Twitter is cracking down on abusive tweets and threats; however, threats to women still continue on the popular social media website. British Journalists India Knight and Laurie Penny were some of the latest high-profile women who’ve received threats.
Twitter has implemented a list of changes in response to complaints that it wasn’t doing enough to combat hate speech, particularly against women. They’ve also hired extra staff to handle abuse reports.
This comes after gender politics in England erupted on Twitter. Activist Caroline Criado-Perez won a campaign to add “Pride and Prejudice” author Jane Austen on 10-pound notes. Criado-Perez faced threats of rape and violence on Twitter immediately after. One man was arrested in Manchester, England and several accounts were suspended.
Twitter’s Senior Director of Trust and Safety division Del Harvey said that people deserve to feel safe on Twitter. A “report abuse” button has been added on some mobile versions of Twitter and said it will be available on others and on the web in the coming month.
“We want people to feel safe on Twitter, and we want the Twitter Rules to send a clear message to anyone who thought that such (behavior) was, or could ever be, acceptable,” wrote Harvey and Twitter UK general manager Tony Chang in a blog post.
Twitter’s old policy required users to contact the website’s online help center to report or flag any threatening messages.
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