How can I report violations of this policy?
If you believe that your account was locked or suspended in error, or notice instances where Tweets are not appearing, you can let us know by reporting the issue.