Twitter Pulls Ads After Charity Calls Them Dangerous to People With Epilepsy
Twitter was under fire this morning for posting potentially dangerous ads to Vine, its video sharing service. The ads, which promoted Twitter’s #DiscoverMusic initiative, were 6-second-long videos of flashing lights, which could harm people with photosensitive epilepsy, The Guardian reported.
Other relevant stories:
• What Are the 12 Types of Seizures
• What to Do When Someone Has a Seizure
• Can a Woman with Epilepsy Have a Baby
For about 3 percent of people with epilepsy, “exposure to flashing lights at certain intensities or to certain visual patterns can trigger seizures,” according to The Epilepsy Foundation.
Epilepsy Action, the U.K.’s leading epilepsy organization, quickly contacted Twitter about the risk of their videos. The ads were up for about 18 hours, according to Business Insider, but Twitter did take them down.
.@TwitterUK Your #DiscoverMusic Vines are massively dangerous to people with photosensitive epilepsy. Please take them offline now.
— Epilepsy Action (@epilepsyaction) July 10, 2015
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Margaret is excited to join The Mighty team for the summer as an editorial intern. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. A California native, Margaret loves going to the beach. She studied abroad in London for the spring semester and has caught the travel bug. In her free time, Margaret enjoys working out, baking and spending time with her family.
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