Twitter to Remove Images of Deceased at Family's Request (PCMagazine)

The move comes after horrifying images of Robin Williams and photojournalist James Foley were posted on Twitter.

• BY STEPHANIE MLOT
• AUGUST 20, 2014

Twitter this week committed to removing images of the deceased as requested by their family.

The move comes a week after Robin Williams's daughter, Zelda, was forced to abandon the social network after certain users posted fake but disturbing images of her father online.

The update also coincides with the recent death of American photojournalist James Foley, who was killed by an ISIS terrorist in retaliation for U.S. military operations in Iraq.

"In order to respect the wishes of loved ones, Twitter will remove imagery of deceased individuals in certain circumstances," the Twitter support page said. "Immediate family members and other authorized individuals may request the removal of images or video of deceased individuals, from when critical injury occurs to the moments before or after death."

Twitter will review media removal requests emailed to privacy@twitter.com; those situations considered public interest factors, such as the newsworthiness of the content, may not be honored.

In the wake of Robin Williams' suicide, Zelda issued a statement thanking people for their support, and acknowledged those who were "sending negativity" by joking that "some smart, giggling part of [Robin] is sending a flock of pigeons to your house to poop on your car. Right after you've had it washed. After all, he loved to laugh, too."

And while many offered condolences, there were some who responded with abuse - including the horrifying imagery - ultimately prompting Zelda to flee Twitter for the time being. Twitter followed up by suspending a number of accounts and promising to crack down on such behavior.

Yesterday, meanwhile, ISIS posted video of Foley's beheading on YouTube (which has since been removed), and stills of his body soon showed up on Twitter. Since Twitter now shows previews of photos in the Twitter stream, some users found themselves unable to avoid images of Foley.

As The Washington Post reported, the incident prompted Twitter users to ask followers - via the #ISISMediaBlackout hashtag - to refrain from tweeting images of Foley's death, since that is what ISIS wants, they said.

Meanwhile, Delaware this week became the first state to give families to right to access their loved ones' digital content after they die or are incapacitated. Gov. Jack Markell signed a bill that says "Delawareans' digital legacies will be treated the same as the physical assets, documents and records left for their heirs and executors to handle after their deaths."

The bill covers data such as email, cloud storage, social media accounts, health records, content licenses, databases, and more. Going forward, tech sites will be "obliged to provide whatever username, login and password information necessary to access the decedent's accounts, unless the user specifically directed that the account not be accessible in the event of death or incapacitation."

Stephanie began as a PCMag reporter in May 2012. She moved to New York City from Frederick, Md., where she worked for four years as a multimedia reporter at the second-largest daily newspaper in Maryland.