Perpetrators of Violent Attacks

Overview

February 2023

We will remove any accounts maintained by individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, or mass violent attacks, as well as any accounts glorifying the perpetrator(s), or dedicated to sharing manifestos and/or third party links where related content is hosted. We may also remove Posts disseminating manifestos or other content produced by perpetrators.

We want X to be a place where people can find reliable information and express themselves freely and safely without feeling burdened by unhealthy content. In the aftermath of terrorist, violent extremist and mass violent attacks, we know many want to express compassion for victims, condemn the attacks and/or the perpetrators, and discuss how these incidents impact people and their communities. Some might also wish to share manifestos or other similar content produced by the attack’s apparent perpetrator or an accomplice, either to express outrage or condemnation of the perpetrator’s possible motives. 

The violence that these perpetrators engage in, and the rationale they outline in manifestos or other means that normalizes hatred and discrimination, may further jeopardize the physical safety and well-being of those who are targeted, and has the potential to inspire future attacks. Exposure to these materials may also cause harm to those that view them. 

We believe the hateful and discriminatory views promoted in content produced by perpetrators are harmful for society and their dissemination should be limited in order to prevent perpetrators from publicizing their message. As a result we may remove Posts that include manifestos or other similar material produced by perpetrators, even if the context is not abusive. However, we may allow newsworthy content if it does not:

  • Convey suggestions about how to arm oneself and choose targets;
  • Share hateful slogans, symbols, memes, and/or hateful conspiracy theories;
  • Outline the perpetrator’s ideology, tactical choices, and/or plan of attack.

What is a manifesto?

We define a manifesto as a statement by a perpetrator outlining their motivation, views, or intent to engage in a violent attack. A manifesto can be in the form of a written document, social media post, audio recording, video, external link, or letter or other forms of content. It may be shared in the aftermath, or at any period before a violent attack. A manifesto can be linked to the event through a statement of warning or intent.

Who are the individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, and mass violent attacks?

Violent attacks claimed by a violent organization or by a member of such organizations are covered under our Violent and Hateful Entitites policy. We do not require that a person have been confirmed as members of terrorist organizations or other violent and hateful entities, nor that they have any official affiliation with any group, organization, or ideology, for us to enforce on content under this aspect of our policies. 

What is in violation of this policy?

Under this policy, we will permanently suspend accounts belonging to apparent individual perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, and mass violent attacks, as well as accounts dedicated to the sharing of harmful and violent content associated with the perpetrators or the violent attack.

Additionally, you may not Post any of the following:

Manifestos and other content created by perpetrators

We may remove content containing manifestos and other content created by individual perpetrators or their accomplices. Violations can occur via Posts, Spaces, images, and videos, including live video. Examples of content that we may action under this policy include, but are not limited to:

  • Sharing or linking full-length manifestos, regardless of context
  • Any Posts containing excerpt(s) of a reproduced manifesto (edited or sliced) or of the original manifesto, except when shared in a newsworthy context.
    • Regardless of context, it is always prohibited to share any of the following: 

       

      • Excerpt(s) that convey suggestions about how to arm oneself and choose targets.
      • Excerpt(s) that share hateful slogans, symbols, memes, and/or hateful conspiracy theories such as the Great Replacement Theory.
      • Excerpt(s) outlining the perpetrator’s ideology, tactical choices, and/or plan of attack.
  • Sharing perpetrator-generated media related to the attack in all instances. This includes, but is not limited to:

     

    • Media filmed by the perpetrator of the attack
    • Memes, stickers, or graffiti shared and/or produced by the perpetrator
    • Media of the weapons utilized in the attack
  • Other perpetrator-generated content that is not associated with the violent attack but that is specific to the promotion or support of violence.
  • Bystander-generated content of the attack as the attack is taking place, such as content that displays a moment of the assault or death, dead bodies, content that identifies victims, or content that depicts the perpetrator(s) conducting the attack.

Multimedia content, URLs, and hashtags

We may put a sensitive media interstitial over some media. The interstitial places images and videos behind a warning message that needs to be acknowledged before the media can be viewed. Using this feature means that people who don’t want to see sensitive media can avoid it, or make an informed decision before they choose to view it. The types of media we may interstitial include, but are not limited to:

  • Media depicting a perpetrator 
  • Excerpts of the attacker’s manifesto that are shared as part of a news report

We may label URLs linking directly to documents believed to be a manifesto to prevent these URLs from being shared on X.

We may denylist hashtags identifying perpetrators on trends to reduce the visibility of perpetrators’ identities, as well as all hashtags that are used uniquely to surface manifestos.

What is not a violation of this policy?

  • Accounts that belong to
    • Bystanders who happened to be close to the violent attack and/or managed to stop the attack, for example someone who shot the perpetrator(s)
    • Perpetrators whose convictions were overturned after a not guilty verdict
  • Content depicting any of the following:
    • The use of force by law enforcement and military personnel, as part of the scope of their official functions, that resulted in casualties;
    • Violence against military personnel and law enforcement;
    • Human rights abuses
    • Violent attacks that are part of an armed conflict
    • Violence used as a means of self defense
    • Violent attacks, where there is probable doubt about the intent behind the attack
    • Cases of vandalism and attacks resulting in damage to essential infrastructure
    • Sharing a few sentences from the manifesto(s), either in a newsworthy context or to bring more awareness to the rise of hate or violence towards a specific group. For example: “the shooter said he wants to eradicate x group” is not actionable under this policy.

Who can report violations of this policy?


Anyone can report potential violations of this policy, whether they have an X account or not. 

What happens if I violate this policy? 


The consequences for violating our violent events policy depends on the severity of the violation. Accounts maintained by perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist, or mass violent attacks will be permanently suspended. As described above, we may also remove content containing manifestos and other content created by perpetrators or their accomplices. 

In addition, we will also remove content that violates our policies regarding Violent Speech or other parts of Our Rules.

Additional resources


Learn more about our range of enforcement options and our approach to policy development and enforcement.

 

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