Twitter, the popular micro-blogging website, has made a name for itself through its continuous efforts to help users battle harassment and cyber-bullying. Now, the company has released a much-needed and much-awaited update to keep up with the trend.
Users can now flag offensive accounts in a single report by attaching multiple abusive tweets at once. According to Hao Tang safety engineer at Twitter, “this update makes it easier for you to provide us with more information about the extent of abuse and reduces the time it takes to do so.”
Thanks to the added context, the company has more to go on and investigate the issues reported; in turn, this leads to a faster solution.
Safety is still a top priority at Twitter, and as the execs stated, the platform should be a place for everyone to feel safe expressing themselves. When there’s behavior that crosses the line into abuse, users should be able to report it with ease.
This is the context for introducing the update to the reporting process: the ability to report multiple tweets at once. According to Tang, more improvements are on the way, as Twitter hopes to give users more control over their experience.
Android, iOS, and twitter.com are all expected to see the new change roll out soon. Twitter announced that users worldwide will also gain access to the feature over the coming weeks.
Twitter recently revised its policy rules to up the ante on tackling hateful speech and content, including terror messages spread online.
In December last year, Megan Cristina, Twitter’s director of trust and safety, had posted a blog post about the necessity to protect the users from harassment and abuse; this “is a vital part of empowering people to freely express themselves on Twitter,” she added.
According to the updated language emphasizes, Twitter will no longer tolerate “behavior intended to harass, intimidate, or use fear to silence another user’s voice.”
That’s not to say that the platform will shun and discourage diverse beliefs and opinions, but the company is set to take action on accounts that cross the line into abuse.
Over the past year, the 140-character network has been adamant about its efforts to battle abuse, while also protecting freedom of expression. Users were given new tools to mute, block and report abusive behavior.
The changes are also prompted by the context of terrorist groups like Islamic State (IS) which have been caught using social media platforms like Twitter to recruit new members and spread its toxic agenda.
Image Source: Digital Trends
Michael Turner
