Twitter tightens abuse rules following UK backlash

Twitter is changing policies on abusive behaviour following incidents which have highlighted threatening messages sent to users in the United Kingdom.

On Saturday, Senior Director of Trust and Safety Del Harvey and Twitter’s U.K. General Manager Tony Wang published a blog post which made the microblogging site’s stance on the issue clear: “It comes down to this: people deserve to feel safe on Twitter.”

Twitter says that following calls for a better abuse reporting process, the company will introduce a one-click button that can instantly send an abuse report, rather than make users navigate to the site’s help center to fill out a report form. The report button is already available in the latest version of the iOS Twitter app and on mobile, but will be rolled out on Android and Twitter.com this month.

In addition, Twitter has updated the site’s rules to clarify that it “does not tolerate abusive behavior.” The updated rules include a section on “targeted abuse,” which bars users of the social media site from sending messages to a user from multiple accounts, communicating “if the sole purpose of your account is to send abusive messages to others,” and publishing direct or indirect threats of violence against others.

SOURCE: zdnet.com