TORONTO – Twitter is taking steps to crack down on abusive language on its network after a number of high-profile female users were sent harassing and threatening tweets last week.
“It comes down to this; people deserve to feel safe on Twitter,” read a blog post on Twitter’s website Saturday, outlining a number of changes to the company’s policies addressing the controversy.
In addition to updating its rules to clarify its stance on abusive behavior, the social network promised users that a “report abuse” button – allowing users to report harassing or threatening messages directly from a tweet – would become available on its web-based and Android platforms “starting next month.”
Currently, Twitter does not have a “report abuse” button for individual tweets on its web-based version – the feature is only available on the Twitter for iPhone app.
On the app-based version, the user has the option to flag the tweet as “abusive” and requires the user to fill out a form. On the web-based version, users are only able to block or report a user for spam – there is no option to flag the user for abusive comments, except by going to support.twitter.com.
The one-click button means that users will not have to navigate to Twitter’s help centre in order to fill out an abuse form – a process some said was too cumbersome to deal with a mass of angry messages due to its length.
Read More: Rape threat tweets raise concerns about hate speech on social media
The “report abuse” button is an option that feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez – one of the women at the centre of the tweet-threat controversy – called for.
Criado-Perez began receiving rape and death threats via Twitter shortly after her successful campaign to get a woman’s picture on a U.K. bank note ended with the announcement that Jane Austen’s image would appear on England’s ten-pound notes.
A 21-year-old man was arrested in connection with some of the threats; however, Criado-Perez continued to receive a deluge of threats as she became more outspoken about the issue.
U.K. Labour party legislator Stella Creasy was later targeted after she tweeted in support of Criado-Perez.
The company also promised to devote more staff to investigate offending messages – something some experts argued the social media company needed to devote more manpower to.
Twitter’s general manager Tony Wang took to Twitter to publicly apologize to Criado-Perez and the other women involved.
“The abuse they’ve received is simply not acceptable,” he said. “It’s not acceptable in the real world, and it’s not acceptable on Twitter. There is more we can and will be doing to protect our users against abuse. That is our commitment.”
The updated “Twitter Rules” state that users are not to publish “people’s private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, street address or Social Security/National Identity numbers, without their express authorization and permission.”
Criado-Perez reported that some of her harassers had attempted to publish her address, phone number and private information during the height of the controversy.
The updated rules also clearly state, “You may not publish or post direct, specific threats of violence against others.”
Wang said in a tweet that the new anti-abuse policy will apply worldwide.
With files from The Associated Press
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