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Twitter blocks Animated PNG files

Twitter has blocked animated PNG (APNG) files because the format doesn’t respect autoplay settings. This is expected to be a threat to the people with sensitivity to motion and flashing imagery including those with epilepsy.

 

 

According to the social media giant, APNGs ignore their safeguards and can cause performance issues for the app and device. They expected this to be a bug and won’t allow APNGs to animate in Twitter anymore. The company tweeted “We want everyone to have a safe experience on Twitter.Β  APNGs were fun, but they don’t respect autoplay settings, so we’re removing the ability to add them to tweets. This is for the safety of people with sensitivity to motion and flashing imagery, including those with epilepsy.”

 
Those APNG files which are already on Twitter will remain there, but the company is going to prevent any new uploads by users. This move is also supported by the fact when Twitter found that APNGs used up a lot of data and in some circumstances causes app crashes. Users would still be able to add animated images to their tweets, but in the form of GIFs.

 
This came to notice after the Epilepsy Foundation announced that it has filed a criminal complaint with US law enforcement for Twitter feed with seizure-inducing content which may harm epilepsy victims. This is when the foundation expected that the attacks could take place with National Epilepsy Awareness Month in November 2019 with possibility of people with epilepsy following the organization’s Twitter feed.

3 Responses to “Twitter blocks Animated PNG files”

  1. Shivngi Shah says:

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  2. Hitaxi Parekh says:

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  3. Amit Prasad says:

    I can imagine how much you must have to read before putting up such great content for your readers. Kudos πŸ˜‰

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