The two Vines had six seconds of flashing video, which was enough to trigger epilepsy.
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Twitter has been forced to pull two adverts using its Vine looping video platform after objections were raised by epilepsy campaigners.
United Kingdom charity Epilepsy Action soon weighed in on the issue and asked Twitter to take the videos down. Seizures can be triggered by flashing lights and bold patterns.
According to Mayo Clinic research, the disorder can be developed by any individual and about one out of 26 U.S. individuals are prone to developing the disorder.
Charity Epilepsy Action contacted Twitter to say that the videos were “massively dangerous” and that they should be taken offline.
Twitter’s advertisements were up for 18 hours before they were finally removed early Friday morning.
The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) advises that all types of marketing communications, including those posted online, shouldn’t contain “visual effects or techniques that are likely to adversely affect members of the public with photosensitive epilepsy”. Simon Wigglesworth, chief executive for Epilepsy Action, claimed “87 people are diagnosed with epilepsy every day and that first seizure can often come out of nowhere”.
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“We take very seriously ads in online media that might cause harm to people with photosensitive epilepsy”, an ASA spokeswoman told the BBC. “Hello, we appreciate your feedback, thank you”, she said.
