Twitter starts putting labels on tweets with restricted reach

It should now be easier to deduce whether Twitter has restricted the visibility of a tweet over a possible violation of the company's hateful conduct policy. Twitter has started applying a label to tweets that it believes breaks those rules, as it recently pledged to do.

When Twitter detects a tweet that may violate the policy, it will limit the reach of the post and apply a label that reads "Visibility limited: this tweet may violate Twitter's rules against hateful conduct." The company plans to expand the labels to include more types of policy violations in the coming months.

Twitter says it may limit the visibility of rulebreaking tweets by excluding them from search results, as well as from the For You and Following timelines. Such tweets may be downranked in replies and it may not be possibly to reply to them, retweet them, bookmark them or pin them to profiles.

Twitter noted that it may incorrectly label a tweet as one that violates its rules, so the authors of such tweets can effectively appeal the decision by providing feedback. However, the company said it may not acknowledge the feedback or restore the tweet's typical reach.

The company is taking a looser approach to moderation under current owner Elon Musk as it has adopted a "Freedom of Speech, not Freedom of Reach" philosophy. For instance, it quietly updated the hateful conduct policy this month to lift a ban on misgendering and deadnaming transgender people.