Twitter announced today changes making it easier for users to report threatening tweets.
The company has been under fire for abuse on the platform. Zelda Williams, the daughter of Robin Williams, signed off from Twitter after she said she was besieged by harassment, as I wrote in August. And abusive tweets have played a role in Gamergate, as I said in a column.
Last summer during an earnings call, Twitter CEO Dick Costolo fielded questions about how the company was dealing with online abuse.
The changes include making it easier for a bystander to report an abusive tweet, simplifying the reporting process and allowing the reporting process to be mobile-friendly.
Del Harvey, Twitter s vice president of trust and safety, told The Verge:
The changes we re announcing today to our harassment reporting process and to our block feature are representative of our broader focus on giving people more control over their own Twitter experience, including their interactions with others. We re also working to take advantage of more behavioral signals — including reports from bystanders — and using those signals to prioritize reports and speed up our review process.
Above: Photo of Twitter logo by Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group
