Flashing Autoplay Twitter ads on Vine condemned by epilepsy charity
Twitter ads on Vine have been removed after quickfire flashes were found to endanger photosensitive epilepsy suffers.
Snappy, colourful autoplay Vines for Twitter's #DiscoverMusic platform were found to be “massively dangerous” for those afflicted by the condition, according to charity Epilepsy Action.
Social media users were quick to point out the issue and thankfully there were no recorded incidents of the ads triggering seizures despite them being live for almost 18 hours.
@TwitterUK Hi Twitter, not a great idea to trigger epilepsy episodes with your marketing.
— Jesse Whittock (@TBI_Jesse) July 10, 2015
@TwitterUK I'm glad I didn't have epilepsy when this ad loaded and played its self upon opening Twitter !!
— Miss Christmas (@Miss_Christmas_) July 10, 2015
Twitter removed the ads on Friday morning, a quick response charity Epilepsy Action was thankful for.
Thanks to @TwitterUK for removing their advert. We're happy to work with them to make future ads safe for people w/ photosensitive epilepsy.
— Epilepsy Action (@epilepsyaction) July 10, 2015
Simon Wigglesworth, Epilepsy Action’s deputy chief executive, told the BBC: "Twitter’s ads were dangerous to people living with photosensitive epilepsy.”
“87 people are diagnosed with epilepsy every day and that first seizure can often come out of nowhere. For a huge corporation like Twitter to take that risk was irresponsible.”
The video was also likely in breach of Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) regulations stating ads must not include features which could adversely affect sufferers of photosensitive epilepsy.