Twitter will delete videos and images of a deceased account upon the request of family. The microblogging site's spokesman Nu Wexler announced in a tweet.
This development on Twitter Rules and Policies came after Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams, was bullied on the social media site. Zelda also recently quit Twitter because of the bullying.
Apparently, Zelda was being blamed for her father's death on Twitter. People were sending her messages, attacking her for the suicide of her father Robin Williams.
Two trolls were mainly the cause of the bullying. A certain @PimpStory and @MrGoosebuster have since been deleted by Twitter and as per request of Zelda's many followers. The accounts bullied her by sending Photoshopped photos of Robin Williams and calling Zelda a "heartless b****" among many things.
Zelda Williams was not able to take the bullying so she requested people to report the accounts to be suspended. Twitter responded quickly and deleted the accounts but only after the damage has been done. As a result, Zelda bid goodbye to Twitter.
Twenty-five-year-old Zelda said that she would stay off social media sites, particularly Twitter and Instagram, for now.
"I'm sorry. I should've risen above. Deleting this from my devices for a good long time, maybe forever. Time will tell. Goodbye," the younger Williams tweeted last August 12.
"Mining our accounts for photos of dad, or judging me on the number of them is cruel and unnecessary," Zelda tweeted prior to her last post.
Twitter immediately released an update in policy and said the company would review user-protection policies further.
"In the event of the death of a Twitter user, we can work with a person authorized to act on the behalf of the estate or with a verified immediate family member of the deceased to have an account deactivated," read the new policy.
Deactivating is simple: simply send the deceased user's Twitter account together with proof of death and some information of the person making the request.
Once approved, Twitter will remove the account and images of the deceased individuals.
Twitter said it would also consider the newsworthiness of the content of the account while reviewing removal requests. Not to disappoint anyone, but Twitter may not approve all requests for removal.
