What Is "Spammy Behaviour": Twitter Explains, Warns Of Consequences

Consistently tweeting or sending only links as Direct Messages, posting similar content across multiple accounts and sending a large number of unsolicited replies are some of the things considered "spammy behaviour" on Twitter, the micro-blogging platform said on Tuesday.

A detailed note by a top Twitter executive, shared by Twitter India, defined what spam is and what the company is doing to make internet a safer space for users. Twitter said "platform manipulation, including spam and other attempts to undermine the public conversation" is a violation of its rules.

Creating duplicate or very similar accounts, creating fake accounts, impressions or account interactions (such as followers, re-tweets, likes, etc.), posting multiple updates to try and manipulate Twitter trends, purchasing or attempting to artificially increase followers, re-tweets and "likes" too are seen as spam, a post by Twitter's Kathleen Reen said.

What is considered spam on Twitter? Check out our latest blog to learn more about the Twitter Rules on spam, how to report accounts and what we're doing to fight spam#SaferInternetDay https://t.co/5aovZKWT2N

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) February 12, 2019

Twitter, that found itself in the middle of a controversy for not sending its CEO to appear before a parliamentary panel on Monday, said that it is "working hard" to expand its team and resources to help tackle the spread of misinformation on its platform.

"Attempts to deliberately undermine the public conversation by spreading misinformation at scale, is something we care deeply about at Twitter," Twitter India said in another blog post on Monday.

Just because something is on the internet, doesn't mean it is true. Check out our latest post to see how we can all work together to help stop the spread of misinformation #SaferInternetDay https://t.co/GHjdkAhsFd

— Twitter India (@TwitterIndia) February 12, 2019

The statement comes after Jack Dorsey, the social media giant's CEO and other top officials were summoned by the parliamentary panel on information technology to appear before it by February 15 over "safeguarding citizens' rights" on social media. The head of the panel, BJP lawmaker Anurag Thakur, said Twitter has been given a 15-day deadline.

"And while we are working hard to expand our team and resources to help tackle this issue, it is important that everyone builds their capacity in order to protect and enhance the public conversation," Twitter India said.